I like to make beef stirfry but my beef is always tough. What can I do to make it more tender?

Question

Is there anything that I can put on it before I cook it to make it tender??

Answer 1

Great Question!!! YOU CAN USE ANY CHEAPER CUTS OF BEEF.....DON'T WORRY...THIS WILL WORK... Chinese people and I tenderize with a little cornstarch and water, let it sit in fridge for a few hours (3) OR BETTER yet overnight......

Use about 1 -2 TABLESPOON of cornstarch mix with COLD (cannot be hot)...water.....enough water to cover meat piece or better yet PRE SLICE your beef, chicken, port. and let soak.

You can add a little DRY Sherry....I've tried many brands of Sherry, and can honestly tell you that Taylor or Christian Brothers has the best flavor and is NOT expensive.

Any more questions, let me know, I LOVE to cook, especially Asian cooking, I've got GREAT recipes.

Lots of Luck....You'll do JUST fine.

Answer 2

Use a good cut of meat like tenderloin or strip loin. If you get a sirloin or a flank, marinate it in something with vinegar or other acid to break down those long proteins. If you cut it into strips, make sure you only cook it for about 2 to 3 minutes. When you see the blood start to come out, it's done. If your other ingredients are taking longer to cook, remove the beef and set aside. When everything else is done cooking, add the meat back in, toss, and serve. Delicious

Answer 3

before cooking, you can tenderize the meat by pounding it with a meat tenderizer. you can buy one at any kitchen supply store - it looks like a hammer with raised grooves. you can also roll over the meat with a rolling pin to tenderize (put a piece of waxed paper down first so your pin doesn't get nasty).

tender meat has lots of internal juices to help your palette break it down. cooking meat removes most of the juices ... and the longer you cook it, the more juices that are lost. try to cook the meat for less time.

another idea is to cook the meat to a medium rare state, take it off the stove and combine the rest of the ingredients to cook, and when that is almost done, add the meat back in until it gets just browned.

Answer 4

Here is how Chinese people cook the stir fry beef:

Add a little baking soda and cornstarch to your thinly sliced beef. Heat your cooking pan very hot using peanut oil. Cook small portion at a time. Don't stir right away after you add the meat to your pan, since the cornstarch will stick to you pan. Take the meat out as soon as the meat changes color. Then cook your veggies, add your sauce, then add back the beef, mix them quickly and dish them out.

Answer 5

a couple of things:

-- try marinating the beef for a few hours before cooking

-- try cooking the beef less -- when you cook stir-fry the pieces of beef are generally small and don't require a whole lot of cooking time

-- try better cuts of meat; generally the better the cut, the more tender it is

Answer 6

Try some of the marinades you get in the envelope and mix with water. Or, try soaking the meat in some olive oil for half of a day. Add a little garlic, but don't add salt until you are ready to cook it because salt draws out the liquid in meats. The olive oil trick works for me. I do it with pork chops because they dry out and get tough too...Don't over cook either, or try a more expensive cut of meat.

Answer 7

Cook it slow on a lower heat than you've been using. Also, you can get meat tenderizer in the spice section of the market.

Answer 8

cut the beef thinner and use a good cut of meat. Cook just till most of the pink is gone or if you like rare, leave more pink.

Answer 9

Marinate it for about 24 hours, then cook it anywhere from 20-40 minutes. Just try not to over-cook it.

Answer 10

get a merinade and let the meat soak in the merinade over night. the next day you could cook the vegies and throw in the meat after the vegies are cooked, the meet comes precooked so the hot vegies will warm the meet and it will be ok to eat.