Friday, February 24, 2012

How do chinese restaurants tenderised their meat?

When I goto chinese restaurants, their stir-fried beef for example, is nice, tender and easy to chew.



When I cook beef at home, it is all tough and stringy.



What do they add, or what process do they use to tenderise their meat? Can I easily mimic their technique?



BTW I'm chinese, so I quite embarrased.How do chinese restaurants tenderised their meat?
It's a process called "Velveting". Lightly beat together an egg white, a teaspoon of cornflour and a teaspoon of soya sauce , and marinate the meat for about 20 minutes.
The food comes ready cooked from the company they order from. They open and heat thru and serve. The food they serve in the restaurant isn't what they themselves eat. It's an Americanized version.How do chinese restaurants tenderised their meat?
Meat hammer is the non chemical way. It break the collagen in the meat that, when you cook it tighten up... Voila...
There are several things you must look at when preparing the meat. The way it is cut, it must be cut against the grain. the size must be thin, less then a 1/4 " Using good quality meat is another.

Low grade meats will be tougher. Look for meats that have a little fat marbeling. Msg can also be used to tenderize the meat and usually is used in restaurants.
The traditional way is to use baking soda but it affects the taste. Other natural tenderizers used are onions and papaya enzyems which now comes in a powder form.

Tenderizing the beef allows the restaurant to use cheaper cuts of beef which would be tough untreated.
A lot of places still use MSG, also called Accent seasoning. It can make a cheap piece of meat much more tender---it does cause headaches in some people. Also, cut against the grain of the meat instead of along the grain.
Velveting is the best way - you can use the same method for chicken also. It works great every time.

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