Cooking beef for pepper steak

Question

From American-"Chinese" restaurants, I usually order a dish called "Pepper Steak with Onions". This seems to be a simple enough dish, mostly a straightforward stir-fry, except for one unique characteristic: the beef comes out soft and easy to chew, much like chicken.

How is this achieved? Is it a certain cut of meat? A certain cooking technique?

possible duplicate of How do Chinese restaurants tenderize their meat? — TFD, Jul 16 '14 at 08:23
Disagree that this is a duplicate: OP is asking about which cut to use in addition to any tenderization technique (which may come before or during cooking). — Cos Callis, Jul 16 '14 at 17:21

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:33

8

Meat in stir-fries is often velveted. That makes for a supremely soft chunk of meat, and it can be done with any type of meat. This answer actually addresses chicken: How to cook extremely soft chicken?, but it applies just as well to beef. It's usually done with egg and cornstarch, but sometimes it's done with a small amount baking soda instead, as in this recipe for Beef and Broccoli.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:33

Community

1

answered Jul 15 '14 at 23:13

Jolenealaska

58,494
31
204
324

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 16 '14 at 11:44

3

In addition to @Jolenealaska's answer the beef is cut across the grain, and very thin. It also helps to start with a tender cut like sirloin or rib.

answered Jul 16 '14 at 11:44

GdD

76,193
3
138
248

Cooking beef for pepper steak

2 Answers2