Following last weeks post I tried the "heat the wok 'til sizzling" method &
it worked very well.

But I'm still not happy with the way I prepare meat to get the Chinese
restaurant taste.

Cut of meat: Brisket, fillet or ?? You want a good cross-section so I
presume its not cut into steak thickness by the butcher

Velveting: Perhaps marinade in egg white/corn flour/some salt (even sherry)
for up to 12 hours. Cook briefly in oil.

see http://forums.egullet.com/index.php?...pic=18776&st=0


Does this sound right?

gtoomey

"Gregory Toomey" > wrote in message
news:1170176.t1cIGkc2Fp@GMT-hosting-and-pickle-farming...
> Following last weeks post I tried the "heat the wok 'til sizzling" method
&
> it worked very well.
>
> But I'm still not happy with the way I prepare meat to get the Chinese
> restaurant taste.


Have you tried adding baking soda to the beef? That gives a "restaurant"
taste, or rather texture, to the beef (though I've never done it before).
Is that what you mean by "restaurant taste"?


> Cut of meat: Brisket, fillet or ?? You want a good cross-section so I
> presume its not cut into steak thickness by the butcher
>
> Velveting: Perhaps marinade in egg white/corn flour/some salt (even
sherry)
> for up to 12 hours. Cook briefly in oil.


12 hours?! I don't think so. Also, beef isn't something one velvets. It's
for more delicate items like chicken breast meat or shrimp. With beef you
might want to "pass it through oil". That's done without egg whites. You
marinate it in starch, soy sauce, rice wine for at least 20 minutes. You
drop it in moderately hot oil until it browns, then quickly remove. You
then stir-fry it briefly with whatever sauce you have in mind.

Peter







>
> see http://forums.egullet.com/index.php?...pic=18776&st=0
>
>
> Does this sound right?
>
> gtoomey
>

> "Gregory Toomey" > wrote in message
> news:1170176.t1cIGkc2Fp@GMT-hosting-and-pickle-farming...
> > Following last weeks post I tried the "heat the wok 'til sizzling"
method
> &
> > it worked very well.
> >
> > But I'm still not happy with the way I prepare meat to get the Chinese
> > restaurant taste.
>
>
> Have you tried adding baking soda to the beef? That gives a "restaurant"
> taste, or rather texture, to the beef (though I've never done it before).
> Is that what you mean by "restaurant taste"?

In restaurants/take-aways, baking soda is often used to 'prepare' the meat
before frying/cooking. I would suggest adding 1/4 tsp of baking soda (for a
standard size dish) & mixing it in & leaving for 10mins, after rinse it out
under running water then marinate as usual. But if you use the right cut of
meat(quality steak w/o tendons cut with the grain etc) & marinate it for a
few hours, you can get a pretty good meal out of it w/o using baking soda.
Restaurants/take-aways use baking soda to 'tenderise' meat & is able to
absorb a lot more of the marinade but one of the 'side effects' is the meat
retains a 'smooth' texture. I've seen enough big buckets of beef (of various
cuts & quality) sitting on the side in the kitchen, some of it i wouldn't
eat myself but after it's been through the baking soda treatment, it looks &
taste a lot more edible. Most Chinese families don't do it this way at home
unless someone requests for a 'restaurant' style dish. These days when i eat
out, it's only in better Chinese restaurants because they use better cuts of
meat & ingredients etc.

DC.

I've found that the definitive "Chinese restaurant" flavor is elusive.
I think, in large part, people get conditioned to expect a certain taste
in Chinese food, based on the cluster of Chinese restaurants they
habitually frequent.

Here's my idea of properly prepared "Chinese restaurant" meat. It has
to do with marinading the meat for about 15 minutes or so before stir
frying it.

Here's the marinade for a pound of pork or beef.

1 1/2 Tbsp. dark soy
1 tbsp. Shao Hsing wine (or dry sherry)
1 tbsp. corn starch
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. ground pepper.

Hope this works for you.





Gregory Toomey wrote:
> Following last weeks post I tried the "heat the wok 'til sizzling" method &
> it worked very well.
>
> But I'm still not happy with the way I prepare meat to get the Chinese
> restaurant taste.
>
> Cut of meat: Brisket, fillet or ?? You want a good cross-section so I
> presume its not cut into steak thickness by the butcher
>
> Velveting: Perhaps marinade in egg white/corn flour/some salt (even sherry)
> for up to 12 hours. Cook briefly in oil.
>
> see http://forums.egullet.com/index.php?...pic=18776&st=0
>
>
> Does this sound right?
>
> gtoomey
>

Thanks for replies. I'll experiment with your suggestions at the weekend.

gtoomey

Salut/Hi ChinkyBrownEyes,

le/on Wed, 23 Jun 2004 05:58:26 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

>you can't marinate meat in alcohol or wine for more than a few hours
>because this actually toughens the meat.

I don't know where you got that idea. Many recipes for game in French
cooking require the meat to be marinated for several days in order for the
marinade to act throughout the depth of the meat. It doesn't cause the
outside (exposed longest) to become noticeably tougher. Sorry to contradict
you.

--
All the Best
Ian Hoare
http://www.souvigne.com
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