*Beef


Serves: 5

Ingredients

Directions:

Because of the scarcity of cattle in China, beef cookery was never developed as fully as pork. However, contact with the West (and the greater availability of beef to the Chinese outside China) had its inevitable impact. With characteristic ingenuity, the Chinese adapted their cooking methods and seasonings to beef cookery and made it their own. Beef is cooked in many ways: stir-fried, deep-fried, steamed, braised, stewed, barbecued, dry-fried or smoked.

Many cuts are used: brisket, chuck roast, chuck steak, flank steak, pot roast, short ribs, round steak, rump roast, shank, sirloin steak, beef tenderloin also beef liver, heart and kidneys. Particularly favored is beef plate, a coarse cut with strong fibers and muscles which, when simmered slowly for hours, becomes tender and tasty. The Chinese call this white abdomen, or hundred abdomen, of beef.

COOKING TECHNIQUES AND SUITABLE CUTS OF BEEF

* Stir-Frying (sliced thin, occasionally minced): chuck roast, chuck steak, flank steak, round steak, top rump, sirloin steak, beef tenderloin and beef liver
* Deep-Frying (cubed or shredded): flank steak, sirloin steak, beef tenderloin, short ribs and beef kidneys
* Steaming (sliced, slivered or minced): chuck steak, flank steak, round steak, sirloin steak and top rump
* Braising (whole or in chunks): brisket, chuck roast, chuck steak, eye round, plate, pot roast, rump roast, shank and beef heart
* Red-Simmering (whole, in chunks or cubes): chuck steak, pot roast and shank
* Barbecuing (sliced): beef tenderloin, porterhouse steak and short ribs
* Dry-Frying (sliced thin or slivered): sirloin steak
* Smoking (sliced thin): beef tenderloin

NOTE: Regardless of cut, beef should have a good red color and little fat. It should also be firm to the touch.

TENDERIZING BEEF:
Some of the tougher cuts of meat may be tenderized before stir-frying, deep-frying, braising or red-simmering. (See HOW-TO, __Beef - To tenderize.)

TIPS ON STIR-FRYING:
Beef should never be stir-fried by itself longer than two minutes before the vegetables, liquid seasonings, etc., are added to the pan. If cooked longer by itself, the beef will toughen.

The best general cut of beef for stir-frying is flank steak. Its flat slablike structure, with a long grain running through it in only one direction, makes it simple to handle and to cut crosswise against the grain. Flank steak can be bought whole (it weighs about 3 pounds), then cut lengthwise with the grain into 3 or 4 long thick strips, each of which can be wrapped and frozen separately until needed. When ready to use, it may be thawed slightly, and sliced easily against the grain.

TIPS ON BRAISING:
Braised beef can be cooked whole or cubed, and served hot or cold. If it's to be served hot, it may be cooked with such vegetables as bamboo shoots, carrots, lily buds or turnips. Its sauce can be thickened with a cornstarch paste just before serving. If it's to be served cold, the beef should be cooked whole, cooled and refrigerated (its gravy will jell and become aspic-like), then sliced thin just before serving. Braised beef, when cooked alone, is often spiced with star anise, then chilled, sliced thin and served as an hors d'oeuvre.

Braised beef dishes will keep about a week. They can also be frozen and, when you are ready to use them, reheated without any preliminary thawing.

The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook. ©1994 by Gloria Bley Miller.

This *Beef recipe is from the Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook Cookbook. Download this Cookbook today.


More Recipes from the Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook Cookbook:
*Beef
Basic Braised Beef
Basic Steamed Beef
Basic Stir-Fried Beef I
Basic Stir-Fried Beef I or II: Suggested Vegetable Combinations (1-4)
Basic Stir-Fried Beef I or II: Suggested Vegetable Combinations (5-7)
Basic Stir-Fried Beef II
Beef Velveteen
Braised Anise Beef I
Braised Anise Beef II
Braised Beef Balls
Braised Curried Beef
Braised Marinated Beef
Braised Short Ribs of Beef With Black Beans
Deep-Fried Beef Liver Cubes
Deep-Fried Beef Slivers With Celery
Deep-Fried Beef Strips And Onion
Deep-Fried Chinese Steak
Deep-Fried Hot Beef Shreds
Deep-Fried Paper-Wrapped Beef
Deep-Fried Short Ribs of Beef
Deep-Fried Sweet-and-Pungent Beef Cubes
Marinated Beef
Red-Simmered Beef I
Red-Simmered Beef II
Red-Simmered Beef Tongue
Red-Simmered Spiced Beef With Turnips
Smoked Beef Balls
Smoked Beef I
Smoked Beef II
Steamed Beef Balls With Glutinous Rice
Steamed Beef Cubes
Stir-Fried Beef And Bamboo Shoots
Stir-Fried Beef And Bean Curd
Stir-Fried Beef And Bitter Melon
Stir-Fried Beef And Cauliflower
Stir-Fried Beef And Celery
Stir-Fried Beef And Chinese Cabbage
Stir-Fried Beef And Chinese Turnips
Stir-Fried Beef And Ginger Root
Stir-Fried Beef And Lotus Root
Stir-Fried Beef And Mushrooms
Stir-Fried Beef And Onions
Stir-Fried Beef And Oyster Sauce I
Stir-Fried Beef And Oyster Sauce II
Stir-Fried Beef And Peas
Stir-Fried Beef And Peppers
Stir-Fried Beef And Preserved Mustard Cabbage
Stir-Fried Beef And Rice-Flour Noodles
Stir-Fried Beef And Snow Peas
Stir-Fried Beef And String Beans I
Stir-Fried Beef And String Beans II
Stir-Fried Beef And Tea Melon
Stir-Fried Beef And Tomatoes
Stir-Fried Beef And Vermicelli
Stir-Fried Beef Heart With Ginger
Stir-Fried Beef Liver I
Stir-Fried Beef Liver II
Stir-Fried Beef With Sweet-and-Pungent Radishes
Stir-Fried Curried Beef
Stir-Fried Hot Beef Shreds
Stir-Fried Onion Crackle Beef
Sweet-and-Pungent Beef Balls I
Sweet-and-Pungent Beef Balls II




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