How to make diced beef tender?

Lionel Messy

I'm doing a curry, nothing special, it's a jar of curry sauce but i want my beef tender like you get from a takeaway. If i just do it on the pan it will be hard. Tips?

tSubh Dearg

The reason it is so tender in a take away is that it is generally made first thing in the morning and left to slowly cook all day. The longer the meat is cooking for, the more time there is for the connective tissues to break down and make the beef soft.

Depending the cut of beef you'd probably want to be cooking at a very low heat for about 4 hours before you eat it.

When you make a curry from scratch the meat is also marinated in the herbs and spices (often overnight) before cooking. This also helps to make it more tender in the end product. I know it's too late this time, but next time you fancy a curry over the weekend, you could do worse than having a go at making one from scratch yourself, especially now you can get nearly all the ingredients easily in the Asian supermarkets. Try the BBC and Guardian websites for good recipes.

Lionel Messy

I'm just gonna do a beef stew instead so it can be tender.

twerg_85

Some juices (pineapple,mango I think) help tenderise meat if marinated. Otherwise cook over low heat for long time as suggested. I normally prepare the curry on the hob and then bung in the oven for a while to stew up.
Pounding the meat with a mallet or rolling pin should work too I think.

BaZmO*

Takeaways don't use stewing beef for curries. They tend to use fillet and you pay extra for it. I know for the bog standard beef curry they use a cut that I'm not too sure of, but it's tough as old boots generally.

Stewing/Diced beef has to be cooked for long periods for it to become tender.

Lionel Messy

Made myself a slow cooked Beef stew with beer, beef stock, carrots, celery, potato, parsnip and knorr herb infusion pot. Tender beef and all.

Darkginger

I pre-cook my beef in a curry gravy (see Curry Addict's contribution to the Cooking Club for an example) over a very low heat for a couple of hours before using it in a curry. You can cook large amounts like this and then freeze in portions for future use - same goes for chicken and lamb, though the chicken only needs about 20 mins cooking.

irisheddie85

Surely a curry and stew would take about the same time to get tender beef.

No one would go out and buy a jar of "stew" sauce in Ireland but we do it with curry and wonder why its not as good as it should be.

There wouldn't be that many more ingredients in a curry and most of them have a long shelf life so can be kept for a good while in the cupboard

TBoneMan

BaZmO* wrote: »

Takeaways don't use stewing beef for curries. They tend to use fillet and you pay extra for it. I know for the bog standard beef curry they use a cut that I'm not too sure of, but it's tough as old boots generally.

Stewing/Diced beef has to be cooked for long periods for it to become tender.

There isn't a Curry House in Ireland using Beef fillet(€45/kg) for a curry...the accountant would shot the chef first.
I worked in Mumbai for a time and all good curry's use the shoulder & neck cuts and are simmered ( just like a stew) for 1h30m to 2hours.

In beef you need to be asking your butcher for Chuck steak pieces(€12/kg) or Diced Rib steak. Supermarkets use a lot of brisket due to its leaner appearance but in fact this is a tough muscle requiring 3 hours plus simmering to soften up.

As with any Curry, stew or casserole;high heat at first to sear the meat for flavour; then sauce & veg added; heat reduced to half & simmer till tender...easy

Longranger

A great cut for stew,pies,curries etc is shin,it's cheaper than even the cheap diced stewing beef and has SO much more flavour. Lots of people are put off by the amount of sinew, but believe me, it is a blessing in disguise! If you cook it on a simmer for 3-4 hours all that sinew breaks down and leaves you with a wonderfully thick consistency,and buckets of beefy flavour. Give it a go and you won't be sorry.
LR

rubadub

TBoneMan wrote: »

There isn't a Curry House in Ireland using Beef fillet(€45/kg) for a curry..

It would be a bit of a waste alright. My local chinese has beef curry for €6.30, and fillet of beef curry for €10.00. Whether its proper fillet steak is another thing.

Many Chinese takeaways have this, a fillet beef section as well as normal.

From the big Chinese thread, not for curry but worth noting as jassha was working in Chinese takeaways.

Originally Posted by rodrob111 View Post
Any tips on marinating or tenderising beef for flavour for Beef & Black Bean. A lot of my chinese dishes end up tasting more like beef dipped in the sauce rather than the whole dish tasting lovely.

jassha wrote: »

slice ure beef into ure desired size and mix with a little salt , pepper ,potato flour, sesame oil, water and a little dark soy. leave for about an hour. drain and fry before adding to ure sauce. For chicken omit the soy.

ChubbyHubby

Chinese takeaways don't stew their beef like an indian restaurant/takeaway might. They just tend to use the velveting technique to marinade and tenderize the meats they use. It's usually how meat is prepared for a stirfry (see jassha's instructions quoted above). For the beef in a curry, they usually just marinade the beef, poach it, then mix it in the curry. You don't want or need the marinade residue in the curry.

PS: personally i think chinese takeaway curries are naff :P

Melendez

This post has been deleted.

whistlingtitan

If your making beef stew don't use beer
Put the beef And veg in a container and cover with Guinness over night strain. And fry the mix add the Guinness back in thou don't throw it away

BaZmO*

whistlingtitan wrote: »

If your making beef stew don't use beer
Put the beef And veg in a container and cover with Guinness over night strain. And fry the mix add the Guinness back in thou don't throw it away

Don't use beer? What do you think Guinness is?

frag420

BaZmO* wrote: »

What do you think Guinness is?

Disgusting!!

Unless its in a stew!

Alun

whistlingtitan wrote: »

If your making beef stew don't use beer

OK then, I'll never make a Beef and Ale pie ever again

emeraldstar

Alun wrote: »

OK then, I'll never make a Beef and Ale pie ever again

Only Beef and Guinness pies