Sort-of-deep-fry

corblimey

I'm following this recipe this weekend, but have a question about the following directions:

5. Meanwhile add enough oil to a large wok or pan with high sides to fry the beef. (I used about 1 cup.)
6. Heat oil until hot but not scorching.
7. Add in the beef making sure not to over crowd the pan. (I did a couple of batches). Brown the beef on both sides for 1-2 minutes on each side.

So 1 cup is about 250ml of oil, but I'm sure it depends on the size of your high sided pan whether 250ml is not enough or too much. I have no concept of how much oil 250ml actually is, and I'm not sure why I would have to use so much just to 'brown' beef for 1-2 minutes. Surely a tbsp and a couple of minutes stirring would have the same effect? The beef is tossed in cornflour to begin, so maybe the 'deep' frying is better for it?

Any tips would be appreciated.

rubadub

I hate wasting oil or having left over oil. My usual trick if I need it "deep fried" is to heat up a reasonable amount in a saucepan, and then tilt the saucepan to one side so you have a pool of oil, and add the stuff to be cooked. So you do it in small batches.

250ml is a lot, and as they mention turning the beef I expect you can use a lot less.

corblimey

rubadub wrote: »

I hate wasting oil or having left over oil.

This.

So in theory, just enough (pooled at the side as you do, or just straight in) to cover the beef in one layer?

Dizzyblonde

I think you'd only need enough oil to coat the pan well, you wouldn't need more than that to brown meat.

corblimey

Well that's even better DB, and basically what I do when browning my meat all the time. Maybe Americans just like their beef deep fried?

CJhaughey

I think looking at that recipe the oil needs to come up the sides of the cubes to cook it more than just a shallow frying would from below.
Oil carries and transfers heat and if you are browning cubes shallow frying might only cook the bottom.
Lots of these dishes need plenty of oil as well, Asian cuisine doesn't shy away from oil like modern Western cooking does.

Tree

A cup of oil in a large wok probably only rises about two centimetres, it'll give you much better contact area with the beef and let you crisp up all sides more easily. When the oil is cold, you can strain and store the leftover oil. We do that with falafel oil etc, and just use it for any other frying purposes where any flavour imparted to the oil will not affect the next recipe (or improves it )

corblimey

Just to say thanks, in the end I just threw what I had left of my oil (less than a cup, I'd say) into the pan, and tipped it to the side to cook the beef in batches. Bit of pita holding the pan for the 1-2 mins it took to brown the beef, but probably the best use of time and materials. And the resulting dish? Delicious, although a little sweet for my liking - maybe less sugar next time.

Then I fashioned a funnel out of a discarded Calippo tube and poured the used oil back into the bottle.