The reason why stir-fried meat becomes dry and tough
If you buy good meat but it becomes dry and tough when stir-frying, check the following points:
– Improper or wrong meat cutting: To make the meat tender, it needs to be cut across the grain and not cut with the grain, also not too thick. When the meat is too thick, it will become tough, when it is too thin, it will become dry and lose its juiciness. The ideal thickness for stir-fried meat is about 3mm, not too thin and not too thick.
– Overcooking the meat: Stir-frying the meat for too long will overcook it and make the protein in the meat become tough. Many people are afraid of undercooked meat. But in reality, meat is easy to cook when stir-frying, and it only needs medium heat. You can even turn off the heat after the pan is hot, stir the meat, and it will be cooked.
– If the meat is frozen: If the meat is not fully thawed, it will also cause the stir-fried meat to become tough and dry, losing its juiciness.
Tips for delicious, tender, juicy stir-fried meat
Choose good meat: When buying meat, choose fresh meat with good elasticity, and natural reddish-pink color. If you take the meat out of the freezer, make sure to thaw it completely before stir-frying. Stir-frying partially thawed meat will make it dry and tough.
Tenderize the meat: You can use a knife or a meat tenderizer to pound the meat and make it tender before stir-frying.
Use cornstarch or potato starch to tenderize the meat: When marinating the meat, remember to add cooking oil and a bit of cornstarch or potato starch. Coating the meat with starch will make it more tender. You can mix the starch with water to make a stir-fry sauce and pour it evenly over the meat while stir-frying to make the meat even more tender.
Use beer or cola: Beer helps tenderize the protein in the meat. You can add some beer when marinating the meat or mix it into the stir-fry sauce, or pour it over the meat while flipping it in the pan. The enzymes in beer help break down the meat better. You can also use cola.
Use condensed milk: If you like sweetness and want the stir-fried meat to have a sweet taste, instead of using sugar, use condensed milk. Condensed milk is also a secret ingredient that restaurants use to tenderize meat. Especially when grilling meat, marinating the meat with condensed milk will make it much more tender.
When the meat is exposed to high heat, the protein bonds break down, and the meat becomes dry and tough. Stir-fried meat is usually thinly sliced and easy to cook. Therefore, the way you use heat is very important. If you let the heat get too high, the meat will become tough, lose its juiciness, and become dry. You should heat the pan, sauté the onions until fragrant, add the meat, quickly stir it, and lower the heat. Only 1-2 minutes is enough, then turn off the heat and continue flipping the meat until it is cooked through using residual heat, without using high heat. The meat will be tender, delicious, and juicy. Then transfer the meat to a plate. If you want to stir-fry with vegetables, add the vegetables to the pan and sauté until they are cooked. Then add the pre-cooked meat and stir-fry them together to combine. Especially, beef and pork shoulder meat are easy to cook, so you don’t need to cook them for a long time. Just heat the pan, add the meat, quickly stir it, turn off the heat, and continue flipping the meat. This method makes the meat tender, juicy, and flavorful. If you have a large amount to stir-fry, it is better to divide it into multiple batches to ensure even heat distribution. Otherwise, if you put too much in the pan, the heat will not be evenly distributed, and you will have some pieces of meat that are tender and some that are dry.
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