Home Food & Receipts The Secret to Tender Stir-Fry: 3 Easy Steps to Perfectly Soft Meat

Food & Receipts

The Secret to Tender Stir-Fry: 3 Easy Steps to Perfectly Soft Meat

6 October, 2024

1. Using a Knife to Tenderize the Meat

Compared to fatty meat, lean meat has more muscle fibers and tends to be chewier. Before cutting the meat, use the spine of your knife to gently pound the surface of the meat to loosen the muscle fibers.

2. Marinating

Cooking lean meat without marinating it first can result in a strong, unpleasant odor. The correct way to prepare it is to marinate it with seasonings. This not only helps to eliminate the odor but also makes the meat more tender and flavorful.

After cutting the lean meat into thin slices, place it in a bowl and season with salt, light soy sauce, cooking wine, dark soy sauce, pepper, egg white, and cornstarch. Mix well to ensure the meat is evenly coated. Finally, add a spoonful of oil to seal in the moisture. With this method, your meat will remain tender and juicy even if you stir-fry it for a long time.

3. Heating the Oil

Many people avoid using oil when stir-frying lean meat because this type of meat tends to release a lot of water during cooking. However, this is a mistake that can lead to dry and chewy meat.

The correct way to cook lean meat is to heat the oil first and then add the meat, stirring continuously. Once the meat has changed color, you can add the other ingredients and continue stir-frying.

Avoid overcooking pork as it can become dry. Turn off the heat when the meat is just cooked to retain its freshness and flavor.

Eva’s Kitchen would like to share two delicious stir-fried lean pork recipes with you. If you like this type of dish, give these recipes a try—we guarantee they taste ten times better than anything you’ve had before!

Stir-fried Pork with Green Chili Peppers

Ingredients

– Pork tenderloin: 500g

– Green chili peppers: 3

– Ginger, scallions

– Salt, light soy sauce, cooking wine, dark soy sauce, pepper, oil

– Egg

– Cornstarch

Instructions

1. Wash the green chili peppers, remove the seeds and stems, and cut into small pieces. Rinse the pork tenderloin, use the spine of your knife to gently pound the surface, and then cut into small pieces, about the size of a chopstick’s head.

2. Marinate the pork tenderloin with salt, light soy sauce, cooking wine, dark soy sauce, pepper, egg white, and cornstarch. Mix well to ensure the meat absorbs the flavors. Finally, add a spoonful of oil and let the meat marinate for 10-15 minutes.

3. Heat oil in a wok and add the marinated pork tenderloin. Stir-fry until the meat changes color, then remove from the wok and set aside. Add finely chopped ginger and scallions to the wok and sauté until fragrant. Put in the green chili peppers and stir-fry quickly for about a minute. Season with salt and MSG to taste, then return the pork to the wok and stir-fry for another 2 minutes before turning off the heat.

4. Serve the stir-fried pork with hot rice.

Stir-fried Pork with Cucumber

Ingredients

– Pork tenderloin

– Cucumber

– Garlic

– Salt, light soy sauce, cooking wine, dark soy sauce, pepper, MSG

– Egg, cornstarch

– Oil

Instructions

1. Rinse the pork tenderloin and cut into thin slices. You can use the spine of your knife to gently pound the surface of the meat to make it more tender and absorbent.

2. Marinate the pork with salt, light soy sauce, cooking wine, dark soy sauce, black pepper, cornstarch, and egg white. Mix well to ensure the meat absorbs the flavors. Finally, add two spoonfuls of oil to seal in the moisture, keeping the meat tender and juicy.

3. Wash the cucumber, cut into bite-sized pieces. Finely chop the garlic and cut the chili into pieces.

4. Heat oil in a wok and add the marinated pork. Stir-fry until the meat changes color, then remove from the wok and set aside.

5. Using the same wok, add the chopped garlic and sauté until fragrant. Put in the cucumber slices and stir-fry for about 30 seconds, then season with light soy sauce and mix well.

6. Return the stir-fried pork to the wok, add the red chili, adjust the seasoning to taste, and mix well before turning off the heat.

Stir-fried pork with cucumber is a unique and delicious dish. Who would have thought that cucumber, typically used in salads or spring rolls, could be used to create such a nutritious and flavorful dish?