Steak cut for stirfry

corblimey

Apologies if this is a well worn subject, I did search. I'm doing a beef stir fry tomorrow, and in the past, I normally just pick up those 'diced beef' trays from Tesco. They're alright, but I'm wondering if I'm missing a trick by not getting a better cut of meat. The recipe I follow calls for a 400g hunk of fillet sliced thinly, but I'm not made of money. Any tips, and am I better off finding a good butcher than dealing with the surly guy in Tescos, or is this sort of thing below the pay grade of a good butcher?

Dizzyblonde

I know that if you pay extra in the Chinese for fillet beef in your dish, it melts in your mouth.
For a stirfry I think you really need to use one of the more expensive cuts like fillet or sirloin because you'll be cooking it quickly. The cheaper cuts need a longer cooking time to tenderise.

scruff321

I always just buy fillet steaks cook them and afterwards slice'em up myself.

Minder

Round steak (rump steak) is a cheaper alternative to sirloin or fillet, but it's tough. Buy a single steak rather than pre-cut meat. Bash it with a meat mallet until its thin. Then try the fruit marinades - fresh pineapple, kiwi and papaya all contain enzymes that will help tenderise meat. Kiwi is probably the cheapest and easiest to get. Peel and blitz to a puree, then spread over the meat and leave for at least an hour, and up to 3 hours. When ready to cook, just wipe the marinade off and slice thinly to stirfry.

brick tamland

I use either the thin cut steaks or the beef medallions and slice them thin. never liked the meat in the pre-sliced stuff

huskerdu

Sirloin should work, and it is much cheaper than fillet.

A lot of good butchers will sell already sliced stirfry steak.
Of course, it depends on the butcher what sort of quality, but it is worth a try if you trust the butcher. They use cut offs of sirloin that are too small to sell.

The packets of chopped meat in supermarkets are never good quality in my opinion.

Minders idea to marinate the meat to tenderise it is a good idea.

Mr Magnolia

I use sirloin myself. I cook off the veg first then remove from the pan. Get the wok good and hot then put the marinated thinly cut sirloin in for a couple of minutes. You really don't want it to over cook or it gets tough. Veg back in then serve.

iMax

Got fillet a couple of weeks ago for stirfry & it was a totally different experience. Absolutely melt in the mouth, hardly any chewing. It's the way to go from now on.

corblimey

The butcher recommend round steak and sliced it for me there and then. Very tasty (much tastier than the last time I made it) but I think maybe try fillet next time...

martic

I posted a recipe on here before using this method for velvetting chicken and it works the same way for beef, leaves it very tender like it was got in a chinese take away.


1. slice the beef width ways very thinly.
2. add it to a bowl.
3. To the bowl add 1 egg white, 1 tsp corn flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tbls soy sauce and mix mix your finger tips.
4. cover and set in fridge for 10 mins.
5. Heat oil in wok or pan until very hot and fry beef in batches until cooked.
6. Set aside while you stir fry your vegetables and then add it back to the pan for another minute or so.

Scientifically I haven't a clue how this works but all I know is it leaves the meat perfect.

the beer revolu

I like to use striploin or sirloin. I sear it quickly on a very hot pan, then slice it and only really heat it up in the stir fry.

pickarooney

martic wrote: »

I posted a recipe on here before using this method for velvetting chicken and it works the same way for beef, leaves it very tender like it was got in a chinese take away.


1. slice the beef width ways very thinly.
2. add it to a bowl.
3. To the bowl add 1 egg white, 1 tsp corn flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tbls soy sauce and mix mix your finger tips.
4. cover and set in fridge for 10 mins.
5. Heat oil in wok or pan until very hot and fry beef in batches until cooked.
6. Set aside while you stir fry your vegetables and then add it back to the pan for another minute or so.

Scientifically I haven't a clue how this works but all I know is it leaves the meat perfect.

I do something like this with round, or preferably skirt, steak. Never thought of adding an egg white, but the trick I find is to use no oil and carefully time the placement and turning of the pieces of beef (I use chopsticks for this) so they sear properly and are very lightly cooked inside.

Brian?

iMax wrote: »

Got fillet a couple of weeks ago for stirfry & it was a totally different experience. Absolutely melt in the mouth, hardly any chewing. It's the way to go from now on.

The poor steak. I think it's a crying shame to do anything like that with fillet. It's too damn good on it's own.

Mellor

corblimey wrote: »

The butcher recommend round steak and sliced it for me there and then. Very tasty (much tastier than the last time I made it) but I think maybe try fillet next time...

Round steak is the cheapest there is. That is exactly what the packs of steak pieces contain. it's slightly better when diced fresh, but its not great steak.
That said, I don't see the point for using steak in stir fry is there isn't a need.

briankeating wrote: »

The poor steak. I think it's a crying shame to do anything like that with fillet. It's too damn good on it's own.

+1

corblimey

Mellor wrote: »

That said, I don't see the point for using steak in stir fry is there isn't a need.

So what are you saying to put into a beef stirfry if not steak (and definitely not round or fillet)?

Mellor

I said it was cheap steak. And that its often what comes in the packs of "steak Pieces" or "stir fry beef", therefore wasn't implying not to use it. Which is why your butcher used it.

I meant don't see the point is using good steak in stirfry.
Eg using an expensive steak (like fillet) is a waste.

corblimey

Mellor wrote: »

I said it was cheap steak. And that its often what comes in the packs of "steak Pieces" or "stir fry beef", therefore wasn't implying not to use it. Which is why your butcher used it.

I meant don't see the point is using good steak in stirfry.
Eg using an expensive steak (like fillet) is a waste.

To be fair, you said

it's slightly better when diced fresh, but its not great steak.
That said, I don't see the point for using steak in stir fry is there isn't a need.

So you're saying round steak is "not great" and you don't see the point in using steak at all in a stir fry.

Dizzyblonde

corblimey, if you do like steak in your stirfy then a little bit of fillet is better than a load of cheaper steak

Pork steak is another great meat for stirfries.

nesbitt

I always buy Striploin steaks from the butcher for stirfrys. I cut in very fine strips and marinade it for as few hours. (as per Jassha's advice in his excellent monumental chinese cooking thread ).

Mellor

corblimey wrote: »

To be fair, you said


So you're saying round steak is "not great" and you don't see the point in using steak at all in a stir fry.

I know I said that. Which is why I clarified it in the second post. Where's the issue?
When I said I don't see the point for using steak, I was refering to your suggestion of using fillet. Again, I've already clarified this.
My posts weren't that difficult to follow., if you are having trouble comprehending them then maybe you should be allowed to cook on your own.

Look, use fillet if you like, but sliced thin it will over cook rather quickly. It's your money to waste.
If it was me, I'd cook the steak normally, slice it post cooking and fan it on the plate, serve with veg stirfried on its own.
I'm not interested in arguing, I'd given advice and given my reasons.

muckety

+1 for skirt - if you freeze it until you need it (you will probably have to order it specially anyway) and slice it when just starting to thaw you can get very thin slices. Skirt needs to be flash fried, ie just shown the pan (if you over cook it you will make it tough) but has good flavour and texture. IMO better than fillet for stirfries. HTH.

vibe666

i've always been a fan of getting fillet tails/ends off the butcher and using those. they're no good for steak as they're too thin, but it's still fillet meat and you can usually get a really good deal off the butcher or if you live near to a meat processing factory with a shop on the side (kepak in blanchardstown for example) you can get great deals if you don't mind buying in bulk and portioning it up and freezing it yourself for later use.

also perfect for a great stroganoff. imagine that now, a nice bit of kepak fillet in a stroganoff, om nom nom nom!

seriously, you could make a meal of that even if you didn't have your teeth in, it's that tender.

Honey-ec

vibe666 wrote: »

i've always been a fan of getting fillet tails/ends off the butcher and using those. they're no good for steak as they're too thin, but it's still fillet meat and you can usually get a really good deal off the butcher

That's a really good idea. I've been doing it with bacon offcuts for years (€1.99 a kilo in Aldi), but never thought of asking the butcher for the fillet tails.

vibe666

just a note to add to the fillet tails/ends thing.

i went and got 2 packs today which came to a total of €55 for about 6.7kg of kepak fillet tails.

you can see the 2 bags in the 1st image next to a tin of tuna for comparison and a few samples of the sorts of pieces of meat you get in a pack, as well as the final 11 portions (3 tails per 2 people) bagged up and ready for the freezer which will be generous amounts of meat for 2 person meals in stir fries, stroganoffs & fajitas and whatever else i can think of to do with them (suggestions always welcome ).

€2.50 per 600g portion isn't half bad for a nice bit of fillet imho and no need to feel bad about wasting fillet in a stir fry at that price, i reckon it should be in the BA forum.