actually my second impulse beef question
June 24, 2018 10:32 AM Subscribe
I impulsively bought a pound of top round steak in the Fred Meyer sale meat section and want to turn it into some lunches for the week, preferably as a stir-fry. I'm still pretty new to cooking meat, and have also fallen into a stir-fry rut, so I want both advice on this particular piece of meat and also all of your stir-fry advice, tips, tricks, favorite sauces, etc!
My kitchen is pretty well stocked with olive oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, onions, ginger, etc. I think the only vegetables I have right now are a cauliflower and some broccoli. I'm squeamish about meat, but learning to get over it. If this cut of meat isn't so great for stir-fries, I'd love other ideas about what to do with it.
On a related note, I like making stir-fries for lunches with chicken, pork, or tofu, but I'm kind of in a rut. What are your favorite stir-fry recipes? What do you usually put in your stir-fry sauce? Mine is usually a mix of soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar or lime juice, and garlic, and I'd like to branch out. Give me all your stir-fry secrets!
My kitchen is pretty well stocked with olive oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, onions, ginger, etc. I think the only vegetables I have right now are a cauliflower and some broccoli. I'm squeamish about meat, but learning to get over it. If this cut of meat isn't so great for stir-fries, I'd love other ideas about what to do with it.
On a related note, I like making stir-fries for lunches with chicken, pork, or tofu, but I'm kind of in a rut. What are your favorite stir-fry recipes? What do you usually put in your stir-fry sauce? Mine is usually a mix of soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar or lime juice, and garlic, and I'd like to branch out. Give me all your stir-fry secrets!
To get nice even thin slices of beef, put it in the freezer for a short time so it gets partially frozen (not overnight, more like twenty minutes depending on your freezer's temperature). That will stabilize it when you slice it (almost like a good crust on a loaf of bread). Once thinly sliced it will thaw quickly and also absorb marinade efficiently.
Top round is good for stir fry and other quick cooking (like broiling or high temperature grilling) but the key is to keep the cooking time short. Otherwise it gets very tough, because it's a lean cut without much fat and connective tissue to break down. So if you're looking for well done this isn't the cut of meat for you - for that look to chuck roasts and brisket for long braises.
Get some oil that's better for very high temperatures. Olive oil is okay as long as it's not extra virgin, but it's still prone to smoke and slightly off tastes at good stir fry temperatures. Grapeseed oil is a good one. Hold off on the sesame oil until you've taken things off the heat and use it for seasoning at the end, otherwise it's a waste of deliciousness.
posted by Mizu at 11:38 AM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Top round is good for stir fry and other quick cooking (like broiling or high temperature grilling) but the key is to keep the cooking time short. Otherwise it gets very tough, because it's a lean cut without much fat and connective tissue to break down. So if you're looking for well done this isn't the cut of meat for you - for that look to chuck roasts and brisket for long braises.
Get some oil that's better for very high temperatures. Olive oil is okay as long as it's not extra virgin, but it's still prone to smoke and slightly off tastes at good stir fry temperatures. Grapeseed oil is a good one. Hold off on the sesame oil until you've taken things off the heat and use it for seasoning at the end, otherwise it's a waste of deliciousness.
posted by Mizu at 11:38 AM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Yep, freeze the meat before slicing, and make sure you slice against the grain.
Have you heard of "velveting" meat? Makes it much more moist and tender.
Depending on which of the eight cuisines you're trying to mimic, I'd also recommend experimenting with sugar. Shanghai is a good source for sweeter recipes. For example, tomato and egg, or rice cake in soy sauce, or (not stir-fry) the famous red cooked pork belly. The last one produces a large volume of sauce which, if you don't reduce all of it down, is great for tossing other stir-fries.
posted by meaty shoe puppet at 1:22 PM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Have you heard of "velveting" meat? Makes it much more moist and tender.
Depending on which of the eight cuisines you're trying to mimic, I'd also recommend experimenting with sugar. Shanghai is a good source for sweeter recipes. For example, tomato and egg, or rice cake in soy sauce, or (not stir-fry) the famous red cooked pork belly. The last one produces a large volume of sauce which, if you don't reduce all of it down, is great for tossing other stir-fries.
posted by meaty shoe puppet at 1:22 PM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
The important technique to know is slicing the meat against the grain. Top Round is easily used for stri fry IF you slice it against the grain before marinating. Do as Mizuno suggests by a slight freeze to make thin slices easier.
Use a neutral high smoke point oil such as, sunflower, rice bran or rapeseed/canola. A good flavor high smoke point oil is peanut.
A book with sauces and marinades galore is Parisi's Get Saucy.
In my pantry: oyster sauce, various soy sauce, fish sauce, hoisin, preserved black bean, sesame, corn starch, sake, dry Sherry, gin and other items very specific to certain dishes like tamarind and fermented shrimp paste. But if there is one sauce I use all the time it is oyster sauce in combination with other ingredients. A little of oyster sauce goes a long way. You can make a simple sauce with just oyster sauce, water and corn starch with a lot of water gets you a sauce for seafood that is quickly stir fried then have the mixture poured over and then thickened by cooking.
posted by jadepearl at 1:22 PM on June 24, 2018
Use a neutral high smoke point oil such as, sunflower, rice bran or rapeseed/canola. A good flavor high smoke point oil is peanut.
A book with sauces and marinades galore is Parisi's Get Saucy.
In my pantry: oyster sauce, various soy sauce, fish sauce, hoisin, preserved black bean, sesame, corn starch, sake, dry Sherry, gin and other items very specific to certain dishes like tamarind and fermented shrimp paste. But if there is one sauce I use all the time it is oyster sauce in combination with other ingredients. A little of oyster sauce goes a long way. You can make a simple sauce with just oyster sauce, water and corn starch with a lot of water gets you a sauce for seafood that is quickly stir fried then have the mixture poured over and then thickened by cooking.
posted by jadepearl at 1:22 PM on June 24, 2018
I made steak fajitas the other night, and what I did was marinate the steak in a mixture of lime juice and soy sauce, with some cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder.
Then I took it out of the marinade and patted it dry with paper towels (one underneath and one on top, on a plate).
Heated up a cast iron pan, added a little bit of canola oil. Seared the steak for 3-4 minutes per side, until medium rare, then let rest on a clean plate.
I chopped one each of onion, red bell pepper, and green bell pepper, and sauteed them in the same pan, adding a bit more oil.
After the steak had rested, I cut it into very thin strips, and added it back into the pan with the cooked veggies. It was still too rare for my liking, but after cooking and stirring a bit with the pepper and onion mix, it was just right. And it was really easy to cut against the grain after it had been seared and rested.
Ate it as fajitas one night, wrapped in warm tortillas, then as a bean bowl the next night, with heated canned black beans, Uncle Ben's microwave Spanish rice, the meat and onion/pepper mix, and some sour cream, lime juice and cilantro.
I prefer flat iron steak for things like this, as it has more marbling running through it, or skirt steak, but that's more pricey here. I think you could get a lot of stir fries out of a top round by marinating while prepping your veg, then searing it on both sides, then resting, and then slicing and adding back into your veg mix. I love the crispy bits on the edges, and sometimes when stir frying at home, the pan just doesn't get hot enough, and things get crowded, so you end up with steamed meat and veg, which is not as tasty.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 2:48 PM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Then I took it out of the marinade and patted it dry with paper towels (one underneath and one on top, on a plate).
Heated up a cast iron pan, added a little bit of canola oil. Seared the steak for 3-4 minutes per side, until medium rare, then let rest on a clean plate.
I chopped one each of onion, red bell pepper, and green bell pepper, and sauteed them in the same pan, adding a bit more oil.
After the steak had rested, I cut it into very thin strips, and added it back into the pan with the cooked veggies. It was still too rare for my liking, but after cooking and stirring a bit with the pepper and onion mix, it was just right. And it was really easy to cut against the grain after it had been seared and rested.
Ate it as fajitas one night, wrapped in warm tortillas, then as a bean bowl the next night, with heated canned black beans, Uncle Ben's microwave Spanish rice, the meat and onion/pepper mix, and some sour cream, lime juice and cilantro.
I prefer flat iron steak for things like this, as it has more marbling running through it, or skirt steak, but that's more pricey here. I think you could get a lot of stir fries out of a top round by marinating while prepping your veg, then searing it on both sides, then resting, and then slicing and adding back into your veg mix. I love the crispy bits on the edges, and sometimes when stir frying at home, the pan just doesn't get hot enough, and things get crowded, so you end up with steamed meat and veg, which is not as tasty.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 2:48 PM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
I keep the Cook Smart infographic for stir frying (linked at bottom of article) handy in my kitchen. I stir fry several times per week, yet I still like to look at it to think through options and make creative choices.
Repeating some others here, regarding meat, slice against the grain, screaming hot pan, don't crowd it in the pan, meat should be dry so it doesn't steam itself.
posted by slipthought at 3:57 PM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Repeating some others here, regarding meat, slice against the grain, screaming hot pan, don't crowd it in the pan, meat should be dry so it doesn't steam itself.
posted by slipthought at 3:57 PM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Coconut milk is amazing in stirfries, Mr. DTMFA and I use it all the time. Usually we put in a can of it with some soy sauce (or even better oyster sauce), ginger, and garlic. Sometimes we add other things like rice vinegar, cornstarch to make it thicker, or a cube of chicken stock. If you like spicy sauces, adding a bit of sriracha sauce is delicious! We normally do chicken or tofu but the recommendations for meat in this thread sound great.
posted by DTMFA at 8:25 PM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by DTMFA at 8:25 PM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Some other good things to add to stir fries/stir fry sauces: sweet chili sauce, fish sauce (just a dash, usually), thai basil, galangal, lemongrass, garlic-chili sauce. (In case you can't tell, I really like Thai/Southeast Asian flavors)
As for this particular cut, IIRC it's not as tender as some so you might want to marinate it for longer and cut it into fairly thin strips. You could make a nice beef and broccoli.
posted by lunasol at 10:57 AM on June 24, 2018 [1 favorite]