Many people are not too fond of beef, preferring pork or poultry to it, citing the fact that when fried, the beef comes out dry and tough. But this statement is not entirely fair. The fact is that you just need to know how to cook fried beef correctly. The meat itself is not too fatty, therefore, unlike pork, it must be fried in a certain way, paying attention to the thickness of the piece, the temperature, and even at what point you should add spices.
Subtleties and nuances of cooking
And what part of the beef you choose to cook in a frying pan is also of great importance... I may have scared you a little with such a large list of necessary knowledge for cooking fried beef, but in practice everything is not so scary. I will be happy to share with you a detailed recipe in which I will tell you step by step how to simply and relatively quickly fry beef. If you do everything as described in it, you will certainly succeed.
How to cook juicy beef
A source of iron, protein and minerals, beef is always a safe bet for a tasty and healthy dinner. Therefore, today's master class is devoted to how to cook beef so that it is soft and juicy in a frying pan. Let's reveal the secrets of this delicate dish: from the choice of products to unique recipes.
Choosing meat to cook in a frying pan
The taste of the entire dish depends on the freshness and juiciness of the beef. What to look for? How not to make a mistake in choosing the right piece? Let us list the main criteria for suitable meat.
Rules for purchasing fresh beef
- A rich red hue and the absence of unnecessary dark inclusions indicate the freshness of the meat. Beef from an old animal is brown and is unlikely to make a juicy dish.
- High-quality meat has dense, snow-white fat that may crumble slightly. Tough beef has a mustard tint of fat. The reference meat is considered to be marbled meat, the structure of which is penetrated by small layers of fat.
- Fresh beef has a dry surface. Only the edges of the cut remain wet. To avoid mistakes, follow this simple advice: choose slightly cured meat, not something that is covered in blood.
- The smell of a quality product should not have any additional impurities. Any hint of an unpleasant odor is not in favor of the purchase.
- Another criterion is elasticity. The surface of fresh meat is smoothed out almost immediately after slight pressure.
- Cost plays an important role when choosing products. Good beef from domestic farmers is not a cheap pleasure.
- Tender pan-fried beef is obtained from the loin, thin and thick edges, or the rump can be used.
Choosing the right frozen meat
Not every housewife can boast of the opportunity to buy fresh beef at the market. Many supermarkets and hypermarkets offer a wide range of frozen meat. The rules for choosing such a product are slightly different:
When properly frozen, the color of beef does not change significantly or becomes several shades lighter. When using vacuum packaging, the meat can be a rich burgundy hue, but when defrosted at home, it turns red again.
Frozen beef should not be stored for more than 10 months (from the date of packaging). Therefore, pay attention to the production time.
The abundance of ice indicates that the meat was frozen more than once: the conditions for transportation or storage of the product were violated. Is it worth the risk? Ice is allowed only on the surface of the package. By the way, the packaging itself must remain intact: without unnecessary breaks.
In conclusion, let us remind you that beef is defrosted only in the refrigerator. Of course, it would be more convenient to leave the meat in the kitchen sink overnight. But such rapid defrosting can be to the detriment of the quality of the main dish.
Secrets of soft and juicy meat
If the ability to choose the right beef comes with experience, then even novice cooks can make a dish tender. It is enough to follow simple recommendations.
It is better to start preparing for frying meat in a frying pan in advance. Do not neglect long-term soaking of the product in the sauce. There are several ways:
- Dip each piece in vegetable oil, sprinkle salt, pepper and other spices on all sides. Place in a deep bowl, cover and refrigerate for 2-2.5 hours.
- For tough meat, soaking in soy sauce with the addition of a spoonful of mustard, honey and 2-3 teaspoons of squeezed lemon is suitable. Let marinate for 3 hours.
- Gourmets will love the marinade based on dry wine or in combination with soy and lemon juice.
Before starting cooking, it is advisable to pound the meat well.
Many housewives note that instead of frying, they manage to stew the meat. To minimize the release of a large amount of liquid, it is better to place the pieces on a heated frying pan with a ribbed surface.
- Placing the meat correctly
It is important that the pieces do not touch each other in the pan. They should be located at a short distance, since a large distance will lead to burning of fat or vegetable oil.
Frying time depends on the shape of the pieces of meat. If you prefer to cut the product in the form of plates, then it is enough to fry for 7-8 minutes on each side. Small bars are fried for a total of a quarter of an hour. Pieces of meat weighing 35 g are also fried for about 20-25 minutes with the lid open.
Juicy Roast Beef Recipes
Tender and flavorful beef is valued all over the world. Therefore, we suggest trying a few simple recipes from different countries.
“Flemish beef” - step-by-step recipe with photos
The Belgians know a lot about meat delicacies. That’s why the beef according to their recipe simply melts in your mouth. The dish cooks equally well both in a cauldron and in a frying pan.
The following ingredients will be required:
- Beef (loin) – 800 g;
- White bread - 1 piece;
- Mustard – 2 teaspoons. false;
- Onion – 3 pcs.;
- Bay leaf – 3-4 pcs.;
- Dark beer – 1 bottle. (or 300-400 ml);
- Olive oil;
- Butter – 50 g;
- Salt;
- Pepper, spices (to taste).
| Cut the meat and onion into large pieces. |
| Place onions in a heated frying pan with oil and fry until amber in color. |
| While the onions are cooking, it's time to start eating the meat. Pour olive oil into the bottom of a cauldron (or deep frying pan) and add a small piece of butter, which will reveal the flavor of the entire dish. |
| When the pan is heated to maximum temperature, add the beef. Fry the meat over high heat on all sides until golden brown. |
| A couple of minutes before cooking, add fried onions to the beef. Reduce heat and stir thoroughly. Salt well, add pepper, spices (to taste) and place bay leaves on top. |
| Pour dark beer over the dish. |
| While the meat is stewing, take a piece of white bread and spread mustard on it. Place the resulting “sandwich” in the frying pan so that the mustard comes into contact with the meat. Cover the dish with a lid and continue to simmer over low heat. |
| After 1 hour 45 minutes, the bread will completely dissolve and the beef will literally disintegrate into fibers. Make mashed potatoes or fries as a side dish. |
"Beef Naples style"
Another simple recipe for how to quickly cook beef so that it is tender. All you need:
- Beef – 0.5 kg;
- Onion – 3 pcs.
- Flour (2-3 tbsp.);
- Sour cream;
- Butter;
- Pepper;
- Salt (to taste).
Cut the fillet into long pieces and beat. Rub the meat on all sides with salt, pepper and other spices. Place the beef in a hot frying pan. At this time, melt the butter (fat) and fry the onion slices. When golden brown, add a couple of tablespoons of flour. After 5-8 minutes, add 2-3 tablespoons of sour cream and 150 ml of water to the onion. Simmer the onion until it becomes soft. When the beef is browned on all sides, place it on a platter and pour the Naples-style onion sauce on top.
Now you know the secrets to cooking beef so it's tender and juicy in the pan. And if something doesn’t work out and the meat still remains tough, there is always a simple way out: return it to the pan, add water, a couple of spoons of sour cream and simmer for 10 minutes.
Enjoy your meal!
www.virtualmakeover.ru
How to choose meat?
To obtain a high-quality steak, we select the most valuable and tender part of the carcass - tenderloin or sirloin. We take young beef. The meat is pinkish-red in color, with light fat. Older beef has a bright red color and yellow fat. The meat should be fresh, with a pleasant milky aroma, and should not have bloody spots or bruises. The flesh of fresh beef is dense and elastic, the fibers do not fall apart.
Original recipe: Chinese-style spicy fried meat
The meat is cut into bars and placed in the marinade. For the marinade you need soy sauce, into which add finely chopped ginger and garlic and one chili pepper (if large, then half), add half a spoon of sugar. If the sauce is without added salt, then it should be added to the marinade. Beef is poured with marinade.
For half a kilo of beef you need a couple of onions and the same number of medium carrots. Three or four peppers. Garlic and salt to taste. You will need half a glass of soy sauce. It's better to choose dark.
Half an hour is enough for marinating. During this time, sweet peppers and carrots are chopped into strips, and onions are cut into half rings. It is advisable to take large bulbs.
Heat the oil in a frying pan until light smoke starts to appear. The meat is removed from the marinade with a slotted spoon and placed in a frying pan. Stir with a wooden spatula. Fry for 5-7 minutes, then remove. Place carrots and onions in the remaining oil and fry for a couple of minutes. The fire can be reduced. Then pour in the marinade sauce, add pepper and meat, stir and fry for about 5 minutes.
White fluffy rice is best as a side dish.
Even for experienced housewives, fried cow meat often turns into an unchewable and difficult-to-cut “sole”, or into an unappetizing “crumb”.
However, cow fillet itself is very tasty and makes excellent dishes; the main thing is to know how to properly fry beef in a frying pan and be able to do it skillfully. It is this “granite” of culinary science that we will “gnaw” today, having studied in detail the tips and three excellent step-by-step recipes for preparing a delicious meat dish.
How long to fry in a pan?
Heat a frying pan well with vegetable oil. Place the prepared piece of beef and fry over high heat for 3-4 minutes, then turn over and fry the other side in the same way. During such frying, the meat becomes covered with a golden brown crust and, as it were, “seals” all the juices inside, so the fried meat will turn out tender and juicy.
Then reduce the heat to minimum, cover the pan with a lid and fry for another 6-8 minutes. If necessary, add vegetable oil.
Turn the meat over to the other side, pour in a couple of tablespoons of boiling water and fry for another 6-8 minutes.
Immediately transfer the cooked beef to a plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Decorate with herbs and vegetables and serve.
If desired, pour meat juice from the pan.
4.9 / 5 ( 17 votes)
How to fry a steak
Steak, or beefsteak, is a fried piece of meat with a thickness of 2.5 to 4 cm. The requirements for choosing meat are the same (only strict) as for a thin chop. And then everything gets more complicated. It is recommended to keep the meat at room temperature for at least an hour before cooking. Some people, starting the process of “ripening” the steak, coat it with various spices, salt and vegetable oil, but this step is not found in all instructions.
Fry the steaks in a grill pan, on the grill, or simply in a frying pan (in the latter case, it is more convenient to cook the steak in the oven after pre-frying). A task that requires some skill from the cook is to prevent the meat from getting too burnt, losing juice or remaining raw. To do this, the meat is fried in a hot frying pan for at least the first minute and a half on each side (it is kept for the required period without turning it over, which releases a large amount of smoke), and then brought to readiness (another 2-7 minutes, depending on the desired degree of roasting) with reduced heat, or in an oven heated to 200 degrees.
Most authors of instructions are sure that the steak should remain bloody - fully fried steak will be tougher in any case.
Meat selection and preliminary preparation
When choosing beef for frying, you must follow two selection criteria:
- freshness (the younger the meat, the less time it will take to prepare and cook it);
- juiciness (the fact is that when frying, the fibers of the meat lose moisture, so pieces of tenderloin - seemingly the best part of the carcass - are completely unsuitable).
It is best to buy a spatula or a thin edge for cooking in a frying pan - then the dish will turn out very juicy and tender.
But even if it was not possible to purchase young beef, this can be easily corrected with the help of preliminary preparation. And here you can go two ways:
- soak the meat in milk (2 liters per 1 kg of beef);
- marinate.
Regarding the latter, there are several best ways to marinate beef.
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp. l. salt;
- 1 tbsp. l. white sugar;
- ground black pepper (to taste).
Preparation:
- Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
- We wash the meat and cut it along the grain into large pieces (small pieces will turn out a little dry).
- Sprinkle the beef with the dry mixture and leave to soak for 20-25 minutes. The meat is ready for frying.
For this marinating option, simply coat the pieces of meat with mustard and let stand for 15 minutes.
This is the so-called Chinese beef marinade.
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp. l. rice vinegar;
- 4 tbsp. l. soy sauce;
- 1.5 tbsp. l. grated fresh ginger;
- 1 tbsp. l. liquid honey;
- 1 tsp each turmeric and dry chili.
Preparation:
- Mix vinegar, honey, ginger, sauce and seasonings.
- Rub the marinade into the pieces of meat, place them in a bowl and let stand for 30 minutes.
Recipes
And here are the promised recipes. In them, I tried to describe in as much detail as possible the process of preparing exquisite culinary dishes.
Step-by-step recipe for beef steak in a frying pan
Following this recipe, you will get perfectly fried medium rare meat. It is very easy to make at home.
- beef steak;
- olive oil;
- coarse sea salt;
- ground black pepper.
Remove the meat from the refrigerator and leave for about half an hour until it comes to room temperature. This will prevent the steak from browning unevenly.
Heat the pan or grill well. The temperature must be really high. This is necessary so that the meat juices are immediately sealed into the meat.
While the pan is heating, cook the meat. Typically, the steak should be about 2 cm thick. Brush the meat with a little olive oil. You can use a brush or apply it with your palm. Remember that the meat itself will still provide some fat. Pepper with a little ground pepper (preferably coarsely ground). Some people like to salt the meat before frying, but it is best to do this after cooking.
Place the meat in a heated frying pan.
For medium-rare cooking, cook steaks for 3 minutes on each side.
Fry the sides a little too. Do not use a fork or knife to turn. This way you can pierce the steaks and the meat juice will flow out.
After frying, leave the steaks to rest for 5 minutes, covered with a plate or wrapped in foil.
After that, you can cut the meat into pieces and salt with coarse sea salt. Bon appetit
