This is how to tenderise beef with a Chinese restaurant method called “velveting beef”. Also used for chicken, it’s a simple, highly effective technique using baking soda that transforms economical beef so it’s incredibly tender in stir fries and stir fried noodles.
It’s a quick and easy method that any home cook can do, any night of the week. No deep frying, no special equipment. This is a game changer!
How do Chinese restaurants get their beef so tender??
Ever notice how the beef at Chinese restaurants is so incredibly tender, and how your stir fries at home are just never the same?
The secret is tenderising the meat. It’s called velveting beef.
Your cheerful local Chinese restaurant is using economical stewing beef to make stir fries with ultra tender strips of beef by tenderising it!
How to tenderise beef – easily!
There are a few methods, but this is the easiest way:
- Sprinkle 3/4 tsp baking soda (bi-carbonate soda) on 250g / 8oz sliced economical beef cuts
- Toss with fingers, leave for 30 minutes
- Rinse, pat off excess water
- Proceed with stir fry recipe. It can be marinated with wet or dry seasonings, or cooked plain. The beef will be really tender and soft, “velvet’ like. Just like in stir fries made by your favourite Chinese restaurant!
Other tenderising methods include marinating in a cornflour/cornstarch sludge then frying in oil before using in the stir fry, chemical tenderisers and egg white marinates. The baking soda method is the simplest for every day purposes and just as effective which is why it’s the method I use.
Beef cuts to tenderise
These are the best cuts of beef to tenderise:
- economical steaks* – any type, like good value rump, porterhouse, sirloin, round bottom etc. that are otherwise quite dry when used in stir fries;
- chuck and similar cuts of beef used for stews – this technique will tenderise the beef perfectly, however, by their very nature, stewing cuts of beef don’t have as strong a natural beef flavour as steaks. However, I’m fine with that because stir fries always have great sauces!
* It sounds counterintuitive to tenderise steaks because one would assume if beef is sold labelled as “steaks”, that indicates they’re good for quick cooking (eg grilling) so it should be good for stir fries. But it’s not – even steaks range from economical to high quality. You can use any high quality (expensive) steak in stir fries without tenderising (which is what fine dining Asian restaurants do). Use this tenderising technique on budget steaks, not expensive steaks.
Tenderising time
Tenderising time differs for different cuts of beef. Here’s the general rule of thumb I’ve come up with based on all the beef I’ve tried:
- Chuck beef, gravy beef, oyster beef and other traditional stewing beef – 30 minutes
- Economical steak cuts (eg. cheap rump, hanger) – 20 minutes
- Blade, bolar blade – 40 minutes
- Brisket – the only cut I don’t recommend, haven’t been 100% happy with outcome
If you’re unsure for your cut of beef, go for 35 minutes. Even when I under or over tenderised, it was still tender and juicy. You’ll quickly figure out the best marinating times for your preferred cuts of beef – just adjust up and down by 10 minutes at a time.
Word of caution: The beef will turn freakishly bright red. See?
Don’t be alarmed – that’s just what happens. In fact, if you put your ear very close to the beef, you’ll hear faint fizzing – that’s the baking soda at work!
Marinating Tenderised Beef
After it’s been tenderised, go ahead and marinate it in whatever you want – wet sauce or dry seasonings. Because we’re using thin slices of beef here and it’s been tenderised, we don’t need to marinate for long. Even 10 minutes will suffice.
Also, stir fries have the benefit of glossy sauces coating the beef so that’s another reason why we do not need to marinate it for long.
Pictured below is the stir fry sauce / marinade for Chinese Beef and Broccoli.
How to cook tenderised beef
Tenderised beef can be stir fried the traditional way – hard and fast on a hot stove in mere minutes – or even deep or shallow fried in oil like in this Crispy Mongolian Beef (pictured below).
Whichever way you cook it, the beef comes out much more tender and juicy than even expensive cuts of beef like beef tenderloin!
What does tenderised beef taste like?
The flavour of the beef is not affected by the tenderising. So the beef flavour will only be as good as the cut you use.
Tenderising affects the texture not the flavour of the beef. It has a “velvety” texture. The fibres are softened so you get less “meaty” texture, which is why I only use this technique to tenderise strips of meat and not cubes or steaks which would be a bit too eerie!
Why tenderise beef?
Tenderising beef enables you to make fast-cook beef recipes using economical cuts of beef that usually require slow cooking to break down the tough fibres, like in Stews. And it stays tender even if you overcook the beef!
What to make with tenderised beef
Because this is a Chinese restaurant method, I’m sharing this with stir fries like Beef and Broccoli and stir fried noodles in mind. Build your own stir fry using my All Purpose Chinese Stir Fry Sauce or Peanut Sauce for stir fries!
You can also use tenderised beef in place of chicken or pork in any of the stir fries.
But don’t limit yourself to just Chinese recipes! The plain tenderised beef isn’t flavoured, so it can be used for any recipe calling for strips of beef that are cooked quickly, such as Beef Stroganoff.
If you try this tenderising technique, I’d love to know what you think! – Nagi x
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How to tenderise beef (velveting beef)
Ingredients
- 250 g / 8 oz stewing beef or other economical beef cuts (Note 1)
- 3/4 tsp baking soda / bi-carbonate soda (Note 2)
Instructions
- Slice beef thinly against the grain. (Note 3)
- Place in a bowl. Sprinkle over baking soda, toss with fingers to coat evenly.
- Refrigerate for 30 to 40 minutes. (See Note 1 for different cuts)
- Rinse beef well with tap water. Shake off excess water, then use paper towels to blot away excess water (doesn't need to be 100% dry).
- Proceed with recipe of choice. Beef can be marinated or seasoned before cooking, stir fried or deep fried, and it will be soft and tender, "velvet" like. Use for Stir Fries, Stir Fried Noodles, Beef Stroganoff and any other recipe calling for quick-cooked beef strips.
Recipe Notes:
1. Beef cuts - Use this for stewing cuts and to improve the tenderness of economical steaks. It will work with any cut of beef but is obviously wasted on expensive beef like tenderloin or high quality, well marbled fillets and rib eyes. Tenderising time differs for different cuts of beef. Here's the general rule of thumb I've come up with based on all the beef I've tried:
- Chuck beef, gravy beef, oyster beef and other traditional stewing beef - 30 minutes
- Economical steak cuts (eg. cheap rump, hanger) - 20 minutes
- Blade, bolar blade - 40 minutes
- Brisket - the only cut I don't recommend, haven't been 100% happy with outcome
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
This is the only beef he’s getting today… 😂
Love this tip. It is amazing.
I tried this method of tenderizing my meat tonight. My beef was fresh, and like others have said… my beef smelled fishy. Also, after I washed it and cooked it, the beef had a bitter taste to it. Did I used too much baking soda? The beef was indeed tender, it was even falling apart. Perhaps next time I’ll use less baking soda and let it sit there for a shorter period of time. Thank you for the tip.
Don’t skip the rinsing step. I missed this step and ended up with super salty beef stroganoff that was inedible! Totally missed seeing the rinsing step for some reason!
You must rinse Linda!!! Sorry you didn’t see this step 🙈 N x
I don’t know what happened! Almost instantly after I added the baking soda, the meat smelled like seafood! I used sirloin that came cut thin for pan frying, and I cut that down into smaller strips before using the baking soda. I was hoping it would go away but it only got worse. I tried rinsing the meat before cooking, to no avail. When it hit the pan it truly smelled like scallops! Once cooked.. it was the oddest taste of old seafood + beef. I had to toss it. Nagi.. what did I do!? I only cook from your recipes and this the first that has gone so very wrong!
PS- I made this for the beef & broccoli noodles… so I was able to salvage the broccoli + noodles and added some mushrooms. That part was delish!
Hey Nagi! I love this technique but I have one issue: when I use it for stir frys I can kind of taste the baking soda in the meat. I rinsed each piece and patted dry and I can still taste that after taste after I cook it. Am I using too much, or not rinsing well enough? It shouldn’t give the meat a taste right? Thanks in advance!
Oh my gosh! I don’t know how come I didn’t know about this technique earlier! My stir fry’s will never be the same! Thank you so much for sharing this simple technique. I paired it with your mangolia beef dish and I’m speechless. So, so, so good!!! ❤️
I wonder whether the baking soda way can be used on chuck of beef before slicing them so that later the washing of the beef will not diminish the any nutrients from the beef.
Hi Mel, the meat needs to be sliced before velveting as using big pieces won’t absorb and be tender the whole way through. Velveting does not affect the food whatsoever and won’t diminish your beef. N x
Hi, is this something that can be done with mince, as you wouldn’t be able to rinse it out? Especially minced pork, as I find that the taste and smell of minced pork is quite strong when used making wonton.
Thank you so much Nagi. I have been wondering how to tenderise beef to stir fry.
I use the velveting method for chicken which also stops it from drying out when cooked.
I’m definitely excited to try your honey and black pepper sauce and this technique! My fiance loves Asian food so I try to prepare different recipes when I stumble across them.
Is there a recipe for Asian broccoli, I’m not sure if there’s a name for it, the kind you’ll find on buffet and in takeout?
I’m planning on serving this with rice and a mix veg: carrot, broccoli, mushrooms. Any suggestions would be fabulous!
Hi Rose, I hope you love it! I believe this is the recipe you’re looking for https://www.recipetineats.com/chinese-broccoli-with-oyster-sauce/ N x
Both recipes turned out fabulous.
Yes, there was a slightly fishy/sour smell but a very mindful rinse got rid of it.
I rinsed mine like I wash rice.
My fiance literally inhaled his bowl then flipped it over trying to find more. So I call both a keeper!
Thank you for the broccoli recipe I’ll try it this week and report back.