how do you make stir fry using stew meat?

amother

Tue, Jun 24 2014, 6:07 pm

Last time I tried the pieces of meat were a bit hard to chew. I like it soft and tender. But the veggies were soft already and it looked ready. So how do you do it?
How can I tell if meat is ready before adding veggies? How long should it cook for and what kind of sauce is good?

pesek zman

Tue, Jun 24 2014, 6:55 pm

Pretty sure stew meat isn't the best (right) meat to make stir fry. Stew meat is usually chuck, which is perfect for long slow cooking, not necessarily for quick stir fry, for which pepper steak is a better choice.

zaq

Tue, Jun 24 2014, 7:25 pm

There's a reason it's called STEW meat: because it's tough and requires long, slow cooking in liquid to be edible. Perfect for cholent, goulash and so on, all wrong for stir-fry.

For stir-fry you need a very tender meat that needs only brief cooking, and even so it must be cut into slivers first. Ask the butcher what kind of meat works best for this. The best way to tell if the meat is ready is to taste it, of course. For health reasons, don't taste it if it's still pink inside.

You can use a somewhat less tender cut of meat if you use meat tenderizer and let the meat stand in the fridge overnight. That will soften the meat so it needs less cooking, but stew meat will still be too tough.

You'll probably have the most success if you stirfry the veggies first till they're almost but not quite done, remove them to a warm dish, stirfry the meat till it's done, and then add the veggies and continue cooking till the they're done, which should be only about a minute.

piegirl

Wed, Jun 25 2014, 5:23 am

I've cut it into strips, fried and then stuck in the oven with water and spices. Let it cook for a few hours and then add the meat to veggies that were stir fried for a few minutes.

pesek zman

Wed, Jun 25 2014, 7:02 am

amother wrote:

I only have stew meat in the house... it really wont work? even if I saute it in a bit of liquid for a few hours?

Why don't you just make stew ? Wink

amother

Wed, Jun 25 2014, 7:49 am

superdanni wrote:

Oriental steak works much better in a quick stir fry. Pepper steak is for steak and peppers.

zaq

Wed, Jun 25 2014, 5:11 pm

superdanni wrote:

Why don't you just make stew ? Wink

This. The whole point of stir-fry is that it's quick. Pre-braising the meat for a few hours defeats the purpose.

I occasionally make stir-fry as a way of stretching leftover cooked meat or poultry. IOW when there's a little bit of cooked meat, not enough to go around, I'll stirfry some veggies, add the diced or shredded meat and some soy sauce, heat till it's all heated through, and serve over rice.