How To Tenderize ANY Meat!
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As you all know, naturally tender cuts of meat tend to be more expensive, and serving meat on a budget can be a challenge. Today, I am going to talk about how to tenderize meat before cooking, which includes cutting, pounding, and marinading. After watching this video, I am sure you will cook perfectly tender meat every time.
Tip NO.1: Slice the meat against the grain
Recipe Ex:
Toothpick Beef:
Crispy Sweet And Sour Pork Northern Chinese Style:
Pork Stir Fry with Celery:
Tip NO.2: Use a meat tenderizer
A meat tenderizer helps to break down the dense, tough muscle fibers and the protein that binds them. You just use it to pound the meat until the meat gets a little fluffy. This technique will be good for cooking steak, pork chop, and breaded chicken.
Recipe Ex:
Easy Breaded Chicken Breast Recipe:
TIP NO.3: Marinate the meat correctly
1. Baking soda does an amazing job at tenderizing meat
Baking soda breaks down the meat fiber in a chemical way.It alkalizes the meat proteins and makes them hard to bond together which keeps the meat tender when cooking.
How to use baking soda?
If it is a large piece of meat that you tend to grill or pan-sear: Sprinkle baking soda on the surface. Rub it on both sides. Rest it in the fridge for 3 to 5 hours. Rinse the meat several times to remove all the baking soda. Wipe the water with a paper towel. Then you can cook the meat however you want.
If you want to marinate smaller meat pieces: Just add some baking soda directly into the meat with other seasonings. Let it sit for at least 20 minutes before cooking. One important note is that over adding baking soda bring a weird bitter taste. I will suggest no more than 1/2 tsp/ pound of meat.
If you use baking soda in the marinade, it is better not to use anything sour like vinegar, lime juice at the same time. Because baking soda will react with the acid and lose the effect.
Recipe Ex:
Chicken Chow Mein (Stir Fry Noodles):
Sweet and Sour Pork:
Pepper steak:
2. Velveting helps you to create a juicy, tender texture of meat
Velveting is a technique in Chinese cuisine for preserving the moisture of meat while cooking. It is Chinese restaurants’ secret. They use it to create that juicy, velvety texture of meat.
Pre-coat the meat with a mixture of egg white, corn starch, some Chinese cooking wine, and other seasonings for at least 30 minutes before cooking. Then the meat can be stir-fried, which I have done it in my chicken and broccoli recipe; You can deep-fry it which I showed in my Mongolian beef recipe, or you can boil the meat, my spicy pouched beef recipe is a perfect example.
What the velveting mixture does is that it protects the meat fibers, preventing them from seizing up, which leads to the juicy tender meat. This technique gives the meat a starchy layer, which is perfect for recipes that have lots of sauce because then the meat can catch a lot of flavors.
Recipe Ex:
Chicken and Broccoil:
Sichuan Spicy Poached Beef Recipe:
Easy Mongolian Beef Recipe:
3. Some fruits also have the ability to tenderize the meat, such as orange, Pineapple, green papaya.
It needs to freshly grind puree or juice. Long-life commercial fruit product does not work. Using fruit puree or juice as a meat tenderizer adds some freshness and fruity taste to the dish, which is what a lot of people love about.
Here is how I do it: Marinade the meat with whatever seasoning and spices you like. Then add in some freshly squeezed orange juice. Mix it for 5-8 minutes. Refrigerate until you are ready to cook.
If you use papaya or pineapple puree, just rub it on both sides of the meat. Leave it at room temperature. Unlike the acid in the orange juice, papaya uses an enzyme called papain to tenderize the meat which works better at room temperature.
Recipe Ex:
Orange Chicken:
Woo Can Cook | Mu Shu Pork (PF Chang's)
hello hi hello everyone! Wesley here, this is a recipe adding to our series on Chinese American food hacks, based on the mu shu pork from PF Chang's. This was a fun one to deconstruct cause PF Chang's mu shu pork makes a lot of the decisions in their recipe that you will find in a typical americanized mu shu pork, so it was super fun to take apart and identify the American qualities that come up.
As always, I also took a shot at my own version of mu shu pork, which is loosely based off of my mom's recipe from when I was a kid. As it turns out after discussing this further with my parents, what we were eating was not mu shu pork at all, but a similar dish called hecai daimo, which loosely translates to mixed veggies with an (egg) hat. In addition to the differences in plating, it also prominently features the use of vermicelli rice noodles, which I've never seen anywhere outside of my parent's house. Hope you try it.
Woo Can Cook is a series where we reproduce fun foods and recipes from my childhood. Some of them are authentically Chinese and/or pan-Asian, but a lot of them are odd Americanized versions that I inherited from my parents and grandparents while growing up in the Bay Area/California.
Music: Feel it Still | Woo Cooks Beats (lofi beats to cook to):
Instagram (random nonsense and Sammy cameos):
Youtube Live (Streaming Live Tuesdays/Thursdays at 6:30PM PST, Wednesdays at 6PM PST!):
PF Chang's Version
INGREDIENTS
- 1 boneless pork loin
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp ginger
- 1/4 head white cabbage
- 2 green onions
- 2 carrots
- 1/4 cup cucumber (about 1 1/2 inches of cucumber)
- 1/2 cup bean sprouts
- 8 oz can bamboo shoots
- 2 wood ear mushrooms
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
- 1 tsp corn starch
- vegetable oil
- mu shu skins (or flour tortillas)
INGREDIENTS (marinade)
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp shaoxing wine
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
INGREDIENTS (sauce)
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp doubanjiang
- 2 tbsp shaoxing wine
- kosher salt
- hoisin sauce
PREP
- CRUSH and MINCE garlic, set aside
- FINE MINCE ginger, set aside
- THINLY SLICE pork loin, set aside
- SLICE cabbage, set aside
- SEPARATE greens and whites of green onions and slice, set aside
- JULIENNE carrots and cucumbers, set aside
- REHYDRATE wood ear mushrooms in boiling water for 10 minutes, then slice, set aside
- WHISK eggs, then add 1 tbsp corn starch and 1 tsp of corn starch, set aside
- COMBINE pork with all marinade ingredients, and marinate for 30 minutes or up to an hour
- COMBINE all sauce ingredients except hoisin, and set aside
ON THE STOVE
- HEAT wok as hot as possible, then add 4 tbsp vegetable oil, long yao
- ADD pork, reserving the liquid of the marinade, toss until 90% cooked (about 2 minutes), then remove
- WIPE down wok, reheat, add 4 more tbsp vegetable oil, and long yao
- ADD garlic, ginger, and whites of green onions, and sauté until fragrant (about 15 seconds)
- ADD cabbage and carrots, toss and sauté for 1-2 minutes until slightly tender
- ADD mushrooms, bean sprouts, and bamboo shoots, and toss with 3 tbsp of sauce mixture, saute for 1-2 minutes
- ADD pork back to the wok, followed by cucumbers and remaining sauce mixture
- TOSS until combined, and remove
- WIPE down wok, reheat, add 4 more tbsp vegetable oil, and long yao
- ADD egg mixture to the wok, and rotate the wok until as much of the egg makes contact with the wok as possible
- FLIP the egg, then remove onto a cutting board
- SLICE the egg into strips, then add to the stir fry off heat
- SERVE over mu shu skins (or flour tortillas), and finish with greens of green onions and hoisin sauce
COOKING WITH MY DAUGHTER | Moo Shu Pork & Homemade Tortillas
I'm teaming up with my daughter, Ella to make a delicious Moo Shu Pork and homemade tortillas. What a treat!!
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Butane Canisters - Amazon -
Instant Pot IP-DUO Plus60 - Amazon -
Joule Sous Vide - Amazon -
Foodsaver Sealer - Amazon -
Stasher Silicone Bag - Amazon -
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Edlund Stainless Tongs - Amazon -
Microplane Coarse Grater - Amazon -
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Wusthof Chef's Knife - Amazon
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Stainless Steel Scraper - Amazon -
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Silicone Spatula - Amazon -
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#simpleordinaryjoyful #flolum #mooshu
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These 4 Recipes were Your Favourites for 2022
Our most popular videos of 2023. Happy New Year everyone!
** Chinese Homestyle COOKBOOK! ** Amazon
** SUPPORT THE CHANNEL & WRITTEN RECIPE ACCESS ** Patreon
** FLO'S AMAZON GEAR PAGE **
** FLO'S KITCHEN GEAR **
Butane Torch - Amazon -
Joule Sous Vide - Amazon -
Foodsaver Sealer - Amazon -
Stasher Silicone Bag - Amazon -
Butane Burner - Amazon -
Butane Canisters - Amazon -
Evo Oil Spayer Bottle - Amazon -
Philips Air Fryer - Amazon -
Instant Pot IP-DUO Plus60 - Amazon -
Libbey Mini Glass Jars - Amazon -
Edlund Stainless Tongs - Amazon -
Microplane Coarse Grater - Amazon -
Microplane Fine Grater - Amazon -
Lodge Cast Iron Skillet - Amazon -
Wusthof Chef's Knife - Amazon
Wusthof Santoku Knife - Amazon -
Lansky Knife Sharpener - Amazon -
Stainless Steel Scraper - Amazon -
Pepper Mill - Amazon -
OXO Garlic Press - Amazon -
OXO Can Opener - Amazon -
Silicone Spatula - Amazon -
Oil Dispenser - Amazon -
** CHAPTERS **
0:00 - Introduction
2:34 - Egg Drop Soup
10:10 - Mee Goreng
20:29 - Taiwanese Beef Noodle
34:00 - Hawaiian Garlic Shrimp
** FLO'S APRON **
#simpleordinaryjoyful #flolum
DISCLAIMER: This description contains affiliate links. When you click on one of the product links, we’ll receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows us to make more videos like this. Thank you for your support!
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How to Prepare a Chinese New Year Dinner (12 dishes included)
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Happy Lunar New Year! The reunion dinner is the biggest event out of the entire year. I want to show you how to prepare a traditional dinner for new year's eve. We filmed an entire process of the food making, the culture behind it, and the traditions. Make sure to get a cup of coffee or tea before watching - hope you can enjoy it.
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???? THE HAND-CRAFTED CARBON STEEL FRYING PAN IS NOT AVAILABLE YET. IT WILL BE READY AROUND MAY THIS YEAR
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On this special holiday, I wish all of you
????阖家欢乐,生活美满:Wish you a happy family and happy life!
????年年有余,财源广进:Wish you abundant profit every year!
????身体健康,万事如意!Wish you good health and achieve anything your heart desires!
Videography / Editing by Austin Schargorodski -
Moo shu Pork is Quick! | Kenji's (quick) Cooking Show
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The classic chinese version of this dish is served as a simple stir fry, but the Chinese-American dish that I make at home originates in 1958 from Joyce Chen's restaurant in Cambridge, MA. The main difference is that the Chinese-American version is served with thin Mandarin pancakes and hoisin sauce. (Some versions of the dish at even more Americanized chain restaurants may include ingredients like cabbage or carrots in place of the day lily and woodear).
I like to add a lot of fresh mushrooms. Sometimes I replace the pork entirely with mushrooms (I also like the aliteration of Moo Shu Mushroom).
There's a version of this dish in my book The Wok ( there's a version I published in The New York Times ( and I have a first-person video on the dish in which a long-haired version of me makes it (
Here's a video on how to make mandarin pancakes (
I also have a recipe in my book), though you can also buy them frozen or just use thin flour tortillas instead.