How to make tender Chinese beef?

[WhYSoSuK]

thank you! lol finally some ppl just really dont believe they use baking soda to tenderize the meat

[Alberto Garza]

They use corn starch.

They only tell non-Chinese people it's baking soda. Baking soda does tenderize meat but Chinese restaurants use corn starch.

[RFDkit]

They use meat tenderizer AND also a different way of cooking the meat then we do normally at home. They use a lot of hot oil to cook the beef fast then drain the oil. The beef is cook seperately and then added in at the end. It's hard to do that kind of fast, high heat cooking at home.

[gmark2000]

I've been Googling this topic and found that yes, baking soda and corn starch are used, but the other key is the cheap cut of meat (flank steak), cut against the grain and rinsed/soaked in water before marinating with soy, sugar and vinegar achieves the final result. Coating with corn starch before frying achieves the "velveting" that makes it smooth and slippery. The baking soda and water break down the muscle tissue to tenderize, but you must be careful because it strips the flavour and too long makes the meat "mushy".