Stay on stay on, you are on the right page, though I am talking beef, yet showing an onion
Under circumstances YOU GET TO SEE the GRAIN LINES (obvious lines) on that piece of meat...when you see them, then SLICE AGAINST THE GRAINS LINES! One (but not the only) tip to get tender piece of beef. I HEARD YOUR TIPS and TRICKS! :) Thanks.
SECOND TIP during preparation. I'm not so sure about this but many Chinese cooks and chefs believe SALT will make beef more chewy (less tender). Is that true ? Probably a more appropriate statement when seasoning uncooked beef before you cook it. Once the beef is cooked, you can seasoned with salt without worries and to taste, since a different science concept would have applied. So...so...when you want to season uncooked beef with salt, make sure it is minimally seasoned with salt. Minimal ? Okay. Let's say you are grilling a chunk of sirloin steak. Sprinkling a pinch or two of salt on it should be fine? Relativity measurements.
I'm beginning to understand why Chinese cooks and chefs say that. Most of the beef dishes whipped up in Chinese cuisine uses strips and thin fillets of beef. I am trying to vision - when they have to season many strips/fillets/pieces of beef (VERSUS one single slab of 9-oz, typically calls by in the Western cuisine), the amount of salt contacting the beef surface area is different. OH, SAVE ME SAVE ME...and save you from all my talk. Professional chefs out there, don't throw your eggs at me ok? I'm learning and starting to appreciate the science of cooking. Hmmph....did Alton Brown ever had an episode or snippet on that...to explain the molecular or atomic reactions? I miss Alton Brown (though he does not know me)!
WHY? WHY ? I hope I am not being technically incorrect. But I deduced --> when salt contacts blood, it will cause blood channels/vessels to constrict. If you bring this back to beef, the salt that contacts the "blood" in the beef (thus, called red meat) will cause the muscles/grains lines in the beef to constrict further - tensed muscles, constricted grain lines, contracted meat structure ---> hard-to-bite and less tender beef ? Tender beef = beef with a "relaxed" meat structure. Does it sound logical? Enough said. This post is getting longer.
Then, why on earth am I featuring an ONION ??? Am I getting a second throw of eggs here? Please don't....
I wanted to bring you to a point about slicing an onion, AND it has got to do with SLICING AGAINST the "lines". THIS.
Onion: I'm not beef but if you slice me like that, I will appreciate it and be milder to you :)
If you ever find raw onions too pungent or too sharp to be consumed as-is, TIPS are:
1. Cut or slice against the "grain" or lines (shown in the 2nd & 3rd photo, compare that with the first which is slicing along the "lines")...yes, and you thought that "theory" only applies to tenderizing beef ? When you slice them this way, you break up the channels that produce the evil tear-inducing chemicals, also the channels that cause onions to have pungent and sharp raw taste.
2. Soak sliced onions in cold ice water bath for 5-10 mins. The chemicals that result in pungency and sharp biting taste gradually "leaks" out to the water.
Well, depending on how brave you are when facing an onion. Some people do enjoy its pungent and sharp biting taste as distinct characteristics but some shun onions for the same reason. If you ignore step (1) --> slice it along the "lines"--> step (2) can also give you milder-tasting raw onions -OR - if you are cooking onions in a dish, and wants your onions to turn sweet (the longer you cook onions at low-medium heat, the softer and sweeter it becomes) in a shorter period of time, step (1) slicing/cutting will help release the onion "sweetness" faster.
Now by understanding an onion, you will love your onion more, raw and/or cooked. Specifically, you will enjoy raw onions in future - make your crisp clean salads or burger much more appealing and welcomed by all. No more will you say "I wanna order a burger, without onions...puh-leasse..." (maybe it's just me?)Hey, why am I discussing and having this monologue here? It is natural, basic, inherent instinctive knowledge to all of you. It is ME, THE ONE who has NOT been PAYING TOO MUCH ATTENTION to an ONION for so many years. D0 all cooking schools teach this ? :Pat
I would love to share these onion tips with Astrid at Paulchen's FoodBlog for this week's Weekend Herb Blogging.
Tag: onion, beef, cooking tips
i used to hate onions, A LOT...now i love them for as long as they are well well well done (aka overcooked)
ReplyDeletehmm re: beef...i thought when we cook steak we're supposed to marinate the cut of meat with salt? hmmm....i always mixed up "dont salt" beef or pork hehe
As far I know, (too much) salt has a correlation with high blood pressure, correct me if I´m wrong :). I love onion and I used to cut it like in your 2nd picture.
ReplyDeleteInteresting about the onions! I love them strong but I'll have to experiment with the different techniques anyway!
ReplyDeleteOh man, I never pay attention as how I cut my onion or how to produce tender beef. Thanks for the tips!
ReplyDeletethanks for all these valuable information tigerfish..i need to note them down..never mind i'll just go check your site when im in doubt heheh :-)
ReplyDeleteu lost me at second tip. lol! but i love onion. id purposely put lotsa onions in my cooking and drive my husband crazy since he wud have to pick each and everyone of them out out his plate. hahaha.
ReplyDeleteCome claim your award when you are free ya!
ReplyDeleteI love my onion raw.... sweet. My family members don't like onion. :)
ReplyDeleteLove the onion/beef comparison! I rarely eat raw onions, too sharp for me, but I'll experiment with the cutting.
ReplyDeleteWe always cut tough beef steak on the bias (after cooking) for more tender slices. (no blood left in meat after it's slaughtered, BTW - or, at least, there shouldn't be...)
Wah seems like there are lots of xue wen with the onion and beef that I'm still ignorant about.
ReplyDeleteTenderize the beef(meats) with salt? Something new...I should try sprinkling a pinch of salt and try it out. I use pear juice to tenderize the meat mostly, but often my pears get eaten by my 2 kids before I can get the juice out of them!! :P
Hmmm thanks for the tips! We did a video on our blog awhile back on "How to chop an onion without crying." We tested 8 different theories! :)
ReplyDeleteJust reading through my new copy of On Food and Cooking.. on the subject of salt and brining:
ReplyDelete"brining has two initial effects.. first salt disrupts the structure of the muscle filaments. A 3% salt solution dissolves parts of the protein structure that supports the contracting filaments, and a 5.5% solution dissolves the filaments themselves....In addition, the dissolved protein filaments can't coagulate into normally dense aggregates, so the cooked meat seems more tender. Because the brine works in from the outside, it has it's earliest and strongest effects on the meat reigion most likely to be overcooked.." McGee pg 155-156..
Seems like if you were salting or brining strips it would be overkill and mess up the texture due to the increased surface area exposed to the brine. But if it was a whole chunk of meat you'd be better off?
Anyways.. hope that helps!
Wow, what a long but educational and funny post! :D
ReplyDeleteHey I miss Alton Brown too!
oh man. i LOVEEEE onions. i eat them raw, but i love them best when they are nicely caramelized.
ReplyDeletesometimes i just prepare 2 big onions with stir fried pork strips. slowly caramelizing it until it is so so fragrant and translucent and brown. then add in the marinated pork strips. lovely..
oh.. i dun marinate my meats with salt too. mum taught us that since young. Also, we add salt at the end of the cooking process, when it's almost ready, so the meat 'misbehave'. LOL
yup, am mummy's boy, all the kids at home go through mummy's cooking school and we played around with meat and how to cut meat correctly.
other ways of tendering meat, just hammer the meat! with those kitchen meat hammers. LOL
or add in papaya into your dish. this fruit will tenderize meat too.
oh yes, for cutting some kind of vegetables too, always cut in 45 degrees slant, so that they have more surface area and you can cook them quicker.
Never heard that idea before about slicing onion against the grain, very interesting. Great tips.
ReplyDelete