Why is Chinese Beef so Sucky?

Why is Chinese Beef so Sucky?

One of the few guiding principles I issue to the family when ordering at Chinese restaurants is “Don’t get anything with beef in it – and if you do, please plan to eat it yourself.”

This is not to say that there is no fine Chinese beef to be had at many fine Chinese restaurants, but most Chinese beef I’ve had has been mushy, slimy, and sometimes liver-y though the flavor is usually more palatable than the texture.

Chinese chefs wrest magnificence from poultry, seafood, even lamb, but beef…I’ve rarely seen a Chinese beef preparation worth a second bite. Sometimes the meat seems over-marinated, sometimes just a bad cut, rarely if ever rave-worthy.

I don’t know why Chinese beef seems to be so sucky, and I avoid it like Krab Rangoon.

Am I being overly harsh, critical or unfair regarding Chinese beef? Enlighten me.

Hammond

In most of China, beef is intensely disliked. Strong flavors are for barbarians. This includes lamb, as well. "Meat" means "pork." Conversely, in Mongolia, no one wants to eat pork, because that is seen as "going Chinese."

There are regions of China and ethnic groups other than the dominant Han Chinese who consume lamb and beef, but these people tend to be dismissed. I know that, when traveling in China, my guides have always made terrible faces when I had beef or lamb (served in Tibet -- we saw no beef in mainland China), and commented on how disgusting the strong meat taste was.

So it makes sense that people who come from a culture that really doesn't like beef would not create dishes with beef that appeal to Western tastes -- unless, of course, the chef was raised in Kansas.

Cynthia's points are well taken. This likely explains why the best Chinese beef dishes are found at the more Americaized restaurants. At those places, beef dishes are commonplace and are often excellent. Favorites in this style would include Orange beef, beef in garlic sauce and of course,Mongolian beef (see Cynhia's comments re the appropriate name of this dish).

One really excellent beef dish that turns up regularly on HK style menus is the "dry fried rice noodles with beef". This is a benchmark dish for most HK restaurants, and is usually among the most popular choices. When done correctly this dish can be the epitome of "wok Hay" or the smoky charry flavor that defines the best stir fry dishes.The beef in this dish can be superb,showing just how well Cantonese chefs can handle this ingredient when they really try.

What Cynthia's observations do not fully explain, is the Chinese preoccupation with tendons,Maw and other 'variety cuts' of beef, while ignoring more tender (and in our markets "better" and more expense cuts )almost completely. Perhaps this just reflects a taste preference or cultural bias, but I wonder... what do they do with all the tenderloins and rib roasts from the animals used for entrail and gristle stews?

kuhdo wrote:What Cynthia's observations do not fully explain, is the Chinese preoccupation with tendons,Maw and other 'variety cuts' of beef, while ignoring more tender (and in our markets "better" and more expense cuts almost completely). Perhaps this just reflects a taste preference or cultural bias, but I wonder... what do they do with all the tenderloins and rib roasts from the animals used for entrail and gristle stews?

Exactly what I was wondering myself... All I ever recall eating growing up was beef shank, tripe, tongue, tendon, flank steak thinly sliced for stir-frying, brisket (I think - translated roughly beef belly), ox-tails, occasionally the equivalent of bone-in kalbi (the sale stuff at H-Mart for $1.79/lb) and ground beef. Where DID the tenderloin, ribeyes and NY strips go?

Hours ago, at Moon Palace, I was soundly spanked by the Gods of Food.

This morning, I had started this thread about sucky Chinese beef, and as though not heeding my own implied admonition, the first thing I ordered for dinner was Five Flavor Beef. It was really good, outstanding even.



This beef seemed slightly salted to concentrate flavors, then splashed in the Shanghai style with some sweet sauce and Chinese Five Spice. It had excellent flavor...and excellent texture, very meaty, the muscle strands distinct, not mushed, firm yet yielding. Just a primo app, savory and clean tasting.

So, I needs must conclude: not all Chinese beef is sucky.

Thanks be to you, O Gods of Food, for cleansing my vision and correcting the error of my ways.

David "Duly Chastened" Hammond

Glad you found something you liked. Thinking about this, it occurs to me that beef in oyster sauce is another traditional Cantonese dish which can be very non-suckish if done properly.

I'm still curious about those missing tenderloins.

One wonders if the tenderloins went to Europeans living along the coast, and the tendons were just reserved for the same reason shark fins are cut off -- it's all about gelatinous texture. Because cattle wasn't something anyone was raising before Europeans started moving in. (Not for milk, either -- it's just not part of the culture.)

David Hammond wrote:most Chinese beef I’ve had has been mushy, slimy, and sometimes liver-y though the flavor is usually more palatable than the texture.

Hammond

I suspect that it COULD be from using MSG or another such substance as a tenderizer.

Last year, I had a ham that I was using up. I like roast ham and roasted pineapple a lot. Therefore, I heated up the sliced ham and pineapples in the SAME pan. The meat lost ALL texture. It was awful- just like the Chinese beef.

On a similar note, I ordered a menu item called "Orange Beef" in Reno a couple of years ago, and the meat tasted (and I am not making this up) crispy & sweet. I did not know whether to send it back or if well, "that's the way it was supposed to taste". We ended up eating about half of it.

jlawrence01 wrote:

David Hammond wrote:most Chinese beef I’ve had has been mushy, slimy, and sometimes liver-y though the flavor is usually more palatable than the texture.

Hammond

I suspect that it COULD be from using MSG or another such substance as a tenderizer.

Last year, I had a ham that I was using up. I like roast ham and roasted pineapple a lot. Therefore, I heated up the sliced ham and pineapples in the SAME pan. The meat lost ALL texture. It was awful- just like the Chinese beef.

On a similar note, I ordered a menu item called "Orange Beef" in Reno a couple of years ago, and the meat tasted (and I am not making this up) crispy & sweet. I did not know whether to send it back or if well, "that's the way it was supposed to taste". We ended up eating about half of it.

One of my former employees used to own a Chinese takeout place. One day I asked him how they got beef to obtain that texture. He said that he started by slicing the meat thin. Then the combination of papaya powder (papacin tenderizer) and corn starch results in the mushy texture with the slimy coating.

Flip

Flip wrote:One of my former employees used to own a Chinese takeout place. One day I asked him how they got beef to obtain that texture. He said that he started by slicing the meat thin. Then the combination of papaya powder (papacin tenderizer) and corn starch results in the mushy texture with the slimy coating.

Flip, I think you mean papain. Also an egg-white and cornstarch coating before stirfrying works so; velveting. Approaching full circle:How to achieve Chinese-restaurant-textured beef at home?

Flip wrote:One day I asked him how they got beef to obtain that texture. He said that he started by slicing the meat thin. Then the combination of papaya powder (papacin tenderizer) and corn starch results in the mushy texture with the slimy coating.

About 25 years ago, I read an article in Washington Post food section about diplomats posted in India. They couldn't obtain beef, though they had access to water buffalo and other variety meats. They used papaya juice to tenderize meat.

They had other work arounds, but this was the one that has stuck best in my memory.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:About 25 years ago, I read an article in Washington Post food section about diplomats posted in India. They couldn't obtain beef, though they had access to water buffalo and other variety meats. They used papaya juice to tenderize meat.

Papaya is a common trick to tenderizing meat, but green or raw papaya should be used. The ripe papaya contains very little papain.
This seems familiar. Also found this: Secret to tenderizing beef cantonese-style

i'd rather have "sucky" Chinese beef with bamboo shoots @ KS Seafood than an medium-rare/rare/overcooked Prime steak at Ruth Chris/Morton's/insert-your-fave-chained-steak-house anyday. then again, i also really love a killer Krab Rangoon... perhaps it's because mushy beef is considered "tender"? just like you'd never find a decent Chinese restaurant using white chicken breasts for much of anything?