I often see such articles saying that when you go to eat steak for the first time and the waiter asks you how mature you are, you must answer in the odd number, otherwise it will make a joke.
I usually want to laugh after reading it, because this is all nonsense. Today, the uncle will come to talk to you about the real steak maturity classification and related knowledge and selection techniques of steak.
How well is the steak cooked must be odd?
Steak is an imported product, and China has no habit and tradition of eating steak. There are many theories about when steak was introduced to China and affected China’s eating habits, but what is certain is that steak really became popular in China after the Republic of China.
The general maturity classification of steak in foreign countries are: rare, medium rare, medium, medium well, well done these five kinds, and the domestically said three kinds of rare , Half-sweet and half-sweet are a rule set by the Chinese, and why is it an odd number instead of a double number? Part of the reason is that the English word medium corresponds to the middle meaning, which is what we understand as half-sweet , And gradually formed the use of odd numbers to distinguish steak maturity.
Before abroad, steaks were eaten well. After the birth of the kitchen thermometer, a scientific system of steak maturity was slowly formed. Each maturity corresponds to A temperature range in the center of the steak. However, the domestic odd numbers are only for the convenience of memory, and there is no standard and range.
Don't believe what those articles say anymore. The waiter who goes to a restaurant in a foreign country will not ask you how familiar you are, and the higher-end western restaurant in China will also not ask you. Asking how well you want to be cooked is usually in the lower-end chain restaurants. Most of the steaks they use are synthetic steaks or marinated, which are tender no matter how they are fried.
So the waiter would laugh at you because you ordered the steak to be double-numbered or you want to be fully cooked. This is completely nonsense. If you really do, you can ask him, what is the standard of half familiarity? Under what circumstances can steak be called half-ripe? Can you guarantee that it is exactly seven points? Most of them couldn't answer.
How mature is it to cook your own steak?
As mentioned above, the quality of steaks sold in most restaurants outside is not good, and high-end western restaurants are too expensive. If you are a steak lover, then it will be healthy and cost-effective to buy steaks and fry them yourself. .
Before buying steak, you need to buy an essential item, that is a thick bottomed pan, preferably a cast iron pan . The thick bottom of the pan can withstand high temperatures, allowing the steak to be heated more evenly when it is fried.
Another very helpful item is the kitchen thermometer, which can help you understand the temperature inside the steak for beginners so that you can grasp the maturity.
If you don’t have a thermometer, you can also use a more commonly used method in foreign countries. The thumb and index finger are closed, and the softness and hardness of the thumb root muscle is about the same as that of the three-minute ripe. , The closed thumb and middle finger correspond to half-ripe, the closed ring finger corresponds to the half-ripe, and the closed tail finger corresponds to the fully cooked.
The taste that Chinese people can accept is generally half-cooked or fully cooked, that is, the center temperature of the steak should exceed 65 degrees. There is no hard standard for how much to fry. Depending on the part of the meat, the quality of the meat, and the different personal preferences will have different effects.
The more high-quality meat, the maturity can be reduced correspondingly, such as very tender filet steak, you can try half-ripe.
Each partSteak profile
There are also many classifications of steaks. According to different parts, the common ones are sirloin steak, filet steak, upper brain, eye meat and so on. Like tender meat, filet and sirloin are preferred. Filet is also called tenderloin. It is a weight-bearing muscle in beef. It has less connective tissue and is very tender. Generally, each cow can only be removed 4-6 pounds, so the price is relatively expensive.
When choosing, you can buy according to your taste. If you like more lean meat and tender, you can choose filet, and if you like fatty flavor, you can choose sirloin or eye. For meat, those who like to challenge the cooking skills can choose wakame steak. For those who want to cook slowly, it is recommended to choose beef brisket or sirloin.
Synthetic steak or original cut steak?
The picture comes from the Internet
Without a doubt, I would recommend you to choose original cut steaks. Synthetic steaks really don’t know what meat is bonded together, which is very bad for human health. You might as well eat a beef burger for synthetic steak. Let alone the quality of original cut steak, at least it is real beef cut, and the price of ordinary original cut steak is not much more expensive than synthetic steak.
Fried steak precautions
Although fried steak looks simple, it is just a large piece of meat to be fried, but it takes skill to cook it deliciously.
1. Defrosting in advance is very important. The steak that you bought first needs to be put at room temperature to restore the temperature. If you put the cold beef into it and fry it directly, the result is usually that the outer layer is charred but the inner layer is still raw.
As for why the steaks on the market are frozen or refrigerated, this is related to the sourness of beef. The cow will be extremely nervous before being killed, and the lactic acid in the body will increase. Therefore, after the beef is slaughtered, it must go through the process of deacidification to make its temperature drop to 0-4 degrees within 24 hours. In a specific temperature and humidity, lactic acid It is decomposed into carbon dioxide, alcohol and water, and finally volatilized.
2. Marinate in advance, apply sea salt and black pepper to both sides of the steak five minutes before frying.
There are two types of cooking for the steak. Usually, everyone chooses to cook at high temperature and high heat, which can quickly form Maillard reaction on the surface of the steak, which makes it more appetizing. It also tastes better. In this case, both pot and oil are required. Use a thick-bottomed pot instead of olive oil, because olive oil has a relatively low smoke point. It is recommended to use rapeseed oil, grape seed oil or avocado oil.
The second type is low-temperature frying. Use butter to fry slowly at medium and low heat, which can also form Maillard reaction. The advantage of this type is that it is better to control the heat and is suitable for beginners. It is friendly, but requires patience.
3. Wake up the meat. This step is very important. If you don't do this step, the previous effort will be wasted. Don't cut the steak immediately after it's fried, but prevent it from cutting for 5-10 minutes. If you cut it right away, the juice of the steak will run off completely, and the flavor of the steak will also be lost. The last thing you will eat is a piece of dry wood.
The side dishes of steak
I read some articles about how to eat the eggs next to the steak. If you say that you might be laughed at. excuse me? There are so many jokes, eat whatever you like.
And only the domestic chain of steak shops will put a fried egg and a pile of pasta cooked until white next to the steak. In fact, any side dishes are ok, but you have to go up to the point. It would be a bit too much for others to eat right.
In a traditional American steakhouse, the steak will be served with roasted potato cubes, rice, pasta or peas. In the UK, it’s more with French fries and mushrooms or tomatoes.The country is also mainly paired with French fries or potato wedges.
If you fry at home or cook it for friends and family, you can pair it with fried or roasted tomatoes, potato wedges, and mushrooms, or you can make a salad and eat it together.
Today’s related sharing about steak is here. Those who like food making, especially western food, welcome to follow me. If you have any questions, you can leave a comment in the comments. Thank you.
