297303 Tue Jun 01 09:55:25 -0700 2004 13 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1640100 Lately I've been using a Chinese technique: rubbing meat with baking soda as a tenderizer before cooking. It works very well. Does this technique exist in the West? Is there any argument against it? David A. Tue Jun 01 09:55:25 -0700 2004 0 David A. 1 1640102 What exactly is the technique? Do you rinse the baking soda off before cooking? Doesn't it leave a strong taste? How much time before cooking do you rub it in? Inquiring minds.... Tue Jun 01 10:32:08 -0700 2004 1640100 0 soodysoo 2 1640108 We rub a bit of soda in the cut meat before stir-frying. I suppose you could rinse the meat off, but we don't. There is no detectable taste. It works equally well with chicken, pork, and beef. It might be argued that the texture of the meat is subtly changed; it becomes so tender as to lose a bit of its texture. This is the issue I was angling toward with my initial post. Best, David A. Tue Jun 01 11:40:03 -0700 2004 1640102 0 David A. 3 1640110 One other thing: the meat must be given some time to marinate. I've seen recommended marination times that range from ten minutes to eight hours. We haven't done enough experimentation to settle on the optimum marination. David A. Tue Jun 01 11:48:45 -0700 2004 1640108 0 David A. 4 1640112 Would you use about the same amount of baking soda as you would salt? In other words, do you sprinkle the soda like salt and then rub it in? I guess I'm just trying to imagine the quantity of baking soda needed, say for the meat for an average stir-fry (4 people). Tue Jun 01 11:57:15 -0700 2004 1640110 0 soodysoo 5 1640117 Oh, forgot to mention that I've heard that this method robs some of the nutrient value. Haven't had that verified by a nutritionist. Tue Jun 01 12:55:22 -0700 2004 1640112 0 Melanie Wong 6 1640134 You would be better off getting it confirmed by a Registered Dietician. Anybody with a theroy can call themselves a nutritionist. An RD has a degree in nutriton and foods and is a more reliable source. Tue Jun 01 15:18:23 -0700 2004 1640117 0 Candy 7 1640139 Would be great if you would follow-up on that and report back to us on the answer. Tue Jun 01 16:18:52 -0700 2004 1640134 0 Melanie Wong 8 1640146 I'm neither a RD or a nutritionist. I was a Home Ec.Ed. major in college and went to school with the dieticians. Now I'm a Realtor. Wrong field to be of help. Sorry. Tue Jun 01 18:08:47 -0700 2004 1640139 0 Candy 5 1640133 Yes, sprinkle and rub. I would say the right amount is somewhere between a teaspoon and a tablespoon. There may be a little experimentation required. David A. Tue Jun 01 14:58:37 -0700 2004 1640112 0 David A. 1 1640106 I don't know of any self-respecting Chinese cook who would do that. Tue Jun 01 11:28:35 -0700 2004 1640100 0 Gary Soup 2 1640109 On the contrary, I have reason to believe this technique is very pervasive in both restaurant and homecooking. The technique is recommended in numerous cookbooks in my possession, some in English, some in Chinese, the most readily available of which is probably Eileen Yi-fei Lo's latest. The more I learn about authentic Chinese cooking -- i.e. the kind of cooking that goes on in restaurants in Taiwan and China -- the more I realize how dependent it is on chemical additives: Baking soda, ammonia, and many others that I have not figured out how to translate. For years I have been failing in my efforts produce authentic "bao." I believe the reason is that authentic bao contains numerous complicated chemical leveners generally unavailable to the home cook. When I was last in Taiwan, I purchased some of these at a professional baking supply store, but I have yet to experiment with them. I was amazed that Homeland Security let me carry these unidentified and unidentifiable white powders through airport security. David A. Tue Jun 01 11:47:18 -0700 2004 1640106 0 David A. 3 1640116 Yes, this tenderizing method is extremely common in SF's Chinese restaurants for beef stir-fries. It does get overdone sometimes leaving the beef mushy. Also, I will often pick up a slight metallic taste. Tue Jun 01 12:54:18 -0700 2004 1640109 0 Melanie Wong 1 1640144 Sounds like it would taste terrible. Why not just use a tender cut of meat? Tue Jun 01 17:28:24 -0700 2004 1640100 0 2chez mike