For the past 4 weeks I have been on Coursera taking a class on Gastronomy. It has been interesting so far. The class which is taken by Professors from University of Hong Kong talks about the science behind cooking. Its like a professional version of the Alton Brown show.
Anyway for the past 2 weeks they have been talking about cooking the perfect steak. They started off with the anatomy of muscles. Felt like I was in my physiology class. Actin, myosin and the lot.
This week they spoke of choosing the perfect piece of steak. The three different types of steak meat- Prime, Choice and Select differ by the percentage of fat in them. Prime has the highest amount (10-13%) while Select has the lowest (2-4%). Choice has about 4-10%. Distribution of fat (marbling) in Prime is also more even compared to the other 2. More marbling the steak has the better it is.
The part of the animal body where the steak comes from is also important. If a muscle is used continuously like in legs etc, the muscle will have lots of fiber and sheath, so the meat will be tough. That is why the regions called tenderloin, sirloin etc are more preferred. [Note that same applies to other animals as well. Chicken breasts are more tender than thighs or legs].
For tough meat Physical or Chemical methods can be used to tenderize it. Physical methods involve pounding or slicing and carving. Chemical methods involve use of Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), marinating (with some acid, oil and herbs) or using meat tenderizer. These methods either increase the water content of the meat or cause disruption of muscle fibers. Baking soda has been known to be the best tenderizer. However note that baking soda can make food bitter. Thus one has to add a little sugar to neutralize the bitterness.
One more thing. Cutting along the meat fibers will make the meat tougher than cutting across the fibers. This is because cutting across the fibers breaks the fibers and makes the meat softer to chew.
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