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Mince. It’s such a great, versatile stand-by, especially in the realm of weeknight dinners, and so handy for making the kinds of fuss-free meals you know everyone’s going to love, like lasagne, meatballs and bolognese. But mince can get a bad rap, too. And honestly, haven’t we all been there? I’m talking about watery, greige, bitty meat that’s a bit blah and just doesn’t taste like much. Well, my friends, prepare to kiss that kind of disappointment goodbye with my guide on how to cook mince. I have some cooking secrets that stop awful ground meat in its tracks, as well as some excellent recipes to use it in, whether you’re thinking beef, chicken, pork or turkey.

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What’s the best cut of beef to use for a stir-fry?

Spoiler: Exxy isn’t always better, my friends.

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“When it comes to the best beef stir-fry, what cut should I use?” It’s a great question! Does the most expensive steak give the greatest flavour? Or are the often overlooked cuts the better choice, given the right treatment? It was time to step into Marion’s Test Kitchen to find the best beef for stir frying.

The different cuts of beef

I chose five different beef cuts – chuck, rump, sirloin, scotch and eye fillet – that were widely available in my local supermarket and used them all in a classic super-tender beef stir-fry recipe of mine.

They ranged from the most expensive eye fillet (often considered to be the most tender) down to the cheapest chuck steak, otherwise known as gravy beef. In fact, the price difference between the cheapest and most expensive was pretty big: $3.75 compared to $16.

 

Chuck steak is mostly made up of muscle and connective tissue, and to be honest I hadn’t previously considered it as stir-fry material. Here goes!

Slicing your beef

How you slice your steak for a stir-fry is so important, and plays a huge role in how tender your meat will end up. The general wisdom is that you want to be slicing across the grain of your meat.

 

If you take a look at your steak, you should be able to see the grain running in a certain direction. Should you cut with it, your pieces will have long grains running across their surface area, making them harder for you to chew. Take your knife and cut across it instead, and you’ll immediately see the difference in how your slices behave. 

 

For bigger pieces like rump steak, where the meat almost separates into sections with their own grain, I would suggest dividing these sections up firstly. Once that’s done, treat each section as a separate cut with its own grain direction. Check the video above to see what I mean.

 

Oh, and very importantly: keep your slices THIN. No more than 3mm (⅛”) is what you should be aiming for.

The results

Once I’d done my all-important marinating (check my article on how to cook beef stir-fries for the full lowdown on what secret weapons you need), it was time to cook, then test. 

Eye fillet

Gotta admit: I had high hopes for the premium cut. However, as I was stir-frying with the slices, they broke up a lot in the wok. By the time I was done, the finished dish looked like I’d used beef mince instead! Taste-wise, it was still very tender, but the beef almost ‘disintegrated’ in my mouth – just far too quickly for my liking.

Scotch fillet

These strips kept their shape in the wok, which is what you want in a beef stir-fry. Nothing bad to say about this one: it was tender, it tasted nice and soaked up the sauce perfectly. Thumbs up. But can we do it cheaper?

Sirloin (striploin) steak

It was actually kind of hard to tell the difference between this and the Scotch fillet! So for the cost saving between the two, this is my top contender so far in the taste test.

Rump steak

There was a noticeable difference in the beef stir-fry tenderness when I got to the rump. It was by no means tough, but it definitely wasn’t as tender as its predecessors.

Chuck steak (gravy beef)

Well wasn’t this a surprise: I found this cut to be far more tender than the rump… it was on par with the sirloin and scotch fillet, even. Totally unexpected, and really great considering the price difference. 

The verdict? So long as you follow the tips for cutting, prepping and cooking your steak, you can absolutely get away with a budget-friendly cut of beef when making a super-tender beef stir-fry. 

 

Check out my beef chuck stir-fry recipes for even more inspo!

Best beef stir-fry recipes to try

Super Tender Beef Stir-fry

Chinese Restaurant Sizzling Beef

Beef & Black Bean Stir-fry

Korean-style Beef Stir-fry

Beef, Mushroom & Ginger Stir-fry

Mongolian Beef Udon Noodles

Super Tender Beef Stir-fry

Chinese Restaurant Sizzling Beef

Beef & Black Bean Stir-fry

Korean-style Beef Stir-fry

Beef, Mushroom & Ginger Stir-fry

Mongolian Beef Udon Noodles

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How to cook rice: 3 steps to success

Goodbye, gluggy grains. Hello, rice perfection.

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You know me – I’m a sucker for a rice dish. Fried rice, steamed rice, baked rice… it’s all good in my eyes. And, just like anyone else who grew up with an Asian mum, it’s been ingrained (pun intended) in me since I was kid how to cook it just right. It all comes down to what you’re using your rice for – fried rice, for instance, always works better with drier, day-old grains. So how to get it spot-on? Follow my fool-proof method for cooking rice and don’t ever get tripped up again.

Hainanese Chicken Rice is a total classic. But you’ve got to get that rice spot-on.

The best way to cook rice

This method is ideal for four serves, but you can absolutely adapt it to suit larger quantities. Keep reading for my handy hint… because you MAY have been doing it wrong up until this moment.

1: Wash your rice

Place 2 cups of long grain rice into a fine sieve and rinse it with water to remove excess starch. Then add it into a saucepan along with 2½ cups water and, over a high heat, bring to a boil. 

2: Gently does it

Now reduce the heat to medium and cook until you can see the rice grains poking up above the water. Cover the saucepan with a lid set slightly ajar so some of the steam can escape. Cook for 5 minutes.

3: The final steam

After 5 minutes, it should look like all of the water has been absorbed by the rice. Turn the heat off and cover completely with the lid. Allow the pot to sit covered for 10 minutes to allow the steam to continue cooking the rice. When you’re ready to serve, use a fork to gently fluff up the rice.

Ok, great. But how do I make fried rice?

I got you. And here’s the secret: follow the same procedure to make the same amount, but reduce the water to 2¼ cups. That’s because when you’re cooking rice for fried rice, you want the grains drier, as they’ll be cooked again in the wok.

 

Once you’ve done your 1-2-3 steps and fluffed up the rice grains, spread the rice out on a large baking tray. Place it in the fridge, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes (although overnight is best) to dry it out. And done: it’s now ready to use for fried rice.

How much water do I need to cook rice?

Ah, the magical rice/water ratio. It’s a total brainteaser for so many people, but here’s the knowledge you’ve been waiting for.

 

 

You’ve probably come across some guidance that gives a rice-to-water ratio of 1:1.5, which means if you’ve got one cup of rice you use one-and-a-half cups of water. However, once you start making larger quantities, you run into trouble. 

 

 

My tip? You only ever need an extra ½ cup of water (or ¼ cup for fried rice), no matter how much rice you’re cooking. It’s simply there for evaporation, regardless of quantity. So 1 cup of rice needs 1½ cups of water, and 10 cups of rice needs only 10½ cups of water. So simple. 

 

 

Now to start scaling that mountain of rice recipes…

 

So you want more rice recipes?

Sticky BBQ Pork Rice Bowl

Crispy Chicken With Special Fried Rice

Mum’s Thai Fried Rice

How to Cook Chinese Fried Rice

Japanese Garlic Fried Rice

Teriyaki Steak Rice Bowl

Sticky BBQ Pork Rice Bowl

Crispy Chicken With Special Fried Rice

Mum’s Thai Fried Rice

How to Cook Chinese Fried Rice

Japanese Garlic Fried Rice

Teriyaki Steak Rice Bowl

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The THREE soy sauces your cooking is crying out for

This is the trio of soy sauce no kitchen should be without (plus a bonus fourth variety).

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Soy sauce is a true staple ingredient for me. It adds a salty, savouriness to a dish as well as a gorgeous colour. (Psst: have you tried my Soy Sauce Roast Chicken yet?) But not all soy sauces are created equal. In fact, I’d recommend stocking your pantry with three different varieties so you always have the right product to hand. But with ‘soy’ much to choose from, where do you start? If you’re wondering what type of soy sauce is best for your Asian (and even your fusion!) cooking, you’ll want to read this handy guide.

What's soy sauce used for?

Soy sauce adds a strong umami flavour to dishes. Made from fermented soybeans, it’s salty and savoury and helps to level up the flavour profile of a number of Asian dishes, especially Chinese recipes. Try it as a dipping sauce for your dumplings, sushi or sashimi, to add extra umami goodness to soups, stews and broths, or as part of a marinade for meat and seafood. 

What is soy sauce made of?

There are several varieties of soy sauce, and as such there can be variations when it comes to the ingredients. However, soy sauce is typically made using soybeans, wheat, salt and a fermenting agent – typically yeast. 

What soy sauce should I buy?

It’s a good idea to keep your pantry essentials stocked up with a couple of different variations of soy sauce, as they are each have their strengths when used in certain dishes. Hopefully this guide to the types of soy sauce will help!

Light soy sauce

Usually, whenever one of my recipes calls for soy sauce, I’m using an everyday, Chinese variety, which for me is ‘light soy sauce’. It might sound a bit confusing at first, but the ‘light’ part actually refers to the colour, rather than its level of saltiness. Try it in my Traditional Pad See Ew recipe (which uses dark soy sauce, too!). Want to know what is the difference between light soy sauce and dark soy sauce? Read on!

I use two varieties of soy sauce in my popular Pad See Ew Noodles.

Dark soy sauce

Next up, I’d recommend having a dark soy sauce in your cupboard. It’s less salty than your regular light soy sauce, and has a darker, more intense colour. Because it’s been aged for longer, it has a richer flavour, and therefore adds more depth to a dish. I find it’s a good one for marinades, or when you want that deep brown hue adding to a dish. Try it in my Soy Sauce Chicken & Noodles.

 

The difference between light soy sauce and dark soy sauce is mainly what they are used for. Light soy sauce is saltier and used more for flavour, and dark soy sauce is generally thicker, less salty and slightly sweeter than light soy sauce, so ideal for adding colour.

Dark soy sauce adds intensity and colour to my Soy Sauce Chicken & Noodles.

Dark sweet soy sauce

Finally, a sweet dark soy sauce – such as your Indonesian kecap manis – will give your dish a beautiful mahogany colour and a lovely layer of sweetness. You’ll notice it has a much thicker consistency than the other soy sauces I mention above. Try it in my Indonesian Nasi Goreng.

My version of Nasi Goreng features kecap manis, or dark sweet soy sauce.

Bonus buy: a Japanese soy sauce

I know I said three soy sauces… but just throwing this additional one out there for consideration! When I’m cooking Japanese-style dishes, like with my Shoyu Ramen, I tend to favour a Japanese soy sauce. I find it gives a rounder flavour and isn’t as salt-aggressive as the Chinese-style varieties.

I favour Japanese soy sauce when cooking dishes that typically originate there.

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