What cut of beef should I purchase for making a quick stir-fried noodle dish?

Here is the recipe, which I've made using leftover chicken, and quickly cooked shrimp and pork, but never beef: https://food52.com/recipes...

Many thanks, friends.

Mrs Beryl Patmore
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15 Comments

Michele
Michele August 23, 2016
I use flank steak, thinly sliced, for stir fry and it works well. If you are lucky enough to have a good Japanese market near you they sell very thinly sliced beef ( all cuts) that they use and it save a lot of time in preparation.
 
PHIL
PHIL August 22, 2016
Here in NJ , if it's on sale it's 9.99 , hanger is about $9.99
 
PHIL
PHIL August 22, 2016
Yes Susan, Skirts and hangers, nobody new what they were. Kill me to pay $14 a lb for the skirts.
 
Susan W.
Susan W. August 22, 2016
Holy moly Phil. I've seen skirt as high as 9.99, but no higher. I keep forgetting about hanger. I see it at Albertsons for $6.99 occasionally.
 
Susan W.
Susan W. August 22, 2016
Flank steak and skirt steak are my favorites. Cook them no longer than 30 seconds per side and remove them. Add them back to the stir fry towards the end.

As Phil said, sirloin is good too. Top round (aka London broil in some areas) works well.
 
PHIL
PHIL August 22, 2016
Skirt is my favorite but it is expensive , I feel like it is a bit wasted in stir fry. I would rather eat it rare right off the grill but that's just me.
 
Susan W.
Susan W. August 22, 2016
I love it in stir fry and don't feel it's wasted at all, but I really love stir fry and put a lot of time and effort into them. Actually, skirt is probably my favorite cut of beef. I love it in stir fry, tacos and straight off the grill. I get mine from a farmer with a share of beef, so I don't pay the outrageous prices. Remember when flank and skirt steaks were really inexpensive?
 
pierino
pierino August 22, 2016
I would go with skirt steak as well. I'm skeptical about short ribs because I've hand trimmed them before and it doesn't seem practical when there are better uses for them.
 
Susan W.
Susan W. August 22, 2016
Pierino, I'm visualizing the thick boneless ones that my store has. I can see slicing them thinly down the end, but I have no clue if there will be too many gobs of fat. I am curious about it though. The flavor should be excellent.
 
pierino
pierino August 23, 2016
Susan W, I usually only see bone in short ribs but I have a method for cutting them flat that I picked up from Steve Raichlen. In the end you can leave the bone attached Korean style, or take it off and use the meat as you wish. Haven't tried it with stir fry but then I don't do that very often.
 
Coco E.
Coco E. August 22, 2016
The most flavourful is by far is very thinly sliced boneless short rib (think hotpot style). Lean cuts that are "tender" as a steak due to cooking it perfectly to a medium rare turn chalky and dry in the high heat of a wok. Short rib, on the other hand, is has lots of marbling which breaks up the muscles (thus allowing you to get lots of deep flavour from browning without the meat turning chalky), provides lots of beefy flavour, and gives it a buttery mouthfeel.
 
Susan W.
Susan W. August 22, 2016
I've never stir fried any beef to a chalky steak, but I've never thought to use boneless short ribs. Trying it the next time they are on sale.
 
Kevin W.
Kevin W. August 22, 2016
flank steak cut into thin strips against the grain. Cook them first in batches if your pan is small to just brown them. then remove them to a side dish while you stir fry the rest of your ingredients. this will prevent them from over cooking and getting too tough. after your other stirfry ingredients are where you want them, add the flank strips in, quickly toss and then serve.

if you are unfamiliar with flank they usually come as a whole muscle. The shape is like that of a a paddle. you can see the muscle tissue "lines". if you like small strips, first cut in half or thirds parallel to the grain lines. Then slice perpendicular to those lines for your stirfry strips.

a great marinade for these strips that I use all the time is: cornstarch, sambal, minced ginger, minced garlic, soy sauce, black pepper, green onion, sesame oil. You can play around with the proportions to fit your taste buds.
 
Ben M.
Ben M. August 22, 2016
I agree on using flank steak. I use it all the time for stir fries and it works great.
 
PHIL
PHIL August 22, 2016
I would lean towards sirloin , sliced thin.
 
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