Why is it that when I cook beef, no matter how long I cook it, the beef is always hard and hard? Your question has also deeply troubled me. Through continuous exploration and practice, I have gained some experience and finally made the cooked beef soft and rotten, neither hard nor firewood, so I have a reliable answer to this question.

First, on the issue of raw beef blanching. If it is fresh beef, and there is enough time, it is best to soak the beef in clear water for more than 2 hours, so that you don't have to blanch. If it's frozen beef and time is short, it's best to blanch the beef.

Precautions for drowning:

Boil beef in cold water for 2 minutes. Don't blanch for too long. Take out the boiled beef and wash it with warm water. Don't rinse it with cold water, otherwise the beef will shrink when it is cold, become hard and become firewood. Boiled beef had better be cooked at once. If it is not cooked for a long time, the beef will cool down, which is not conducive to softness. Second, about the temperature of boiled beef. As the saying goes, "stew the meat with a small fire, stew the fish with a big fire". When cooking beef, turn it to a small fire and keep it slightly boiling, which will help the beef to be soft and rotten.

Third, on the issue of boiling beef with water. After the beef is blanched, rinse it with warm water, and then it will be cooked in the pot. At this time, it should be noted that hot water should be added to the pot, not cold water, and the water should be added at one time. It is not allowed to add water in the middle of the beef.

Fourth, about the time of cooking beef and adding salt. When cooking beef, season it with salt ten minutes before cooking. Don't put salt at the beginning of cooking, it will make the beef hard, turn into firewood and not be soft and rotten easily.

Five, about the pot for cooking beef.

It is best to use casserole for cooking beef. Casserole has good heat preservation performance, and it can be kept in a boiling state with only a small fire, which is very beneficial to the soft and rotten taste of beef. Use pressure cooker, electric pressure cooker. It can greatly shorten the time of holding beef, and it is easy to make beef soft and rotten. Sixth, about adding hawthorn and other materials. When cooking beef, add hawthorn and dried tangerine peel, which is beneficial to the softness of beef. When cooking beef, adding red wine, white wine or beer is beneficial to the softness of beef. When cooking beef, adding a little white vinegar is also beneficial to the softness of beef. Others said that you can add some tea, but I haven't practiced it, so I won't recommend it.