Over the July 4th Weekend, I learned that kiwi is a great tenderizer for beef.  It was the first time I had heard of this, but the kalbi (Korean beef short ribs) I had were out of this world, and the secret was using kiwi in the marinade.  Kiwis contain an enzyme called actinidin, and what it does is that it breaks down the gelatin and muscle fibers in the beef.

Last night, I decided to do a little experimentation of my own.  I would make two batches of beef bulgogi marinade.  One with kiwi puree (I used half of a kiwi in 5oz of meat) and one without.  The beef I used was Choice grade flank steak.

bulgogi.jpg

I marinaded both batches of beef for 30 minutes.  I then immediately cooked half of each batch separately on a stove-top grill on medium-high heat.

 The Results

The batch made with the kiwi puree was indeed more tender than the control, but not by much.  I am assuming that with more time in the marinade, the beef would be more tender.  I had read that over-marinating will result in mushy, and sometimes, liquified meat.  What was nice was that the kiwi did not affect the flavor of the bulgogi.

~ Kin

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