Beef stroganoff: beef seared two minutes, not stewed for an hour
Stroganoff is often confused with goulash and stewed for an hour — but it is an entirely different dish. The oldest recipes, from nineteenth-century Russian cooking, use fillet or sirloin cut into thin strips, which are seared for two minutes at most in a very hot pan and lifted out. They return to the sauce only at the end, for thirty seconds. The meat is then pink and tender; stewed for an hour it would simply toughen, since fillet has almost no collagen to dissolve.
Your own work in that: 45 min.
- Beef 15 min
- Mushrooms 15 min
- Sauce 15 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneCut the beef into thin strips
Cut the meat across the grain into strips 1 cm wide and 5 mm thick. Pat dry, season with salt and pepper and toss in flour, shaking off the excess. The flour gives a crust and later thickens the sauce — it is the only thickener in this recipe.
Ingredients: 600 g sirloin or fillet steak · 2 tbsp plain flour · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp freshly ground pepper · 3 tbsp oil
TipYou will cut it thinner if you put the meat in the <b>freezer for 20 minutes</b> first. Partly frozen, it slices evenly with an ordinary knife.
Across the grain, centimetre-wide stripsSear the beef in batches
Heat the oil very hot and sear the beef in batches, 90 seconds each, in one layer, turning once. It should colour outside and stay pink within. Lift onto a plate. Four batches take about 8 minutes in all. Crowded in, it releases its juices and starts to stew.
TipThis is the whole difference between stroganoff and goulash. Fillet has almost no collagen, so long stewing will not tenderise it, only dry it — the point is a brief, hard sear.
Ninety seconds, in batches, pink insideBrown the mushrooms
In the same pan melt the butter and fry the thickly sliced mushrooms 8 minutes over high heat, without stirring too often, until the water evaporates and a dark brown crust forms. Add the sliced onion and fry another 5 minutes.
Ingredients: 400 g mushrooms · 2 pcs onions · 40 g butter · 3 pcs pickled cucumbers
TipMushrooms release water first and stew in it for several minutes. They only brown once that water has gone — which is why this stage cannot be shortened.
Eight minutes, until the water goes and brown appearsDeglaze and thicken
Pour in the stock and scrape the base with a wooden spoon — the browned residue is the most concentrated flavour in the dish. Add the mustard and paprika and cook 5 minutes, until the sauce reduces by a third; the flour from the meat, browned on the base, thickens it slightly.
Ingredients: 300 ml beef stock · 250 g sour cream, 18 % · 2 tsp medium-hot mustard · 1 tsp sweet paprika · ½ bunch dill · ½ tsp lemon juice
Temper the sour cream
Take the pan off the heat. Put the sour cream in a bowl and add hot sauce a ladle at a time, stirring, until it is warm. Only then pour it into the pan. Cold 18 % sour cream poured straight into hot sauce splits into flecks.
Tempered a ladle at a time, pan off the heatReturn the beef for thirty seconds
Set the pan over low heat, add the beef with any juices, add the pickle batons and warm through 30 seconds, stirring. Do not boil. Season with lemon juice, scatter with dill and serve with buckwheat, noodles or potatoes.
Ingredients: 600 g sirloin or fillet steak · 2 tbsp plain flour · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp freshly ground pepper · 3 tbsp oil
Thirty seconds, never boiling
Before you start
Why the pickle
Pickled cucumber often goes into Russian and Polish versions, though many Western recipes omit it. Its acidity balances the richness of the cream and stops the dish being heavy — worth keeping.
Cheaper cuts
Chuck or shoulder can be used, but then they genuinely must be stewed for 90 minutes before the cream goes in. That is a different recipe, closer to a goulash, though also good.
What to serve it with
In Russia, traditionally with thin fried potato sticks or mashed potato. In Poland usually with buckwheat or noodles; wide ribbon pasta also suits it and holds the sauce well.
Reheating
Only very gently, on the lowest heat. Brought to the boil the sauce splits and the meat toughens. Best eaten the same day — this is by definition a fast dish, not a reheated one.
