Meat used in Thai penang curry?

[turando]

Hi,

We ate at a Thai restaurant the other day and had beef in penang curry and it was really yum! The beef was very tender - was wondering if anyone knew what cut of meat is usually used by restaurants and how they get it tender? I'm sure they've done somethign to it to make it tender as I've noticed the same thing in Chinse restaurant meat as well.

Thankyou!

[OnigiriFB]

Probably sirloin. If I remember right that's what we used to use on our Thai restaurant.

[Will]

Can't speak to Thai places, but I believe Chinese places will use baking soda as a tenderizer.

[nickrey]

David Thompson recommends brisket or cheek with long, slow cooking.

[fledflew]

As OnigiriFB mentioned above, it's often sirloin although I've also heard of restaurants that use flank. As for the tenderizing part, some restaurants will pound the meat to break down the fibers. If the meat is especially soft (almost gelatinous/mushy), it has probably been treated with meat tenderizer which is an enzyme extracted from papayas.