Beef Stroganoff

Name: Beef Stroganoff
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 35 min
Cuisine: Russia
Ingredients: 600 g (1⅓ lb) beef sirloin, rump or tenderloin tail, in strips about 1 cm thick and 5 cm long; 6 g (1 tsp) fine sea salt, divided; freshly ground black pepper; 2 tbsp neutral oil; 30 g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter; 1 onion, thinly sliced; 300 g (10 oz) chestnut or button mushrooms, sliced; 1 tsp sweet paprika; 1 tbsp all-purpose flour; 250 ml (1 cup) beef stock, Brown Stock or store-bought; 1 tbsp Dijon mustard; 150 g (⅔ cup) sour cream or smetana, full fat, at room temperature; 1 tsp lemon juice; 2 tbsp chopped dill or parsley; 350 g (12 oz) egg noodles or rice, to serve

Quick-seared beef strips in a mushroom, mustard and sour cream sauce

Serves: 4
Hands-on: 30 min
Total: 35 min
Level: Easy

Named, by most accounts, after the aristocratic Stroganov family in 19th-century Russia, stroganoff is a fast sauté of tender beef in a tangy sauce of mustard and sour cream. This version sears thin strips of beef hard and briefly, builds the sauce on mushrooms and onions, and returns the beef just to warm through so it stays tender.

Ingredients

600 gbeef sirloin, rump or tenderloin tail (1⅓ lb)in strips about 1 cm thick and 5 cm long
6 gfine sea salt (1 tsp)divided
freshly ground black pepper
2 tbspneutral oil
30 gunsalted butter (2 tbsp)
1onionthinly sliced
300 gchestnut or button mushrooms (10 oz)sliced
1 tspsweet paprika
1 tbspall-purpose flour
250 mlbeef stock (1 cup)Brown Stock or store-bought
1 tbspDijon mustard
150 gsour cream or smetana (⅔ cup)full fat, at room temperature
1 tsplemon juice
2 tbspchopped dill or parsley
350 gegg noodles or rice (12 oz)to serve

Allergens: milk, gluten, mustard, celery, egg
Origin: Russia
Season: Autumn, Winter

Method

Pat the beef strips dry and toss with 4 g salt and pepper.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large frying pan over high heat until smoking. Sear half the beef in a single layer without stirring for 1 minute, until browned underneath, then toss for 30 seconds. It should still be pink inside. Tip onto a plate and repeat with the remaining oil and beef. 3 min
Lower the heat to medium. Add the butter and onion and cook until soft and golden, 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and remaining 2 g salt and cook until they release their liquid and it evaporates, and they brown, 6–8 minutes. 12 min
Stir in the paprika and flour and cook 1 minute. Whisk in the stock and mustard and simmer until slightly thickened, 2–3 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the noodles. 3 min
Take the pan off the heat. Stir a few spoonfuls of the hot sauce into the sour cream to warm it, then stir it all into the pan.
Return the beef and its juices. Warm gently over low heat for 1–2 minutes without boiling, until the beef is just cooked through to medium (about 60°C, 140°F). Add the lemon juice, taste for salt and scatter with dill. Serve over noodles. 2 min

Why it works

Tender, quick-cooking cuts only need a fast, hot sear to brown the outside; cooking them longer just tightens and dries the fibers. Building the sauce separately and returning the meat at the end keeps it tender. Tempering the sour cream with hot sauce and keeping it below a boil prevents the milk proteins from curdling.

Common mistakes

Boiling after the sour cream goes in — it splits into grainy flecks.
Crowding the beef in the pan; it stews gray. Sear in batches.
Using stewing beef, which is tough unless braised for hours.

Variations

Mushroom stroganoff: Skip the beef, use 700 g mixed mushrooms and vegetable stock.
Crème fraîche: Use crème fraîche instead of sour cream; it can boil without splitting.

Make ahead and storage

Best made and eaten at once; leftovers keep 2 days but the beef firms up.

Notes

Egg only from the egg noodles; serve with rice to avoid it.