I bought some Red Chinese Barbecued Pork a few days ago, it's disappointingly tough. Even sliced very thinly and allowed to simmer for a few minutes in soup, the meat just feels dry and tough. I'm pretty sure it's tenderloin, so there really isn't any fat or collagen to work with. I'd like to make dumplings with it, but only if I can make it seem more tender. Do you know of anything that might work?
Meat – Making fully cooked meat (pork) less tough
meatpork
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Cheap, tough meat is a puzzle cooks have dealt with through the ages. The common solutions are as follows:
1) Low and Slow - cook at the edge of the fire, or atop a bed of coals, for a looooooooong time. Braising and stewing is also part of this method - adding a flavorful liquid to keep the meat moist while time and heat tenderize it. A cast-iron dutch oven is your friend. Steak chili!
2) Mechanical Tenderization - Whack the heck out of it with something heavy (back end of a hatchet or the underside of a piece of cast-iron cookware), poke dozens of little holes in it, and/or slice it thin. Beef roulade would work well roasted over an open fire, or shaved steak/italian beef/philly cheesesteak whacked and sliced on site and pan-fried in a skillet.
3) Chemical Tenderization - Acid, salt, sugar and time can make the strongest steak yield. A cheap bottle of italian dressing, a zip-lock bag, and a some quality time in the ice chest, and you have marinated steak kabob ready to be cubed, skewered and roasted over an open fire like meat marshmallows.
4) All of the above. Swiss steak! Actually, all of the above dish suggestions only work in concert with another. But seriously, Swiss. Steak.
You can do all of this in the field with a sharp knife, cheap plastic cutting board and a dutch oven or covered skillet (cast iron preferred, make your buddies pack it for you).
Even though you turned the oven off when you left, there was still likely enough residual heat to continue cooking the chops. Rather than a half-cooked chop that sat out for 4 hours, you've got mostly or fully-cooked chops that sat in a warm environment for 2-3 hours. Whether they hit the recommended internal temperature (which is now actually 145F with a 3-minute rest for fresh pork, rather than the 165F quoted in other answers, at least according to the USDA) is anyone's guess.
From a culinary standpoint, since they've been pretty well cooked, baking them back up to that temperature (or more likely to 165F, which is the recommended temp for leftovers) will probably dry them into leathery little pucks. If you're going to risk re-cooking and eating these, I'd recommend a higher-moisture cooking method like braising; chops stand up pretty well to this treatment.
As mentioned in comments, these have been sitting at near-room temperature for longer than is generally considered safe. And without knowing what temperature the interior of the chops reached, it's unknown how safe they would have been even if you returned before they cooled into the dreaded "danger zone". There are a lot of questions here from a safety standpoint. I'll quote another answer here, as I think this says it best:
The safe limit for raw or cooked food is 2 hours in the danger zone (40-140° F or 4.4-60° C).
If you're a restaurant owner or cook, you must follow this rule [...] If you are not working in a professional capacity then you are not legally required to follow it, but if you are serving guests then it would be irresponsible (and possibly actionable, if someone gets sick) to do otherwise.
If you're an individual serving only yourself, then take whatever liberties and break whatever rules you want; it's your food, and your body.
I personally would probably write these off as a loss, but I tend to be fairly risk-averse.
Best Answer
It sounds as if you have meat that has been cooked past the point of well done, so that all of the proteins as as contracted and tough as they are going to be, without the couner-veiling benefit of having collagen conversion.
Your only recourse, which may or may not give you results you find acceptable, is to resort to mechanical tenderization. Your best bet is to grind it in the food processor.
Since you mention making dumplings, a healthy portion of cooked cabbage, mushroom, or other vegetables in the filling will also help get a more appropriate texture.