sizes and settled on 2-inch chunks (they shrink to about an
inch and a half after cooking). I like having to shred a large
cube of beef apart with my spoon before eating it, if only to
remind myself how perfectly tender the meat has become.
As for searing, as we know, there’s always a trade-off.
Searing helps develop nice browned flavors via the Maillard
reaction, but it also results in tougher, drier meat. At the
high temperatures required for browning, meat muscle fibers
contract greatly and expel so much liquid that even after a
long simmer in the pot, the edges of the meat cubes are
relatively dry. I vastly prefer the softer texture of unseared
meat.
The solution? You could sear large chunks of meat as I
did for the Short-Rib Chili with Beans (here), but here’s
another solution: brown only half the meat. You develop
plenty of browned flavor but retain good texture in the rest
of the meat. Worried that the flavor will be concentrated