Roux Tan Gang

Roux! That's the secret.

I've made Beef Stroganoff several times, and each time I've been severely disappointed with the soupy, watery mess that I've made. It should be thick, like gravy, I thought.

Someone suggested roux. Now I've only heard about roux, mind you, never really made it before. I know it's used as a thickening agent, much like the way Chinese use cornstarch (or sometimes potato starch) to thicken sauces.

Only roux is ever so unhealthy. Made with equal parts butter and flour, you heat up the concoction and stir, stir, stir. I had about half a stick of butter, and put in some 6 teaspoons of flour, which I thought was too much, yet the yellowy paste seemed rather thin to me, and I thought this would hardly thicken anything.

Boy was I wrong.

I dumped over a cup of beef broth, and that thing thickened like crazy. How amazing! I couldn't believe it was happening. In fact, I had dumped in so much broth, that when I eventually put in the sour cream, its flavor was being masked by the flavor of the broth.

In my mind, the sour cream flavor should be noticeable. Still, the result was quite tasty.

So if you want to make stroganoff, start with a roux, and you'll say goodbye to watery sour cream and broth, and hello to excess fat, and yummy taste.

(Oh my, I've written like the worst form of travel advice, in the style of some entertainment news reporter!)