If you know how to prepare and handle meat, the cheapest cut will do. There is a saying, the poorest people enjoys the best food. That's because they know how to prepare and cook cheap cuts to be as tender as what the affluent can afford. This post will be about ways that you can prepare tough cuts of meat to be tender. What I share may not be absolutely correct, but there is something new everyday worth a try !
Tenderizing
Tenderizing is making tough cuts of meat more suitable for consumption like marinating, mechanical tenderization (pounding or piercing), dry aging of meat, brining of meat, natural enzymes from fruits which are linked to marinating (Enzymes like papain from papaya, bromelain from pineapple and actinidin from kiwi fruit & acids from wine, vinegar and citrus fruits), cooking methods (long cooking methods like braising, stewing, slow roasting or broiling), trimming away the sinew/tendon (tough connective tissues that contract when cooking) & most of all slicing meat across the grain to break up the veins running through the meat !
Tenderizing is making tough cuts of meat more suitable for consumption like marinating, mechanical tenderization (pounding or piercing), dry aging of meat, brining of meat, natural enzymes from fruits which are linked to marinating (Enzymes like papain from papaya, bromelain from pineapple and actinidin from kiwi fruit & acids from wine, vinegar and citrus fruits), cooking methods (long cooking methods like braising, stewing, slow roasting or broiling), trimming away the sinew/tendon (tough connective tissues that contract when cooking) & most of all slicing meat across the grain to break up the veins running through the meat !
Marinating
As mentioned, fruits that contains enzymes to breakdown the collagen(protein) in meats are added to marinades to tenderize the meat. Enzymes takes time to do their duty which explains why recipes suggests and recommend leaving your meats in marinates over night chilled so as to make tough cuts for palatable for consumption. You may use papaya, pineapples, kiwi, lemon juice (other citrus fruits [acids] and their zest too), vinegar and wine in your marinades. Here is a video to show you visually how a marinade works wonders in tenderizing meat and making it more palatable for consumption by Raymond Blanc.
Note: Do not throw away the marinades, wines can be reduced and flavored with stocks for sauces and fruit marinades can be used to make sauces like BBQ sauce, vinaigrettes etc..
As mentioned, fruits that contains enzymes to breakdown the collagen(protein) in meats are added to marinades to tenderize the meat. Enzymes takes time to do their duty which explains why recipes suggests and recommend leaving your meats in marinates over night chilled so as to make tough cuts for palatable for consumption. You may use papaya, pineapples, kiwi, lemon juice (other citrus fruits [acids] and their zest too), vinegar and wine in your marinades. Here is a video to show you visually how a marinade works wonders in tenderizing meat and making it more palatable for consumption by Raymond Blanc.
Note: Do not throw away the marinades, wines can be reduced and flavored with stocks for sauces and fruit marinades can be used to make sauces like BBQ sauce, vinaigrettes etc..
Brining
Brining is next because it is similar to marinating. It majorly involves salt which also preserves vegetables and meat if the salt content in the brine is high enough as salt is an adverse ingredient also capable of preservation. There are scientific explanations that goes into cells and stuff and if I talk about that, it would be dry and boring. So I'll make it simple. What the brine (salt solution) does is it allows the muscle tissue to absorb moisture and denature proteins. The next video combines quite a lot of components on how to keep your meat moist through cooking by Heston Blumenthal.
Brining is next because it is similar to marinating. It majorly involves salt which also preserves vegetables and meat if the salt content in the brine is high enough as salt is an adverse ingredient also capable of preservation. There are scientific explanations that goes into cells and stuff and if I talk about that, it would be dry and boring. So I'll make it simple. What the brine (salt solution) does is it allows the muscle tissue to absorb moisture and denature proteins. The next video combines quite a lot of components on how to keep your meat moist through cooking by Heston Blumenthal.
Slow Cooking
Next up, slow cooking as mentioned in the video above. Heston Blumenthal has pretty much summed up the part on slow roasting which does not only apply to poultry but red meats too. I am going to finish up on the slow moist cooking. Braising and stewing involves searing/coloring the meat before you put the mean into a ragu, any braising liquid or stewing liquid. The only difference between braising as stewing is the size of the cut of meat and the sauce. Braising involves larger cuts like beef cheeks, chucks and shanks while stewing involves poultry and beef cubes as you would see on menus! Braising liquids are normally reduced to be served as a sauce while stews are normally served in the sauce immediately on rice on just in a pot. The purpose of searing/coloring the meat first is to seal the juices in as chefs would say. Here is a video by Angela Hartnett, one of the leading female chefs in the industry, one that i respect because of how she started.
Next up, slow cooking as mentioned in the video above. Heston Blumenthal has pretty much summed up the part on slow roasting which does not only apply to poultry but red meats too. I am going to finish up on the slow moist cooking. Braising and stewing involves searing/coloring the meat before you put the mean into a ragu, any braising liquid or stewing liquid. The only difference between braising as stewing is the size of the cut of meat and the sauce. Braising involves larger cuts like beef cheeks, chucks and shanks while stewing involves poultry and beef cubes as you would see on menus! Braising liquids are normally reduced to be served as a sauce while stews are normally served in the sauce immediately on rice on just in a pot. The purpose of searing/coloring the meat first is to seal the juices in as chefs would say. Here is a video by Angela Hartnett, one of the leading female chefs in the industry, one that i respect because of how she started.
Dry Aging
Question: Why are meats that are aged longer featured on the menu everywhere more expensive? No rude intention but logic and common sense explains if you know how it works. Dry-aging is the lose of moisture in the meat for a more intense flavor hence the weight of the meat decreases. You may ask won't losing moisture result in the meat drying out during cooking? Answer: NO. Beef has a higher fat content especially prime cuts which are more popular in aging and it is the fat that renders down during cooking that makes the meat moist unlike poultry that has fats under the skin instead of in the meat. Linking back to the price of dry aged meat, with the lose of water content, a piece of 200g meat before aging is about 150-180g after aging, the lose win weight has to be compensated in cost which explains why dry-aged meat are more expensive. There might be other explanations that I am unaware off, but this is what i believe. I might be right, I might be wrong. Normally restaurants get these dry-aged meat from suppliers because suppliers can do it in a mass production facility. But restaurants that do it themselves are unique and it adds on as plus point because the attention to detail and quality control is better if you age what you need yourself. Barbeqoa by Jamie Oliver in the UK features their own butchery. Feel free to take a look at their web even though its not located in Singapore.
http://www.barbecoa.com/butchery
Question: Why are meats that are aged longer featured on the menu everywhere more expensive? No rude intention but logic and common sense explains if you know how it works. Dry-aging is the lose of moisture in the meat for a more intense flavor hence the weight of the meat decreases. You may ask won't losing moisture result in the meat drying out during cooking? Answer: NO. Beef has a higher fat content especially prime cuts which are more popular in aging and it is the fat that renders down during cooking that makes the meat moist unlike poultry that has fats under the skin instead of in the meat. Linking back to the price of dry aged meat, with the lose of water content, a piece of 200g meat before aging is about 150-180g after aging, the lose win weight has to be compensated in cost which explains why dry-aged meat are more expensive. There might be other explanations that I am unaware off, but this is what i believe. I might be right, I might be wrong. Normally restaurants get these dry-aged meat from suppliers because suppliers can do it in a mass production facility. But restaurants that do it themselves are unique and it adds on as plus point because the attention to detail and quality control is better if you age what you need yourself. Barbeqoa by Jamie Oliver in the UK features their own butchery. Feel free to take a look at their web even though its not located in Singapore.
http://www.barbecoa.com/butchery
Trimming
Sinew/Tendon has to be trimmed off as it shrinks and contracts during cooking. What is to be removed is referred to as the chain which contains the sinews. Sinew is compared to rubber and is elastic and if you have something like that which contracts in your meat, it's almost like chewing 20-30 pieces of bubble gum and you don't want that. The following video is the only video i can find because I can't remember the other videos I watched which features a more detailed section on trimming and I hope this will suffice. This video features Alain Roux and Michel Roux Junior, cousins and sons of Albert and Michel Roux.
Sinew/Tendon has to be trimmed off as it shrinks and contracts during cooking. What is to be removed is referred to as the chain which contains the sinews. Sinew is compared to rubber and is elastic and if you have something like that which contracts in your meat, it's almost like chewing 20-30 pieces of bubble gum and you don't want that. The following video is the only video i can find because I can't remember the other videos I watched which features a more detailed section on trimming and I hope this will suffice. This video features Alain Roux and Michel Roux Junior, cousins and sons of Albert and Michel Roux.
Grain
Ever wondered why skirt, hanger and flank steaks are sliced before serving? Long muscle fibers run through the meat which makes it chewy. Slicing across these grains breaks them up and allows easier and more palatable consumption. I would like to keep it short and sweet so if you would love to read further into it here is a link.
http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/03/why-should-you-cut-meat-steak-against-the-grain.html
Ever wondered why skirt, hanger and flank steaks are sliced before serving? Long muscle fibers run through the meat which makes it chewy. Slicing across these grains breaks them up and allows easier and more palatable consumption. I would like to keep it short and sweet so if you would love to read further into it here is a link.
http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/03/why-should-you-cut-meat-steak-against-the-grain.html
That's all for now and I hope you guys enjoyed reading. More to come, I'll find time to post if I am not tired but I guarantee there'll be more to share if you are interested. Cheers and thanks for taking the time to read! This would act as a reference and guide for me too, when i forgot some of the important tips for whatever it is in cooking. Stay tuned!
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