Cook beef tongue at home, you need to do it right so that the dish turns out tasty and healthy. Beef tongue is one of the healthiest meat products and is considered a delicacy in many countries. But in order for the finished dish to bring as much benefit as possible, the beef tongue must be properly cooked in order to leave the maximum number of useful elements intact.
How to cook?
After you have decided on the choice of beef tongue and brought it home, all that remains is to cook it deliciously and correctly so that the maximum possible amount of useful elements is preserved in it. It will be best if you boil it. Our article will help you with this, in which you will learn several ways in which you can properly cook beef tongue so that it turns out soft.
in a saucepan
Before boiling the beef tongue in the pan, thaw it in the refrigerator if it has been frozen, and then put it in a container of cold water for half an hour. After that, arm yourself with a knife, and start cleaning the product from mucus and dirt. Ideally, it should not contain any foreign objects and blood. After you have cleaned your tongue, rinse it well with cool water.
Now choose a convenient pan in which you will cook the tongue, collect water and put on fire. After boiling, carefully place the beef tongue in it. Be careful, during the cooking process, the tongue may increase in size, so it is better to divide it into two parts to be safe. Cook until the water boils again. In this case, the emerging foam must be removed with a slotted spoon or spoon. After boiling, let the dish boil for about 20 minutes, then pour out the water. Take out the tongue on a saucer, draw clean water again and boil. After boiling, lower the tongue back into the pan and cook the tongue until fully cooked. This product is cooked for about 3.5 hours in total.
To check the readiness of the dish, you need to remove the beef tongue from the water and prick it with a fork: if the product releases clear juice, it means that it is ready. If the juice appears slightly cloudy, then return the tongue to the pan and cook for some more time.
Salt and add spices only half an hour before the end of cooking. You can add any spices that are familiar to you to the water. But do not overdo it, otherwise there is a chance to spoil the real taste of the dish.
Before eating, the peel must be removed from the finished dish. This is very easy to do if, immediately after cooking, put the product in cold water for a few minutes. After that, the home-cooked beef tongue is ready to eat.
In a slow cooker
Cooking beef tongue at home using a slow cooker or pressure cooker is a very easy process, which, among other things, requires very little time.
Before cooking the beef tongue, it must be thoroughly washed and cleaned of visible contaminants, blood and film. Then put the product in the multicooker bowl, add peeled, but not chopped onions and carrots there. Close the lid and turn on the multicooker to the "Extinguishing" mode. Time must be set based on the size of the product. The minimum cooking time is two and a half hours. If you chose a large beef tongue, then it is better to set the time one hour more than the minimum.
20 minutes before the end of cooking, salt the dish, and all other spices, if any, must be added after you remove the beef tongue from the slow cooker.
After the beep, remove the finished dish from the multicooker, after which it will need to be lowered into cool water for two minutes. This must be done so that you can easily get rid of the skin. When you've peeled off the skin, your home-cooked beef tongue is ready to eat.
Beef tongue is a delicious, tender, nutritious delicacy that is used as an independent dish - in the form of a favorite snack for many, present on almost every holiday table, served with horseradish or mustard, as well as in many salads and other snacks. It is usually sold fresh or frozen.
Compared to other similar offal, such as pork or lamb, beef, the recipe of which we will consider in this article, has a greater nutritional value. Tongue is considered a dietary food that is recommended in many common diets for various ailments. For example, due to the fact that it contains a large amount of iron and protein, the use of the tongue is necessary in case of anemia, as well as in the recovery period after surgery. In addition, it is recommended for the nutrition of lactating and pregnant women and children who especially need enhanced replenishment of these essential elements for the body. A large amount of B vitamins and zinc also add value to the beef tongue. 100 grams of the product contains the daily value of vitamin B12 and 40% of the daily value of zinc. And, of course, this is not all of its useful properties, but this is already enough to understand how useful it is to include this delicious product on the menu.
Recipe: Boiled Beef Tongue
First you need a tongue and water. Pour the required amount of water into the pan and put it on fire. The recipe for "Boiled" begins with the preparation of the main product - the tongue. It must be thoroughly washed under running water. Excessive zeal is not necessary - the layer covering it will be completely removed after cooking.
Place your tongue in the already hot water. It would be useful to put onions, carrots, celery in a pan. The boiling tongue will absorb their aroma with pleasure, acquiring an amazing shade of taste. All these seasonings must be washed and cleaned, but it is not necessary to cut them finely. Onions just need to be peeled and placed in the broth as a whole, carrots cut into large pieces.
Bring the water to a boil over high heat, then reduce it to medium and leave to cook, now for a long time. Cooking time for beef tongue - 2.5-3 hours. The recipe is also suitable for cooking a more tender, veal tongue, but the cooking time will be reduced to about 2 hours. Readiness should be checked, as when cooking meat, piercing the tip of the tongue with a fork. When the tongue is ready, the fork will easily pierce it. 30 minutes before the end, salt the water to taste and add peppercorns and bay leaf to it.
When there is no doubt about the degree of readiness, turn off the fire, pull the finished tongue out of the water and place it in a bowl filled with cold water. After the tongue has been lying like this for a while, the skin covering it will easily come off if you pry it off with a knife. Clean the tongue completely and place it briefly back into the fragrant broth in which it was boiled.
That's the whole recipe! Boiled beef tongue is completely ready. Now you can cool it and cut it into slices, serve as an appetizer on its own, or start preparing a dish that will contain it.
This chic luxury by-product, it’s even hard to call it a by-product. Such an expressive taste, delicate texture (of a properly prepared tongue), leaves few people indifferent. Although some argue that the language is hard to spoil, unfortunately more than once I had to try something dry and hard, with a dull taste, even under a generous layer of jelly ...
So, so that the result is always pleasing:
1) Soak your tongue in saline beforehand, as described below. Spices and herbs can be adjusted to taste. It is better to season the tongue when soaking, then the aroma of spices and herbs will penetrate deeper.
2) Never let the water boil while boiling! This will make the tongue hard and the decoction cloudy.
3) Let the tongue cook longer, if you are not sure of readiness, cook for another 15 minutes. The main signs of readiness: the tongue can be easily pierced with a knife and the skin of the tongue easily leaves.
4) Clean your tongue right away while it's still hot. Then, when it cools down, it will be necessary to tear off the skin with "teeth".
That's probably all. As you can see, everything is very simple.
When I cook the tongue, I always leave the part that is thinner, more beautiful, to be served in the form of sliced \u200b\u200bwith various sauces. And I cook salads from the thick part (the recipe for the salad will be coming soon), and I definitely cook a rich soup from scraps of the tongue with horseradish, on a decoction of the tongue (there will also be a recipe). This soup is always waiting for me very much. And I will tell you that it is such that there is something to wait for ;-).
Ingredients
- 1 beef tongue
For brine per liter of water:
- 45 grams of salt
- Zest of 1/2 lemon, yellow part only
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled, crushed with a knife
- 2 berries juniper (can be omitted)
- 2 allspice peas
For boiling:
- 1 large carrots, peeled, coarsely chopped
- 1 horseradish root, peeled, coarsely chopped
- 2 onions, peeled, each cut into 4 pieces
- 5 allspice peas
- 1 bay leaf
1) Wash your tongue with cold running water. Defrost if frozen.
2) Prepare the brine. Place the tongue in a small saucepan, and measure the amount of water needed so that the tongue is completely covered with water. I got 2 liters. Take out the tongue, put it aside In the measured water, place all the ingredients for the brine, in the amount corresponding to the amount of water. Bring the brine to a boil and cool completely.
3) Place the tongue in the cooled brine and leave for 8-10 hours (overnight).
4) The next day, remove the tongue and brine, rinse well under cold running water. Place in a clean saucepan, fill to the top with water and add all the ingredients for boiling. DO NOT SALT! Place over medium heat, bring to a boil and immediately reduce heat to low. Cook for 2-3 hours. depending on the size of the tongue. The finished tongue is easy to pierce.
5) Remove the tongue, and save the broth for soup. (Recipe for broth tongue soup will be published soon). Immediately, rinse the tongue under cold running water to cool slightly and while the offal is still warm, remove the tough skin from the surface of the tongue, starting from the thick base.
The tongue is not cooked as often due to not knowing how to cook beef tongue. This part of beef is a dense muscle tissue. To make the tongue tasty, tender and soft, it needs to be cooked for a long time. Also, to give taste to the broth, spices, vegetables, herbs are added.
How to cook beef tongue in a pan?
The easiest option for preparing the product is boiled beef tongue. To prepare the product you will need:
- 2.5 liters of water;
- beef tongue;
- 1.3 table. l. salt;
- dill sprigs;
- lavrushka.
We wash the tongue thoroughly under running water, clean off the dirt. When the surface remains perfectly clean, you can start cooking. Dip into a saucepan filled with water. We also put the washed sprigs of dill and salt there. Let's cook. During cooking, collect foam flakes. After an hour of cooking, put the lavrushka, continue to cook for another 2-2.5 hours. The water will gradually evaporate, so you need to add it from time to time. The water must completely cover the product. After the first boil, leave the fire at the minimum mark.
On a note. To make it easier to clean off mucus, blood and other contaminants from the meat part, it is recommended to soak the tongue in ice water half an hour before cooking.
How long?
Cooking time depends on how the beef tongue is prepared, as well as on the size of the meat tenderloin, and the age of the animal. For example, the tongue of a young cow softens much faster than the meat of an adult animal.
So, how much to cook the tongue with different cooking methods:
- 45 minutes if the tongue is cooked in a pressure cooker;
- 2-4 hours if the product is boiled in a saucepan;
- 1.5-3 hours if a slow cooker is used.
It is worth noting that the tongue cut into 3-4 pieces is cooked much faster. Also, if the volume of the pan is small, the cut parts of the product will fit more compactly.
On a note. To check the readiness of the tongue, after a couple of hours, pierce it with a knife. If the blade enters gently - the product is ready for use, if it is tight - we continue to cook for at least another half hour. It is worth paying attention to what kind of liquid comes out: transparent - for finished meat, cloudy - for raw meat.
Correct Proportions
It is important that when cooking, the tongue is completely covered with water. Approximately 2 times more water by volume will be needed than meat is taken.
How to clean cooked beef tongue?
To facilitate the removal of the skin immediately after cooking, it is recommended to dip the tongue in ice water and soak in it for several minutes. After that, the skin will very easily lag behind the meat.
calories
The calorie content of boiled beef tongue is 231 kcal. The product is approved for use by pregnant and lactating women. It is also often included in the diet of people on a diet.
How to cook in a slow cooker
Cooking a product using a slow cooker is a little easier than on a stove. Water during cooking will not evaporate as quickly as in a saucepan. So, you can leave the dish to cook and calmly go about your business.
To prepare a delicious beef tongue you will need:
- small bulb;
- small carrots;
- Bay leaf;
- ⅓ table. l. salt;
- 4 peas of allspice;
- beef tongue.
Rinse the meat part well, lower it into a multicooker bowl. Fill with water in an amount of 2 liters.
Wash and peel the carrots, peel and rinse the onions. Cut into quarters and dip in water. Add salt.
Activate the "Extinguishing" mode, set the time to an hour. After an hour, take out the vegetables and put the remaining spices, extend the time by another 1.5-2 hours - the time depends on the power of the multicooker.
The broth can be used to prepare the first course.
In a pressure cooker
Cooking a product using a pressure cooker is significantly shortened. In time, only 40-50 minutes will be enough. For cooking, you can use the same products as in the recipe for cooking in a slow cooker. The only difference is the cooking method.
Important! Before opening the pressure cooker, do not forget to release the steam or allow the appliance to release the pressure on its own.
The best beef tongue recipes
The most common use of this meat part is as a snack. The tongue is boiled in a convenient way, cooled, cut into slices. Can be used instead of sausage to make sandwiches or lightly covered with mayonnaise and served as a cut.
Also, the tongue is used to prepare salads, aspic, snacks.
Here are some simple and delicious recipes:
- Combine 300 g of boiled tongue (cut into strips), 250 g of fried champignons (thin plates), 50 g of prunes and chopped hazelnuts, a small onion (finely chopped). Season everything with pepper, salt and light mayonnaise to taste.
- For beef tongue jelly, use 1 boiled beef tongue, cut into strips, boiled carrots, chopped into rings, 2-3 boiled eggs, cut into slices. Optionally, you can add canned peas and garnish with green sprigs. Gelatin is added to the broth, since in this case there are no bones that affect the degree of solidification of the broth. Spices and salt are used to taste.
- For a delicious, satisfying hot dish, you will need 600 grams of boiled tongue, 200 grams of champignons and cheese, a couple of tomatoes, a stack of cream, a tablespoon of flour and sour cream, a small onion, spices and salt. Mushrooms and onions are finely chopped and fried until tender, so that the liquid evaporates as much as possible. Gradually introduce the mixed cream with sour cream and flour, seasoned with spices. The mass should warm up slightly and become thick. Spread parchment or a silicone mat on a baking sheet, lay out slices of boiled tongue (thickness 1-1.5 cm), put sour cream and mushroom mass on each, cover with a ring of tomato and rub with cheese. At 200 degrees. bake for a third of an hour.
When going to a store or to the market, arm yourself with our tips and then you will not be disappointed in your purchase. The product must have an even color, not have dark spots (it is necessary to distinguish between spots of stale goods and spots of natural color) and also a weathered crust. It should also be remembered that the larger the tongue, the older the animal was, such a product will take longer to cook. And there are much more nutrients in the language of a young animal.
Step two - preparation
Half an hour before cooking, soak the offal in plenty of cold water, this process will help us to easily wash off all the dirt in the future. Then scrape off, if necessary, all the dirt, blood with a knife and rinse again with water.
Step three - how to cook the tongue
There are several cooking methods. If you are preparing a delicacy for slicing, then use the following recipe.
Place the prepared offal in a saucepan, pour hot water and put on the stove, bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes. Remove any foam that occasionally forms. Then drain the water, pour a new portion of hot water and cook the tongue until tender. Why did we drain the water? Because at the beginning of cooking all unpleasant odors leave the meat, we drain this broth.
How long to cook beef tongue
It all depends on the age of the animal, the younger it was, the shorter the cooking time will be. So in order to cook the tongues of a young animal until cooked, you will need from 1 to 1.5 hours. In other cases, longer.
Half an hour before the end of cooking, you can add various roots to the broth (onions, carrots, parsley, etc.), you can also use fresh herbs, but do not rush to chop it, use petioles that can be tied with a thread. Do not forget about spices (bay leaf, peppercorns, cloves, etc.), thus you will give the delicacy meat even more aroma, taste and health benefits.
Let's say the following about salt, it must be added shortly before the end of the cooking process.
For salads or aspic, some housewives use the following method. The offal prepared in advance is laid out in boiling water and boiled for 15 minutes. It is then removed and cleaned. Already then it is transferred to new water and boiled until cooked.
The method is not fundamentally different from the first. The thing is that in a purified form, the tongue absorbs more of the aroma of herbs, roots, spices and salt, i.e. becomes more fragrant. But take note, when cooked in a purified form, it will lose more vitamins and nutrients.
How to cook tongue in a slow cooker or pressure cooker
You can also cook beef tongue in a slow cooker. To do this, put the prepared product in a bowl and pour it with cold water, select the "Stew" cooking program and set the time for 2.5 - 3 hours, depending on the size of the main ingredient. 15 minutes before the end of cooking, add a fragrant set of spices, herbs, salt.
For owners of a multicooker - a pressure cooker, the cooking time is reduced significantly, the tongue in such a unit will be ready in 40 - 50 minutes. But there is a small nuance here, because. during the process, you will not be able to open the lid due to the pressurized pressure, then all the ingredients are added at the beginning of the boil.
Step four - how to clean your tongue
Few people know that while the tongue is hot, it cleans very well. The only downside is that it's hot.
If you have difficulty with this, transfer the finished tongue to cold water for 5 to 8 minutes. This will help to easily remove the skin from it without spoiling the appearance.
So, here are some simple ways to prepare a beef or veal delicacy. And how to file or use the boiled tongue in the future - your imagination will tell you.
I would like to add that ready-made languages can be stored by wrapping in cling film for no more than four days in the refrigerator.
Bon appetit and good recipes!
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