Minced meat: the secrets of cooking and dishes from it

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

In the culinary art of many peoples of the world, some ingredients or semi-finished products used in the further preparation of dishes are truly universal. Here is chopped meat - one of these. And from it you can build not only juicy cutlets and cutlets of all ranks and stripes, but also adapt for incomparable handmade dumplings, mouth-watering cabbage rolls and casseroles, call for fillings for ruddy pies and pies, and many other goodies.

Minced meat is a suitable and even indispensable base for many dishes, so it is important to know for sure how to cook it in the right way. We will deal with this later in the article. We hope that you will not waste your precious time following our experience.

Meat minced

In today's realities of modern kitchens, as a rule, equipped, if not with the latest technology, then, for sure, with the help of already familiarappliances, you can make minced meat in several proven ways:

• twist on meat grinders;
• use blenders - stationary or submersible;
• try the manual method with a pair of sharp knives.

Many, especially not very experienced home cooks, will immediately prefer any of the first two, motivating their choice by the fact that, they say, we are not in the Stone Age. And in general, in a meat grinder it will turn out faster and more uniformly. But we will not look for easy ways?

Minced Meat: Cooking and Secrets

Why does an authentic cook choose the third way? When using chopping, the meat will come out juicier and tastier, as it is chopped, but does not crumple in its internal structure, as, for example, happens in a meat grinder. And all its juices will remain inside small pieces. Of course, a blender does something similar, with one “but”: it sweeps fabrics almost into a paste. Do we need it?

By the way, minced meat can be cooked with a single knife. But if you use a couple, it will be three times faster (and looks very impressive)! The knives should be as sharp as possible, designed for these purposes (that is, not rounded - table knives), and also quite heavy. For the process itself, you will need a heavy and durable (beech, oak) board, and you can lay a kitchen towel under it - for maximum stability on the table.

Recipe minced meat step by step

Next, proceed as follows:

1. Before cooking minced meat, if necessary, separate the pulp from the chaff and wash it in running water. Then it should be dried to remove excess moisture. And if the piece is large, then we cut it in half or into three parts, since it will be much easier to operate with narrow strips in the future.
2. Cut each strip across the fiber into thinner slices. Having stacked them in a pile of three, we cut them into cubes, approximately 1 x 1 centimeter in size.
3. Now that the preliminary work has come to an end, and the board is cut into rough pulp, we proceed directly to cutting, armed with sharp knives and working with two at once.
4. By the way, movements can be slow, it is important to act in a mode that is comfortable for you: speed will come with experience. With both knives we try to sort of collect pieces closer to the center, so it will be easier to chop.

Size matters

Regarding the size of the minced meat particles: here it is individual, as someone likes to make it bigger, someone smaller. The main thing is that it does not turn out mushy and the meat does not let out internal juices. And the optimal dimensions are achieved empirically (from a millimeter to half a centimeter). In addition, for example, for a kebab, it is advised to use larger minced meat. And for cutlets, smaller ones are also suitable. As soon as the consistency you need is reached, handmade unground minced meat is ready.

Dishes

Dishes of minced meat are famous for their diversity and national flavor. Thanks to the method of preparation of the main ingredient, all of them are distinguished by increased juiciness and original taste:

1. Beefsteaks. They are prepared from beef or veal minced meat. Also add a little lard (also beef). Ratio: approximately 1 to 7. Next, beat the egg into the mass, add a third of a glass of milk, seasonings to taste and s alt. Mix and shape. We fry in the usual "cutlet" mode. If we want to get steaks with blood, then we do not fry a little.
2. For dumplings, you can also use chopped minced meat. We make it from pork (1 part) and beef (3 parts). Add a little lard (1/10 parts), onion head, s alt, a mixture of peppers. Knead and use as a filling.
3. Lula-kebab. In the classics, we cook from sheep meat (3 parts). We add a lot of onions, also chopped (1 part), fat tail mutton fat (1 part). From spices we use cilantro, coriander, cumin, a mixture of peppers and garlic. We knead the minced meat and form long kebabs, stringing them on skewers.

Cutlets - to the studio

Cutlets from minced meat - the fastest thing you can cook without much effort. Add the egg, onion, chopped with a knife, the pulp of white bread soaked in milk, spices and peppers to the chopped minced meat. We knead the mince. We form not too big cutlets. Roll in breadcrumbs and fry on both sides in a well-heated oil until cooked (we check for a break: if the insides are not pink, then a delicious second course can already beturn off and serve with a side dish of potatoes, rice, fresh vegetable salad.

Secret: so that the cutlets are not stewed, namely fried, you need to preheat a large frying pan. Then bring the lean oil for frying almost to a boil. And put each cutlet separately from the other so that their edges do not touch. Thus, they will turn out to be fried, not stewed. But, by the way, you can also make steam ones (preferably from chopped poultry meat or mixed). They come out incredibly juicy due to the fact that the meat does not release its juice, but keeps it inside until the very end of the preparation of the dish, and only while eating the food does it “open” completely.