Pork pastrami at home: cooking features, recipes and reviews

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

Many housewives think that culinary masterpieces and cooking delicacies are only for professional chefs. One of these exquisite and "complex" dishes is pork pastrami. In fact, you can cook this dish at home. A novice hostess will also cope here.

Today we will tell you what are the main secrets of the recipe for homemade pork pastrami, what are the features of cooking this wonderful delicacy.

A bit of history

Many historical sources claim that many centuries ago pork pastrami was not an expensive delicacy. Humans originally used corned beef as a method of storing meat. In those days, they didn’t even hear about refrigerators, so they were looking for any improvised means that could extend the “life” of homemade meat preparations.

The first mention of this dish was found in Romanian historical documents. Experts believe that the word has Turkic roots. It is known that the word "pastrima" or "basturma" was encountered in this language. Very often mention ofpastrome is found in historical military documents. It was this food that soldiers most often consumed. It was stored for a long time, tolerated temperature changes well, was satisfying and high-calorie.

The meat used for cooking is different in different countries. It is known that pork pastrami was popular in Romania. In other countries of the world, beef or chicken was more often used. The meat was marinated, sprinkled with a special set of spices and dried in the sun. The highlight of this dish is garlic and spices, which give the meat a specific taste.

Pork pastrami at home, the recipe of which we will offer you today, is an excellent alternative to absolutely any meat dishes. It is also an excellent snack for the festive table.

Spicy homemade pastrami

The delicacy that we will cook today does not require special culinary knowledge and skills at all. But as a result, you will get a surprisingly tasty and fragrant dish that will surprise both a sophisticated culinary gourmet and a true picky meat-eater.

Today there are so many cooking options, you can find a lot of methods and recommendations on how to cook pork pastrami at home. We offer you to cook this dish according to an old classic recipe. We’ll make a reservation right away that according to the traditional recipe, the dish turns out to be quite spicy, so if for some reason you can’t eat spicy food, just initially reduce the amount of “burning”ingredients.

Indispensable ingredients for cooking

• Pork - two kilograms.
• Black ground pepper - 3, 5 tbsp. l.
• A heaping tablespoon of mustard.
• Four tablespoons of coriander.
• Half a teaspoon of red hot pepper.
• The same amount of ground cloves.
• A couple of bay leaves.
• A quarter teaspoon of cumin.
• Same amount of ground ginger, same amount of cinnamon.
• 250 grams of sugar.
• 200 grams of s alt.
• Five to six cloves of garlic.
• 100 grams of brown sugar.
• One hundred grams of honey.
• 4 liters of water.
• Two tbsp. spoons of fennel.

Step 1. Preparing the spice mix

A set of fragrant and fragrant ingredients is one of the important points that should not be overlooked if homemade pork pastrami is cooked. To begin with, pepper, mustard and coriander are fried in a pan for five minutes. It must be clean and dry. After the fragrant ingredients are fried, transfer them to a mortar and grind. Experts advise not to use food processors, coffee grinders and other equipment for grinding spices. Everything must be done by hand.

Choose a bigger pot. Put the chopped spices in there. Add cloves and ginger, cumin and s alt, bay leaf, red hot pepper, s alt and cinnamon, brown and white sugar, garlic and honey to them. Pour water and put on the stove. When the liquid boils, reduce the fire,mix thoroughly and cook the spices until the sugar and s alt completely disappear. Russell is ready. Remove the pan from the stove.

Step 2. Meat

When the prepared fragrant brine has cooled, you can put meat in it. It is important to choose the right pan. The meat must be completely covered with liquid. From another container, the size of which is slightly smaller than the one you have chosen for cooking the brine, we take the lid. We put it on the meat, making oppression. You can also put a jar filled with water on top. The future pork pastrami will be in this state for five days. Place the container in a cold place. It could be a refrigerator or a balcony, weather permitting.

Step 3. Re-marinate

After the meat has stood for five days in the cold, it should be taken out, washed under running water and dried. Grind coriander, fennel, mustard and pepper in a mortar. We rub the meat piece with the prepared mixture and send it to the refrigerator for 12 hours. Do not forget to press down with oppression.

Step 4. Roaster

Of course, the traditional recipe uses the heat of the sun to complete the dish. But we are preparing pork pastrami at home, so instead of the heat of the sun, we will use the oven. It should be heated to 180 degrees.

We take the meat out of the refrigerator. We wipe it and wrap it in foil. Now you need to send a piece for fifteen minutes in a hot oven. Through the specifieda period of time we take out the pastrami and get rid of the foil. Put the meat back on a baking sheet or wire rack and bake already without foil for half an hour.

Turn off the oven. Do not rush to open the oven. Don't release precious "artificial solar" heat. The dish should stand in the roaster for about four hours. Only then will it be finally ready.

The meat will cool for about two to three hours. The appetizer is always served cold and cut into thin small pieces.

Reviews

Not to mention the positive reviews that are pouring in on the homemade pork pastrami recipe. All chefs note that, despite the lengthy cooking process, the dish is prepared quite simply. Many housewives say that it was this “zest” that was missing on their holiday tables. For many, pastrami has forever replaced sausages and sausage.