How to properly prepare, skin and boil beef and pork tongues

It is impossible to say with complete certainty when this offal became desirable on the table and, moreover, scarce and high-status, but it is known for sure that peasants were forbidden to eat it; it was the privilege exclusively of gentlemen and people from high society.
Nowadays, this product is also an infrequent guest on the table, and traditionally dishes from it appear on the table on holidays. A lot of different dishes are prepared from beef tongue; it is used in first courses instead of regular meat; with its addition, salads are made, main courses and various gourmet snacks are prepared. Ready-made smoked, salted and marinated delicacies in various dressings are sold in store windows. But even without adding other ingredients, it is very tasty in itself and can be consumed as an independent product due to its rich, original taste. Beautifully chopped boiled tongue, neatly laid out on a plate with vegetables and herbs, will decorate any table.

Calorie content and composition of beef tongue

Beef tongue is valued not only for its high taste, it also has a unique composition. The product contains a balanced composition of protein, microelements, including sodium, potassium, iron, zinc and others, necessary for excellent well-being and full development of a person.

Depending on the methods of heat treatment, its calorie content changes:

100 grams of raw meat is approximately 173 kcal.
Boiled will contain only 90 kcal.
The calorie content of the stewed product will be 183 kcal.

Therefore, on a diet, it is better to eat it after cooking as a separate dish or by adding a light side dish of raw vegetables, and for heavy physical labor or intense training, it is recommended to stew it with the addition of healthy cereals.

What to do after cooking?

Before you start peeling the skin off the beef tongue, you need to check the readiness of the offal.

It is advisable to clean your tongue immediately after it leaves the pan.

Place the product under cold water to make cleaning more convenient and the process goes faster. When removing the skin, follow these guidelines:

remove the film from the thick part to the tip. In this case, large areas can be freed up. At the tip of the tongue, the skin comes off in small pieces;
Make cuts with a sharp knife so that the surface remains smooth, without deep cuts. This is especially important if the offal is supposed to be used for cutting meat - in a salad this will not matter.

There is also a quick way. If you have a special board with a ribbed surface and clamps, then use the following instructions:

Remove the tongue from the broth in which it was boiled.
Place in a bowl of cold water.
Secure it on a special board.
Cut the skin at the base of the tongue.
Pull the skin towards the tip of your tongue, as if you were taking off a sock.
Cut off the remaining sections with a sharp knife.

Selection of quality raw materials

No cooking method can correct the quality and taste of a stale, stale product, especially one with a “smell.” All the beneficial properties of the tongue are inherent only in fresh, high-quality meat. This is a product without signs of weathering, without spots and color unusual for meat - this is what the tongue should look like. By the way, the spots may be from the color of the animal’s tongue, but they cannot be confused with rottenness and signs of spoilage of the product.

An adult animal will have a very large tongue, but this may also be an indicator of old age. It will take a long time to cook.

More nutrients are found in the meat of an adult, but not an old animal. Veal, pork and lamb tongues are inferior in their benefits to beef, but are an alternative substitute due to their greater availability in stores and due to their lower cost.

Useful properties of the product

Due to its rich composition, the condition of the skin improves, the immune system is strengthened, and most importantly, due to the high content of complete protein, this product is almost irreplaceable in the diet of children and pregnant women. Protein is responsible for building the muscle corset and is the main building material for a growing body. Lack of protein leads to muscular dystrophy and developmental disorders of the child's body. With a lack of protein in the diet, the skin, hair, and hormonal structure suffer.

Beef tongue is useful for anemia and during recovery after illness and surgery, as it contains a lot of iron.

There is an opinion that the tongue takes a long time to prepare. This is true if you cook it in the usual way. But almost every family has a multicooker and a pressure cooker, which reduces the need to control the cooking process to a minimum; the main thing is to choose the right mode . In a multicooker, the “stew” mode is suitable, but in a pressure cooker it’s even easier, just pour a little water into the bowl, put your tongue in and turn it on to the maximum setting. However, the list of beneficial properties of the tongue outweighs the cost and time spent on preparation, since the product:

Contains a lot of minerals, including vitamins B, PP, zinc, which is rare in meat in such quantities. Iodine, potassium, phosphorus and iron are responsible for the production of hormones and amino acids.
Promotes the body's production of insulin, which is important for diabetics.
Responsible for tissue regeneration in postoperative patients.
Makes the skin elastic.
Does not contain connective tissue, making it easier to absorb for patients with gastritis and ulcers.
Reduces blood cholesterol.
It is an excellent product when dieting for weight loss, as it contains a lot of protein and little fat.

The appearance of such formations has various reasons and factors.

Decreased immunity.
Dental diseases (gingivitis, stomatitis, caries, periodontitis, etc.).
Infectious diseases.
Gastrointestinal problems.
Infection of the body with helminths.
Pathologies of the heart, lungs, thyroid gland.
Taking medications, etc.

In difficult cases, when plaque is one of the accompanying symptoms of serious diseases, consult a doctor. The disease must be identified and cured, otherwise no means to improve the microflora will help.

How to properly cook and clean beef tongue

There are several ways to cook a tongue.

First way

If the tongue is cooked for slicing, then pre-boiled water is poured into the pan, the tongue is put in, everything is brought to a boil and cooked over reduced heat for 10-15 minutes. Then the water in which the tongue was boiled is drained, clean boiling water is poured in, and cooked until ready. This is done so that, along with foam, unpleasant odors and dirt located on the rough surface of the hard skin of the product are removed from the tongue. During cooking, and the cooking time, depending on the weight and age of the animal, can reach up to 3 hours, you should monitor the water level so that it does not boil away, and add boiling water if necessary.

Preparatory stage

How to cook pork tongues and peel them? Before cooking, the product must be washed and excess fat removed, because dishes made from it are already high in calories. Veins and other inedible parts should also be removed.

You should not peel the product raw, because it is difficult to do and you may lose some meat.

To get a truly delicious dish, you need to know:

fresh tongue has a bright red color;
if the product is fresh, it smells pleasant, a little sweet;
Before cooking, you need to soak the product for several hours.

How to properly clean your tongue

Step-by-step instructions for cleaning the product are as follows:

Raw reeds need to be cleaned of dirt and mucus. It is advisable to pre-soak the offal in cold water; you can leave it overnight.
Anything that gets wet should be cleaned off with a knife, scraping off the plaque and removing any remaining meat and salivary glands at the root.
Rinse before storing in clean running water.
Place in a saucepan, add boiling water and bring to a boil.
Remove the foam, boil for 15 minutes and remove if the semi-finished product will be peeled at this stage. If it will be cleaned at the end of cooking, then reduce the heat, remembering to remove the foam with a slotted spoon, and simmer at a barely noticeable boil until done.
If the skin is cleaned after preliminary boiling, then you should transfer the meat to cold water and wait until the moment when you can pick it up with your hand.
Peel off the skin. It will have a white tint and easily move away from the main mass when prying it with a knife.
If necessary, finish cooking by pouring clean boiling water and adding spices to taste.

Cooking recommendations

If you are trying to cook a delicacy for the first time and want to do everything right, don’t worry: you will succeed. Here are a few things to pay attention to before and during cooking:

try to buy a chilled product at the market. Frozen meat may be stale or old. If you buy a frozen product, you need to give it time to completely thaw. Under no circumstances should you defrost meat in the microwave or under running hot water;
When purchasing a chilled product, it must be prepared no later than 12 hours from the date of purchase. The longer the tongue stays in the refrigerator, the faster it will dry out;
even if you bought a small tongue weighing about 500 g, it will take at least 2 hours to cook it. If you haven't cooked the meat enough, it will be difficult to clean it: the skin will constantly tear;
During cooking, the fire should be minimal or low. You can cover the pan with a lid, but leave a hole for steam to escape;
Never leave the pan on the fire unattended. Water may “run out”;
When you start peeling after cooking, start from the tip and gradually move towards the center.

During cooking, a thin protective film forms on the surface of the product. It retains all the juice inside the meat.

A little skill and accuracy - and this delicious delicacy can be served at the table or used as an ingredient in other dishes. The tongue contains a huge amount of vitamins and nutrients, and its aroma and attractive appearance instantly awaken the appetite. A properly prepared product will be swept off the table in just a couple of minutes, because it is impossible to resist such a taste and smell.

Seasonings

Since by peeling boiled beef tongue we get a self-sufficient snack, we need to take care of the spices. To keep it tender, add salt just before it’s ready. You can check for softness with a fork and then put salt, pepper, and bay leaf into the water. You can also add carrots and onions to the broth.

But not all chefs agree with this procedure. Someone says that first you need to figure out how to clean boiled beef tongue. Only after this should it be lowered back into the broth, spices added and boiled for about 15 minutes. The resulting broth can be used to prepare aspic.

How long will it take

If you want to surprise guests at a celebration, you need to learn all the intricacies so that you know how to cook and how to clean. Proper serving is also important, but more on that later. How long will it take for the tongue to be completely ready for use? It depends on its weight, size and age of the cow. Therefore, you will have to navigate the cooking process.

As a rule, this is no less than two and no more than four hours. It is very easy to check this point. After 2 hours have passed, you need to stick a fork into it. If clear juice comes out, it means the appetizer is ready. If the juice is cloudy, cook until done. Now let's look at how to peel beef tongue.