That of boiled beef is one of the most popular recipes and one of the second most appreciated in the Emilian cuisine. Preparing it at home is not complex, but it is essential to keep 3 priorities in mind: care in choosing the cuts of meat and respect for the long cooking times. Let’s see them together in detail.
Boiled beef: cuts of meat
Preparing a good boiled beef cannot ignore the right choice of cuts to buy. In this sense, the most suitable cuts are those coming from the front of the cow. Among the best we find:
- Muscle: obtained from the upper part of the thigh, it is the most indicated in absolute terms, thin and of the right consistency.
- Shoulder pulp: rather thin and soft, it is immediately above the muscle.
- Chest and bow tip: made from the upper part of the chest.
Those who love meat a little fatter, can instead opt for the “biancostato”, obtained from the ribs, or the “scaramella”, obtained from the abdomen, which are well suited to long cooking.
Go to your trusted butcher and buy fresh meat, which you will recognize from these details:
- The muscle has a bright red color, without spots and darker areas.
- The fat is pure white.
- The meat is tonic and elastic, and a very delicate odor, almost imperceptible!
Once you have purchased the raw material for your recipe, all you have to do is arm yourself with a little patience and cook it!
Some advice for cooking and seasoning boiled meat.
If you want to prepare a boiled and not a broth, remember that the meat should be immersed in very hot water, and never cold or lukewarm: this is the only way to ensure that its surface coagulates instantly, preventing the tasty juices from escaping inside.
Once this is done, remember that boiled meat must be cooked very slowly (for about 3 hours) over very low heat, so that the boil is at its most obvious, and that the cooking water is often “foamed”, iet it is necessary to eliminate it the impurities that appear on the surface.