, but it is not a simple matter to cook well.
My friends must have encountered various confusions in their daily cooking, such as why the color of this dish is not very bright, and that dish does not smell very good.
So, I took the time to compile some cooking tips, which are also the experiences I have accumulated over the years of cooking. I hope you guys will gain something from reading it!
Part One - Meat Processing
The first point is to choose fresh ingredients
When we make meat dishes, we try to choose fresh ingredients. For example, fish, chickens, ducks, etc., try to choose freshly killed meat. If there is no freshly killed meat, choose fresh meat. If you only have frozen food, the shorter the freezing time in the freezer, the better. In addition, marine fish have a much lighter smell than freshwater fish, because freshwater fish like to live in the mud at the bottom of the water and have the strongest smell.
The second point is how to clean ingredients
We cannot avoid the step of cleaning ingredients when cooking. For making meat dishes, this step is even more important. The black film of fish, and the gills are the fishiest, must be completely removed when cleaning. The blood and water in the knife edges and abdomen of chicken and duck meat should be cleaned. After buying beef home, you need to soak it in cold water for more than 2 hours to remove the blood. The ribs also need to be soaked for more than 1 hour to remove the blood.
The third point is to blanch meat
In fact, there are two main things to pay attention to:
First, there is no peculiar smell; Second, the meat must be tender and taste good.
The peculiar smell of meat can be removed by blanching. You must know how to do it, but when blanching, you should pay attention to two small points:
1. It is best to blanch meat in cold water into the pot
When the meat is put into the boiling water pot, the meat will immediately tighten and the blood will be difficult to remove. When
is put into a pot of cold water, it is a bit like " boiling a frog in warm water ".
In a slowly heated environment, the meat is heated more evenly, and the blood and water inside can be quickly and comprehensively discharged, resulting in better odor removal.
Moreover, compared to boiling in hot water, the meat blanched in cold water tastes more tender and retains its nutrients more completely.
When blanching, you can also choose to add onions, ginger, and cooking wine to help remove odors.
2. After blanching, the meat can be immersed in cold water
This takes advantage of the principle of thermal expansion and contraction.
Meat that has just been blanched has a relatively high temperature. When exposed to cold water with a relatively low temperature, the flavor and moisture of the meat will be tightly locked inside, and the meat will become more elastic, tender and fragrant.
The fourth point is pickling
When making meat dishes, we basically need to add the pickling step. Pickling can not only effectively remove the fishy smell, but also make the meat taste more tender. When marinating, we usually choose to add cooking wine and ginger slices, spread or mix evenly, and marinate for more than fifteen minutes. In fact, using white wine to remove fishy smell is better than cooking wine, but you must pay attention to the dosage and do not add too much, which will affect the taste.
Friends, open your eyes and watch, useful information is here!
Extra: How to make meat tender?
1. Cut according to the texture
Different meats, different methods, or different parts of the same meat, different cutting methods will also affect the tenderness and taste of the meat after cooking.
According to the cutting method of the texture, there are generally two methods: "with the grain" and "against the grain".
If you want the meat to be tender, choose "cut against the grain", that is, cut crosswise.
Cross cutting can cut off the thick fiber of meat, so that the cooked meat will taste very tender. Beef, mutton, etc. are often cut crosswise with a knife.
Another type of "cut along the grain", that is, vertical cutting.
It is cut according to the direction of the arrangement of the meat itself. In this way, the cut meat will not be broken due to heating shrinkage after cooking. The finished product will still remain neat and beautiful, and the meat will be chewier.
This cutting method is more commonly used to cut pork tenderloin, chicken or shredded pork.
2. Marinate in advance
In order to keep the meat tender, it is very common to marinate it in advance.
generally uses starch, egg white, vegetable oil and salt.
Among them, starch, egg white and vegetable oil all have the effect of locking the moisture in the meat.
A small amount of salt can allow the protein in the meat to produce a salt-soluble reaction and absorb water, making it more tender and juicy.
In addition, seasonings such as salt and vegetable oil also play a role in seasoning and flavoring during the pickling process.
When marinating meat, you don’t necessarily have to put all the seasonings on it. You can make adjustments according to the specific situation~
3. Beating after cutting
For meat that has too much fiber and is too thick, in addition to cutting it crosswise, you can also Using a hammer or other tools, the fibers are destroyed and the meat becomes softer and more tender.
I taught you a "prawn knocking" method before, which is based on this principle.
After the shrimp meat is beaten, the texture and fascia are broken up, making it taste more tender and elastic.
4. Cut evenly in size
No matter what dish is cut into different sizes and cooked in the pot at the same time, if the cooking time is short, the large pieces will be cooked; if the cooking time is long, the small pieces will be cooked too old.
Therefore, no matter what kind of meat, it is best to cut it into even sizes~
Well, that’s all for today. If you have any questions about cooking, you can leave me a message and I will reply to you as soon as possible!
