Pork cheek is a delicious and prized cut of meat.
Pork Cheek – An Expensive Cut of Meat
What is pork cheek that makes it so sought-after by home cooks?
This is the lean meat from the pig’s cheeks, selling for up to half a million VND per pound, yet still hard to come by.
Pork cheek is the meat from both sides of the pig’s face, after the fat has been trimmed away. The lean meat is marbled with thin, translucent streaks of fat, resulting in a tender and crispy texture. Especially when cooked, the meat becomes juicy without being greasy, cooks quickly, and has a sweeter flavor compared to other cuts of pork.
While grilling pork tenderloin can easily dry out the meat, grilling pork cheek allows the marbling of fat to keep the meat moist and tender, without sacrificing crispiness. For this reason, pork cheek is always in high demand and often sold out.
Although pork cheek was not well-known in the past and rarely consumed, it is now quite challenging to find. Each pig only yields approximately 1 to 1.5 kg of cheek meat. The market price for pork cheek ranges from 400,000 to 500,000 VND per kg. Additionally, the cheek meat from Iberico Legado pigs (a black pig breed imported from Spain) can cost up to 700,000 to 800,000 VND per kg.
Signs of Diseased Pork
In addition to knowing the characteristics of fresh and delicious pork, it is essential to be aware of the signs that indicate the pork is diseased, ensuring you select the freshest and safest meat.
Signs of Diseased Pork
Some basic identification features include:
The most noticeable characteristic is an unpleasant, putrid odor. The surface of the meat feels slimy, and the color appears unusual.
The pig’s skin exhibits spots of various colors, such as red, purple, or reddish-purple, in different sizes.
Large blood clots, bruises, or petechiae on the skin indicate salmonellosis or septicemia.
When cutting into the meat, the presence of small, rice-shaped granules indicates the presence of parasitic larvae, which are dangerous to human health if consumed.
Meat with a pale color, soft texture, and fluid discharge when touched, becoming paler and more putrid-smelling when washed, indicates the use of sodium nitrate as a preservative.
Tiny red spots resembling mosquito bites under the skin or on the ear rim suggest swine fever.
Additionally, yellow-tinged meat indicates hepatitis.
Pork Belly: A Small but Powerful Treasure for a Fulfilling Meal
The hog jowl is a flavorful and nutritious part of the pig. This meat can be cooked into a variety of delicious dishes.
A Pig with a 2-ounce organ just as valuable as ginseng and bird’s nest, no worries about weight gain when eating
When you go grocery shopping, don’t overlook this part of the pig, as it is very valuable and beneficial for your health.
Tips for differentiating between clean pork and artificially fattened pork
To avoid mistakenly buying “dirty” pork at a high price, you need to learn some tips to distinguish between clean pork and pork that has been artificially fattened, which is less safe.
All pig has a unique 2 ounce organ: Precious and nutritious as ginseng, eat as much as you want without worrying about getting fat
While going to the market, if you come across this type of meat, don’t overlook it but buy it immediately to cook for your family.
How to distinguish between fresh pork and diseased pork
The ability to distinguish between fresh pork and diseased pork is a concern for housewives preparing delicious dishes for the upcoming Lunar New Year.
