4 Delicious Cuts of Pork You Can’t Resist – Grab Them at the Market Now!

Pork can provide nutrients, moisture, and boost the immune system. Each portion of pork has a different flavor and purpose. Here are the best parts of pork and how to choose the best meat.

Ribs

Rib meat is tender, sweet, and nutritious, making it the best-tasting meat in pork. You can make various dishes with ribs such as stew, braised, sweet and sour stir-fry,… Although it is the most expensive meat, its good quality is worth a try.

Shoulder meat

Shoulder meat is located in the muscle strip inside the pig’s spine. This is the softest meat and almost all of it is lean meat, with little fat. However, each pig only has 2 shoulder meat parts, so the quantity is limited and the price is higher.

Lean shoulder meat

This meat contains 90% lean meat and only 10% fat. Lean shoulder meat does not contain as much fat as pork belly, it has a fragrant and soft taste and doesn’t become tough when cooked for a long time. You can cook lean shoulder meat into fried, grilled, roasted dishes,… However, grilling is considered the best way to cook it. Lean shoulder meat is limited in quantity and expensive, each pig only has about 5-6 tael.

Pork belly

This is the meat above the pig’s belly, which has a lot of fat mixed with muscle tissue. Pork belly meat is tender, doesn’t become tough when cooked for a long time, and is suitable for classic dishes like braised pork, steamed pork, steamed pork,… The downside of this meat is that it has too much fat, if consumed regularly, it can easily lead to weight gain.

Choose the pork parts that suit your taste and nutritional needs, and use them in a reasonable way to enjoy the delicious flavor of the dishes.

How to identify clean, fresh, and safe pork

Color, meat smell

The most common way to choose clean pork is to observe the color and smell of the meat. High-quality pork will have a pale pink to deep red color, with no foul odor.

When cutting the meat lengthwise, you will see a dry meat part inside, slightly contracted muscle, soft skin, white to slightly yellow fat, and no strong oily smell.

If you boil it, you will see clear water, large amounts of fat, and not too many bubbles.

Elasticity

Clean pork is fresh meat, so it has very good elasticity. When buying meat, you can press it with your hand. If you see the meat fibers are even, firm, not soft and mushy, good elasticity, without any liquid leakage or greasiness, it is good pork.

Fat layer, meat

Good pork usually has a fat layer about 1.5 – 2cm thick. In which, the fat layer and lean meat stick together. According to some people, if the fat layer and skin are thicker, it indicates that the pig has not been artificially fattened.