Deliciously Tender and Juicy Boiled Meat: Try this Method for Perfectly Seasoned Results

Effective Ways to Eliminate Meat Odor

Boiled meat is a simple yet delicious dish that is often enjoyed in family meals. Boiled pork can be paired with salted lime, chili sauce, shrimp paste, or fish sauce… and can also be used in other dishes such as spring rolls or salads combined with various vegetables.

However, many people encounter the problem of poorly cooked meat due to unpleasant and bland odors. To solve this issue, you can try the following methods:

Rinse the meat with diluted saltwater to disinfect and reduce the meat odor. Choose meat pieces with both lean meat and fat for a delicious boiled meat. Pork feet, pork belly… are usually tastier than tenderloin or butt meats when boiled. Prepare additional ingredients such as vinegar or lime, a small piece of ginger, a dried onion, twine or soft gauze to make the boiled meat more flavorful.

Use twine or soft gauze to tightly wrap the meat

To ensure the boiled meat is nicely shaped for slicing, you can use twine or soft gauze to tightly wrap the meat before boiling. By tying the meat vertically, it will create a beautiful round piece of meat, and after boiling, it can be sliced horizontally along the grain. The tighter the meat is wrapped, the better the shape of the meat will be.

If using twine, choose colorless white twine. For pork feet, it is recommended to tightly tie the meat before boiling to ensure a rounder shape when sliced. Pork belly can be boiled without tying. However, if you do not have twine or prefer not to use it, you can still place the meat directly in the pot without tying.

Why should you boil the meat twice?

To achieve flavorful and odorless meat, you can use the method of boiling the meat twice. In the first round, place the meat in a pot, pour enough water and boil for 2-3 minutes. Then, add a few drops of vinegar or lemon juice to the pot to eliminate the odor and make the meat whiter. Next, discard the boiling water, rinse the meat with warm water, and prepare for the second round of boiling.

For the second round, prepare a pot of boiling water and add the meat along with a few pinches of salt, thin slices of ginger, and a peeled dried onion. Simmer the pot over low heat and continue boiling the meat until it is tender. When cooked, the meat will have a light white color and a delicious aroma for enjoyment.

Add salt, ginger, and onion

Salt helps distribute the flavor evenly in the boiling water, ginger eliminates the odor, and onion adds a pleasant flavor to the boiled meat. When boiling the meat, simmer the water over medium heat until the meat is cooked. To test, you can use a fork to poke the meat. If the meat releases pinkish liquid, continue boiling for another 5 minutes. When the meat is cooked, the fork will easily penetrate without any pinkish liquid flowing out.

After the meat is cooked, remove it from the pot and soak it in a bowl of cold water with a few ice cubes. The cold water helps the meat contract and maintain its shape, preventing the meat from drying out and losing its color. Once the meat has completely cooled, you can slice it for immediate use.

If you want to achieve even and better-looking slices of meat, you can leave the meat in the refrigerator’s chilled compartment for a few hours. Before rewrapping, use plastic wrap to tightly wrap the meat and leave it in the refrigerator’s chilled compartment for a few hours to make the meat firm and easier to slice.