How to boil meat to make it tender and juicy: The secret is not just salt and plain water

Tips for choosing fresh and delicious meat

Color and smell of meat

One of the popular methods for selecting clean pork is to observe the color and smell of the meat. High-quality pork often has a color ranging from pale pink to deep red and has no foul odor. When you cut the meat lengthwise, you will see that the inside of the meat is dry, firm, with a soft skin and a white to cream-colored layer of fat. When you smell it, the meat has no greasy smell. If you boil the meat, the water will be clear, have large fat bubbles, and no excessive air bubbles.

Elasticity

Clean pork is usually very fresh and has good elasticity. When buying, you can press the meat lightly to check its elasticity. Good meat will create a slight dent but leave no marks when you release your finger. When observed, if you see that the meat fibers are even, firm, not soft, and have no signs of seepage or leakage, then it is good pork.

Fat and meat

Usually, good pork will have a layer of fat about 1.5 – 2cm thick. This layer of fat is usually tightly attached to the lean meat. According to some people, if the layer of fat and skin is thicker, it is a sign that the pig was not raised for weight gain.

Effective methods to remove the odor of meat

Boiled meat, although simple, is extremely delicious and often appears in family meals. Boiled pork can be combined with salted lime, spicy fish sauce, shrimp paste, or fermented fish sauce, and used to create many delicious dishes such as pork rolls in rice paper or mixed salads with various vegetables.

However, when boiling meat, many people often encounter problems with unevenly cooked and unpleasant-smelling meat. To overcome this issue, you can apply the following tips:

Before boiling, rinse the meat with diluted saltwater to disinfect and reduce the gamey smell of the meat. Choose meat parts with both lean and fat to have a better boiled meat dish.

Using a soft string to tie the meat

Use a string or soft thread to tie the meat tightly before boiling to ensure that the meat has a beautiful shape and is easy to slice after boiling. By tying the meat lengthwise, you can create a round piece of meat and easily slice it horizontally.

By tying the meat lengthwise, you can create a round piece of meat and easily slice it horizontally. Tightly tying the meat helps the meat have a better shape. If using a string, choose a colorless white string.

For pork leg meat, it is recommended to tie the meat tightly before boiling to have a rounder shape when sliced. Pork belly meat usually does not need to be tied. However, if you do not have any string or do not want to use it, you can still put the meat directly into the pot for boiling.

Why should you boil the meat twice?

To ensure that the meat is flavorful and does not have any unpleasant odor, it is a good practice to boil the meat twice. In the first round, you put the meat into the pot, pour enough water, and boil for 2-3 minutes. Then, add a few drops of vinegar or lime 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.

In the second round, you prepare a pot of boiling water and add the meat along with some salt, a small piece of ginger, and a peeled 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 distinctive aroma for you to enjoy.

Using salt, ginger, and onion to add flavor to the meat

Salt helps distribute the boiling water evenly, ginger has the ability to eliminate odor, and onion adds a delicious aroma to the boiled meat. During the boiling process, simmer the water over medium heat until the meat is cooked. Check the meat by using a fork to poke into the meat. If the meat still oozes pinkish water, simmer for about 5 minutes. On the contrary, if the meat is cooked, the fork will easily penetrate it and there will be no pinkish water flowing out.

After the meat is cooked, you should remove the piece of meat and soak it in a bowl of cold water with a few ice cubes. Cold water helps the meat shrink and maintain its shape, preventing it from becoming dry and losing color. When the meat is completely cooled, you can slice it for immediate use.

If you want the meat to be evenly and more beautifully sliced, leave it in the refrigerator’s cooling compartment for a few hours. Before packaging, use plastic wrap to tightly seal the meat and leave it in the refrigerator’s cooling compartment for a few hours to make the meat more solid and easier to slice.