When shopping, most people are only concerned with pork belly, sirloin or pork butt. In addition, they also love ribs.
However, the reality is that on a pig, there is only a small part of about 200g that is ribs. Nevertheless, that is the best part of pork, with a delicious and nutritious flavor like a thousand-year-old ginseng, that is the cheek meat.
Things to note when buying cheek meat
Cheek meat is a very small part of the pig, so if you want to buy it, you need to go to the market early or even have to ask the seller in advance to keep it for you. To choose this meat, pay attention to the following characteristics:
The surface of the cheek meat must be dry, not wet. If touching the meat feels damp, it may have been injected with water or frozen.
The color of the meat must be bright, pink, not discolored or have brown spots of unknown origin.
The meat should not have a strange odor, should not leak water, and should have elasticity, not sag when pressed.
What is delicious to cook with cheek meat?
Braised cheek meat with quail eggs
To make this dish, you apply the same method as braising meat. After buying the meat, you clean it with salt water, boil and peel the quail eggs. Before braising, marinate the meat with fish sauce, salt, sugar, MSG, purple onion, chopped chili.
When braising, add the colored water, then sauté the marinated meat with coconut water to naturally sweeten the meat. Finally, add the quail eggs and you are done. This braised cheek meat is not only less greasy than regular fat meat but also tender thanks to the combination of tendons and meat.
Stir-fried cheek meat with vegetables
Many people also stir-fry cheek meat with vegetables, with a unique and delicious flavor, similar to beef tenderloin. You can stir-fry cheek meat with vegetables such as bell peppers, Dutch beans, young corn, etc. The fragrant and sweet taste from fresh and nutritious vegetables, combined with soft meat fibers, cannot be resisted.
Grilled cheek meat
If regular meat tends to become dry and tough when grilled, cheek meat absorbs the seasoning deeply and becomes tender when cooked. To save preparation time, you can use a marinade seasoning packet. When cooking, you can grill it with various vegetables to create a small BBQ party.