The Ultimate Guide to Cooking Tender, Juicy, and Flavorful Frozen Meat

Dong meat is a traditional dish that cannot be missing in the traditional Tet flavor. In the last days of the year, in the cold weather, the meat cooked until soft, fragrant, eaten with white rice and pickled onions is wonderful.

Prepare ingredients for traditional Dong meat:

300g leg meat, choose the upper part to have more lean meat, if you want to have more fat then you can add boiled skin.

400g pig’s ear (this part depends on each family’s preference, some families don’t like to add ears, just use leg meat, the meat will be more delicious than other parts because the meat will be firm, the skin will be crispy, not breaking and not having too much white fat)

50g mushroom

50g wood ear fungus

50g corn kernels (depending on preference)

100g carrots

2-3 purple onions, 1 small ginger branch

Spring onions, coriander, chili

Vegetable oil

Seasoning: Salt, granulated seasoning, MSG, fish sauce, ground pepper

Prepare the ingredients

Soak the mushrooms and wood ear fungus until they are fully hydrated then clean them. Cut the wood ear fungus into moderately-sized strips that are not too small or too large.

Cut the mushrooms in half and remove some stems and then split the mushroom caps in a cross shape to create a flower shape for decoration.

Clean the leg meat, pay attention to keeping it free from hair. Then soak it in diluted salt water for 30 minutes.

Boil water and add the purple onions and ginger, add the meat and pig’s ears and blanch for about 3 minutes to remove any impurities and odor. Remove the meat and put it in a bowl of cold water with ice to make the meat white and crispy.

Cut the meat into large pieces like braised pork belly. Cut the ears into moderately-sized thin strips.

Marinate the meat

After cutting the meat, put it in a bowl, add sugar, granulated seasoning, salt, ground pepper, mix well and marinate for about 30 minutes.

How to cook Dong meat:

Add oil to the pot, sauté the purple onions until fragrant, then add the marinated meat and ears and stir-fry until firm. Add water to cover the meat and simmer until tender. Remove any impurities that float to the surface. After the meat is tender and cooked for about 40 minutes, add the mushrooms, wood ear fungus, carrots and corn into the pot and continue to simmer until the amount of liquid is reduced to about 2/3 of the original amount. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then turn off the heat.

Place the carrots at the bottom of a bowl or container, then add the meat and let it cool. In cold weather, it is better to let the meat naturally cool at room temperature rather than putting it in the refrigerator.

Dong meat should have a fragrant, rich, and balanced flavor, with the aroma of pepper and mushrooms, the crunchy texture of the ears and wood ear fungus, the refreshing gel-like texture, the tender and pink lean meat, and the soft and not greasy pork skin.