The secret to keeping braised meat from shrinking

If braised meat is not cooked properly, it may cause the meat to shrink, especially when cooking beef. We know that the tissue fibers of beef are relatively coarse, which can easily lead to dehydration. The beef cooked in this way will have a hard texture and will not taste particularly good. Therefore, when making braised meat, you must master certain tricks so that the braised meat can taste particularly soft and glutinous.

The secret to keeping braised meat from shrinking

One is to prepare a certain amount of original brine in advance and add it while braising. This way, the marinated ingredients can maintain the flavor of the chess piece, and be mellow and delicious. The second is to prepare fresh soup in advance, add it to the original marinade before braising, and then braise the ingredients after it has been simmered for a while. Since the fresh soup contains a lot of protein, it can make the ingredients in the marinade more flavorful. Remember to add cold water when marinating ingredients, as this will weaken the aroma, umami and saltiness.

Three secrets to making marinade

1. The amount of spices, salt and soy sauce should be appropriate: too much spices will make the dish have a strong medicinal taste and a dark color; too little spices will make the dish lack fragrance. If there is too much salt, the dish will not only taste too salty, but also become tight and dry; if there is too little salt, the dish will lack freshness and flavor. If there is too much soy sauce, the finished product will be dark and ugly; if there is too little soy sauce, the taste will not be delicious enough. 2. Selection of raw materials: It is not advisable to use soy sauce or other colored condiments for yellow marinade or white marinade, and do not use spices that easily fade. 3. The marinade should not be boiled in advance: the marinade should be prepared and used immediately, which can not only avoid the aromatic smell in the seasoning from evaporating in vain, but also save fuel and time. Preservation of marinade. The marinade used to stew dishes should be preserved for next use. The more times you use the marinade, the longer it will last, the better its quality will be, and the better it will taste. This is because the marinade contains more and more soluble protein and other ingredients.

When preserving marinade, you should pay attention to the following points:

1. Skim off floating oil and foam. The floating oil and foam in the marinade should be skimmed off frequently, and the residue should be filtered frequently. 2. Heat and disinfect regularly. In summer and autumn, boil and disinfect it once in the morning and evening every day. In spring and winter, boil and disinfect it once every day or every other day. The boiled marinade should be placed in a sterilized container. 3. The container must be pottery or white enamelware. Never use metal utensils such as iron, tin, aluminum, and copper, otherwise the salt and other substances in the marinade will react chemically with the metal, causing the marinade to change color and taste, or even become spoiled and unusable. 4. Pay attention to the storage location. The marinade should be placed in a cool, ventilated, dust-proof place and covered with gauze to prevent flies and insects from falling into the marinade. 5. Addition of raw materials. Spice bags should generally be replaced after only being used twice. Other seasonings should be added every time the ingredients are marinated. Note: Once you have the old marinade, you don’t have to use bone broth to make the marinade. You can also use plain water, and you don’t have to add oil.

The key to marinating raw materials

Selection of pot. It is best to use a cast iron pot. If there are not too many ingredients to be marinated, it is better to use a casserole. The walls of these two types of pots are thick and have poor thermal conductivity, so the soup is not easy to evaporate. Food and this pot are not prone to chemical changes. It is not advisable to use a copper or aluminum pot, as the pot has strong thermal conductivity and the soup vaporizes quickly. Copper pots are also prone to chemical reactions with salt in the marinade, thus affecting the color, taste, and sanitary quality of the finished product. You must master firepower. Generally, medium or low heat is used to keep the soup in a simmering or slightly boiling state. Do not use high heat, otherwise the soup will boil and continuously splash on the wall of the pot, forming a thin film, and finally carbonize and fall into the marinade, becoming black carbonaceous matter. Some of it adheres to the raw materials, affecting the color and taste of the finished product and the marinade. If you stew over high heat, the ingredients will not become soft and mushy, and the marinade will be severely reduced due to rapid vaporization. We must grasp the maturity of the raw materials. When braising raw materials, no matter how old or tender they are or how long they have been ripening, they should be taken out of the pot or removed from the heat when they are softened or before they soften.