Of all the dishes that are traditionally served first in Russian cuisine, the broth is the easiest and most useful. It has a magical effect on the body, almost therapeutic, saturating a person with easily digestible fats and proteins. In addition, the broth is the main ingredient in the preparation of many other dishes - soups, jellies, sauces and much more.
The broth is made from several basic types of products. So it can be vegetable, meat, mushroom, fish or chicken.
From the point of view of dietetics, the most valuable is chicken - light, low-calorie, it has a beneficial effect on the stomach even in case of gastrointestinal diseases.
But the most nutritious and one of the most delicious is considered pork broth. It is more dense, fragrant and rich. His caloric content is also higher, and in general this is not a dietary dish. Its fat content will depend on the meat that was used during cooking.
Calorie content
Pork broth is the most high-calorie one. Only 100 ml of this product contains 8 g of fat and 23 g of protein. There are no carbohydrates in it, which is generally not bad. Energy value - 40 Kcal.
When compared with chicken, the pork broth is 2.5 times more caloric. In addition, if you take meat with large layers of fat and skin, then the dish will turn out even more fat and rich.
From a nutritional point of view, this is a big minus. But if you approach this issue as a culinary specialist, then the rich pork broth makes many dishes more delicious.
Meat selection
For the right pork broth you need to choose good meat. Beef is easier in this case - it is more lean, and you can take any piece you like. Pork may be too greasy.
Experts recommend taking bacon meat for broth. It is very tender, with a thin slice of pink bacon. If you take one fillet, then the dish can be prepared very quickly, and it will turn out tender and aromatic.
However, most often, bones and not too attractive pieces that are not suitable for anything else are used to prepare the broth. In principle, there is nothing wrong with such an approach to business. You just need to make sure that the pork is fresh.
Good rich broths are obtained from meat and bones, in which there is a lot of connective tissue. When it is boiled, it gives the dish more flavor.
The most successful option is a broth of pork ribs or shoulder blades. It turns out moderately fat, with a good fat.
Vegetables and herbs
When cooking, pork should not be "bored" alone. The meat broth is beautiful in itself. But it will become many times better if spices and vegetables are added to the pieces of pork during cooking. They will enrich the taste, make it more interesting and rich.
In meat broths, a traditional vegetable trio is used - carrots, onions and celery. On a regular three-liter pan, you need to take a head of onion, one medium-sized carrot and a couple of celery stalks (can be replaced with a dry mixture). Vegetables need only to be peeled and added to meat and bones. You do not need to cut them.
Other spices and roots can also be added to taste. Bay leaves, black and allspice peas, parsnips, leeks are often added to meat broth.
Water
All cooks know what to cook in clean filtered water. In hard water, meat is not able to give all its juices away, and the dish will turn out to be dull, with a slurred taste.
If we talk about the quantity, then for every kilogram of fillet and bones there should be 2-3 liters of water. At the same time, a small margin should be provided, since the soup is boiled for a long time and part of the liquid will evaporate. It is impossible to add water during cooking.
Cooking
The pork broth recipe is pretty simple. But you need to do everything right, otherwise the dish may turn out to be inexpressive and not too appetizing in appearance. The whole process can be divided into several simple steps:
- Prepare all products. Wash meat or bones. You do not need to cut them, so they will gradually give away their juices. Peel vegetables, can be divided into several large parts. Wash herbs. You can simply put them in a pan or bind a bundle from them so that you can easily remove them.
- Pour cold meat into meat or bones. This is the golden rule of cooking: if you need to get tender boiled meat, then it is poured with hot water when the broth is cooked - everything is exactly the opposite. The thing is that when the fillet is immersed in boiling water, it is instantly scalded and covered with a protein film that will not release juices. In cold water, everything warms up slowly and evenly, and extractive substances begin to gradually turn into a liquid. Until boiling, the pan should stand on medium heat with the lid closed. After the fire you need to reduce to low and open the pan. Otherwise, condensation will accumulate on the lid and drip back into the broth, which will degrade its taste.
- On a slow fire there is a gradual process of cooking and evaporating the broth. At this point, the stratified proteins and foreign matter in the form of a cloudy foam begin to rise to the surface. They need to be cleaned immediately with a special spoon or slotted spoon all the time as they appear. Otherwise, the proteins will turn into flakes, which will settle on the bottom and walls and contaminate the broth. This greatly affects the appearance of the dish and its taste. Some cooks recommend removing excess fat.
- When half an hour is left until ready, vegetables, herbs and roots should be placed in the pan. For taste, vegetables and roots can be lightly baked in the oven or in a dry frying pan.
- The main question is how much to cook pork broth. There is no clear answer to it, since it depends on many factors. On average, meat broths are cooked from 2 to 4 hours. When cooking large volumes, for example, for restaurant guests, this can take a whole working day. But at home it is worth focusing on the quality of meat. For example, if you cook only a fillet of a young piglet, then it is quite possible to manage in 1.5 hours. If the pig is adult, and the meat is on the bone, then after boiling, you will have to wait 2-2.5 hours. Pork bone broth is also prepared for quite a while - depending on the size of the piece and the age of the animal, it will take 2-4 hours to cook.
- After the broth is ready, it is filtered.
How to get the maximum taste
The longer the bones and meat are boiled, the more they give juices to water. In addition, the water gradually boils, and the broth becomes more concentrated. In order for it to be as rich as possible, you need to cook it for a long time and over low heat.
Moreover, the degree of readiness can also be varied. So, for soup, you can use the usual broth. And for sauces you need highly concentrated and thick.
Sophisticated flavors are caused by the Maillard reaction by pre-frying and baking the ingredients. Before cooking, you can slightly bake meat and bones, which will give the dish interesting tastes and aromas.
Important Nuances
In order to cook a delicious pork broth, you need to consider several important nuances:
- To make the dish perfect, you can not use frozen meat and bones. Only fresh and properly thawed foods. For proper defrosting, wash the pieces and leave them at room temperature for a couple of hours or in the refrigerator for the night.
- It is best to take thick-walled dishes so that they warm evenly. Very good broths are obtained in pressure cookers.
- The liquid in the pan should not gurgle. The fire must be set weak so that the movement of water during boiling is barely noticeable. If the stove cannot be adjusted to the required temperature, you can simmer the broth in the oven at 110 ° C.
- The broth is usually not salted. Or season with a pinch of salt. The thing is that in the process a large amount of water evaporates. And in the end, the broth may be over-salted. Therefore, it is better to salt the dish in which the final product will be used.
Filtering stage
When the broth has reached the stage of readiness, it must be separated from vegetables. This is a fairly simple matter, if you do not cook consom, since in this case the broth needs to be filtered.
But for ordinary dishes, all large fragments are first removed from the pan with a slotted spoon. Then the liquid must be passed through a sieve with gauze laid on the bottom. The result is a clean, transparent broth without the slightest sign of foreign matter.
Storage
Pork broth can be prepared for future use. It can be stored for a long time in a frozen state without loss of its taste and nutritional qualities. Store the broth in the freezer, either in the normal state or in a highly concentrated one.
An ordinary broth is simply frozen in small portions - one liter, 500 ml each. If you need to prepare sauces, then smaller volumes should also be provided so as not to separate them from one large block of ice.
It is much more convenient to store the broth in a concentrated form. It needs to be boiled heavily and stored in small molds. Each such cube is an analogue of the bouillon cube, only from natural products.