Cooked smoked lard at home is quite simple to prepare. It is enough to master the technique of creating this meat product, using a few simple recipes. You no longer have to look for him on store shelves or market stalls. And while you can be absolutely calm about the content of flavors and preservatives.
Choosing a quality meat product
To make tasty cooked smoked lard at home, first of all, you need a quality meat product. It is better to choose not very fatty pork belly. The more meat on it, the juicier and more aromatic the finished delicacy will be. Because the meaty parts absorb seasonings and spices better.
As a rule, pork belly is put up for sale with ribbon plates. But before processing, do not cut it into smaller pieces. It is better to cook the meat product from the whole part, which will also give it juiciness and make it much more flavorful.
In order for the lard to have a rich taste, when choosing, you should pay attention to the state of the fat and meat layer. It should not be dark red in color and have yellow spots.
In addition, it is necessary to carefully evaluate the general appearance of the meat: whether it looks fresh and has never been frozen. Otherwise, the fat will turn out to be very dry.
Cooked smoked lard at home
Today, the market assortment is rich in various varieties of lard of various production methods. But for a home-made product to surpass purchased analogues, just use this simple recipe for boiled-smoked bacon.
First you need to prepare the following ingredients:
- pork belly -1.8 kg;
- garlic - 2 cloves;
- laurel leaf - 1 pc.;
- allspice peas - to taste;
- salt - 4 tbsp. l .;
- strong welding - 2 tbsp. l .;
- powder mixture of ground black and red peppers - to taste;
- husk from 4 large onion heads;
- honey - 1 tsp;
- fresh parsley - 100 grams;
- smoked sausage - 60 grams;
- paprika, coriander, powder or pasty mustard - 2 teaspoons.
Meat preparation
For the preparation of high-quality cooked-smoked bacon at home with a prescription, you will have to spend a lot of time, since this process should occur very slowly.
The first step is to prepare the pork brisket - a well-washed meat layer dried with a paper towel.
To add spicy taste to cooked-smoked bacon, special spices and spices are needed, which must be thoroughly grated with a clean pork mass.
Next, wash the peel of the onion and place it in a pan. Then add finely chopped fresh parsley, bay leaf and pepper mixture.
In the resulting composition, lay the prepared pork layer with the skin up. It remains to add smoked sausage and pour boiling water, covering the meat by 2 centimeters.
A heavy load is placed on top of the pork bed so that the contents of the pan do not rise during heat treatment. Then the dishes are covered with a lid and put on a small fire.
You can add a little honey and salt to taste.
Salo is cooked over low heat for at least 1.5 hours.
Sauce making
To make the boiled brisket sharp, it is necessary to cover the meat with a special sauce. To do this, grate one clove of garlic, combining it with mustard, paprika, coriander and pepper. Next, the mixture is applied to the meat with a thin layer. With intolerance to spicy foods and spices, you can reduce the number or eliminate them altogether, limiting yourself to simple seasonings.
As soon as the layer reaches the desired state, as evidenced by a golden crust, it must be laid on a dry thick towel, once again watering with previously prepared remnants of the sauce. The meat is rubbed only in the hot state.
Completion
After the whole layer is covered with spicy spices, it should be wrapped in a thick layer of gauze, put in foil and put under a press. To do this, you can use a three-liter jar of water.
The whole structure is placed in the refrigerator for 20 hours. The finished delicacy can already be cut into portions and served with a side dish or as a snack. But it is better to complete the process by proceeding to the next stage - smoking.
Another way to smoke home
How to cook boiled-smoked lard using a different smoking method?
You must adhere to the following step-by-step recipe:
- Salt and sugar are mixed in a small bowl.
- The pre-trimmed edges of the pork belly are rubbed with this mixture. This should be done until the dry ingredients are completely rubbed into the meat flesh. Next, the formation is turned over and processed in the same way on the other side. It is necessary to leave the fat in this form for 5-10 minutes.
- Next, the layer is placed in a large lockable plastic bag. If the meat is too hard, then it is better to beat it with a kitchen hammer.
- When the semi-finished product is finally ready, you need to put the wire rack on the baking sheet, and remove the meat plate from the bag and rinse under cool water, swallowing a dry paper towel.
- Then leave it at room temperature for 1 hour.
- At this time, it is necessary to remove all the grates from the oven except the lowest one and preheat the oven to 200 ° C.
- The inside of the tray is covered with foil so that its bottom and sides are completely closed.
- Further along the bottom of the dishes, wood chips are spread in an even layer. The roasting pan in the oven should be 6 centimeters above the bottom of the tray. If necessary, you can try to turn it over.
- The meat layer is placed on the rack face up. Raise the long edges of the foil to close them in the middle. Then fold it twice and gently squeeze for extra density. After this, it is important to make sure that it does not touch a piece of meat. Otherwise, smoke will not circulate freely around it. You can raise the foil on the sides to connect the upper seams.
- The prepared tray is placed on medium heat until a thick steady stream of smoke spills from the top seam of the foil. This process will take no more than 5 minutes.
- The next step is the meat layer is sent to the oven and aged there for heating to 150 degrees. It will take a long time to wait - from 4 to 6 hours.
- After the time has passed, the tray is removed from the cabinet. The upper seam of the foil must be slightly opened to allow the fat to cool to room temperature.
- Next, cut the skin and tightly wrap the finished piece in cling film, leaving to cool overnight before cutting. It can be kept tightly wrapped for 2 weeks in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in the freezer, but before freezing, be sure to wrap it in plastic film and then in foil.
- At the final stage, smoked lard is boiled in the usual way. You can use the recipe above, which describes in detail how to cook pork belly.
How to serve a delicacy
Ready pork belly is served to the table, previously freed from foil and cut into portioned ribbon pieces.
As a sauce, you can use ketchup, mustard, homemade adjika or tkemali, which will appeal to lovers of Caucasian cuisine.
Conclusion
The use of boiled-smoked bacon as a snack has been known since ancient times, when it was a real decoration of the Russian table. And they always cooked it at home. Only recently, various varieties of smoked lard with spices appeared in stores. But still, it is inferior to a home-made product in many respects.
Therefore, take note of these recipes to please the household with a spicy meat delicacy made by yourself.