Every second thinks about proper and wholesome nutrition today. The daily menu of many modern people has a huge amount of products. However, in most cases their benefit is doubtful. Experts recommend that people who want to eat rationally include offal in the menu. Calf tongue is especially valuable in this regard.
How is beef tongue useful and can it be included in the children's menu? This product has many useful qualities. In addition, many gourmets attributed beef tongue to the most delicious gourmet dishes. The delicate muscle structure of the meat of the tongue, when properly cooked, melts in the mouth.
Gourmet Nutrients
Before studying a variety of recipes, you should pay attention to the composition and useful properties of beef tongue:
- This product contains vitamins useful for the human body: A - retinol, C - ascorbic acid, B6 - pyridoxine, B12 - cobalamin, B3 - niacin, B2 - riboflavin, E - tocopherol.
- Beef tongue is valued for the content of useful trace elements: iron, calcium, copper, phosphorus, iodine, manganese, zinc, chromium, molybdenum, sulfur, cobalt and magnesium.
- The calf organ is lean for carbohydrates, but rich in proteins and saturated fats for animals.
Calories
How nutritious is beef tongue? Useful properties of this product boil down to the fact that dishes from it are low-calorie. Therefore, they can be consumed even with a dietary diet.
With proper preparation of calf tongue, a minimal amount of cholesterol remains in it. Fat is a broth made from it. But the meat retains a complete set of useful elements for the growth and strengthening of the body of adults and children.
If you express the calorie content in terms, then per 100 grams of beef tongue accounts for only 173 kcal. Compared with other offal used in human nutrition, this figure is three times lower.
Useful Product Quality Criteria
What is beef tongue useful for? To many. But, answering this question, nutritionists and cooks pay attention primarily to its full-fledged nutritional composition. Useful properties of beef tongue boil down to the following points:
- is a dietary product;
- beneficial effect on metabolic processes;
- lowers bad cholesterol;
- eliminates migraines and insomnia;
- normalizes the gastrointestinal tract;
- increases the body's immune defense;
- provides daily norms of the energy reserve of the human body;
- normalizes blood pressure;
- It is a stimulator of insulin production, which is why it is useful for diabetics;
- serves as an indispensable source of vitamins that improve the condition of the skin, hair and nails.
Many human health experts often argue about which language is better - pork or beef. If we compare these offal, then the first place, of course, in terms of useful qualities can be awarded to the calf’s tongue, especially for its high iron content. However, pork tongue is practically in no way inferior to beef. Is that the difference in taste. So it’s good to combine both food intake.
If for some people the question remains, which is more useful - beef and pig language - you can compare the composition and conclude in favor of the desired product.
The benefits of beef tongue for women
Experts focus on the fact that beef delicacy must be present on the menu of female representatives. What is beef tongue useful for women?
The list of useful properties of calf tongue for women is wide, make sure of this clearly:
- the zinc contained in the composition improves hair growth, structure, nourishes the hair with strength and makes them silky and manageable;
- women with problem skin can breathe a sigh of relief using beef tongue, because it accelerates the healing of skin wounds and the regeneration of skin cells, therefore, the skin has a healthy and well-groomed appearance without any cosmetic effects;
- due to the rich composition of vitamins contained in beef tongue, the female body has the ability to form a stable immunity;
- the product is especially useful for pregnant women, because it effectively helps to fight against anemia, provides a stable energy supply of the female body, which for nine months needs enhanced support;
- beef offal is also useful as a stimulant for weight loss, it is used in protein dietary loads, its use in food normalizes metabolism, which allows to accelerate the process of losing extra pounds.
The benefits of beef tongue for men
What is beef tongue useful for men? Large daily physical activities, and this is not only about professional athletes, require tremendous energy. That protein is its source. And the source of protein is beef tongue. Eating protein contributes to the normalization of metabolism, muscle growth.
Calf tongue is also useful for men struggling with excess weight. In addition, the condition of the skin and hair is also very important for modern men. Beef tongue is the best helper in supporting their healthy appearance.
The benefits of offal for children
Many parents, adhering to proper nutrition, believe that beef tongue should be present on the menu of children. We are talking about toddlers and teenagers.
What is beef tongue useful for children? To many:
- First, beef offal - helpers in the formation of a full-fledged immune defense of the child's body.
- Secondly, the rich composition of beef tongue helps the child cope with daily mental and physical stress.
- Thirdly, this product normalizes the functioning of the digestive tract, relieves the child of problems such as constipation, unstable stool.
- Fourth, it has a beneficial effect on the development of internal organs.
- Fifth, helps prevent anemic conditions.
Is it harmful to eat beef tongue dishes?
So, having sorted the properties of a delicate offal on the shelves, we can draw the final conclusion whether beef tongue is useful or harmful. Undoubtedly, one can answer that yes, it is useful. However, experts still note the fact that not everyone can use it. How so?
Contraindications to the use of dishes from beef tongue are as follows:
- hypertonic conditions;
- allergic reactions;
- chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract (gastritis, inflammation of the duodenum, stomach ulcer);
- liver and kidney diseases;
- inability of the digestive system to digest meat products.
We hope that these problems do not bother you, and you can enjoy the gourmet product in full. This offal is not recommended for people over 60 years old.
How to choose the right
In order for the beef tongue to be tasty and at the same time to be a high-quality source of the intake of useful nutrients in the body, one should adhere to the recommendations on its correct choice in stores and natural markets.
Here is a list of criteria that you need to pay attention to when purchasing an offal:
- fresh beef tongue is pink;
- high-quality offal has the aroma of meat, sometimes specific - beef (who often uses beef, will not confuse it with any other smell);
- fresh beef tongue elastic and fleshy;
- if the offal is sold in factory packaging, then keep in mind that its shelf life does not exceed five days;
- fresh veal tongue lacks mucus;
- with incisions from the fresh product, the sucrose stands out.
How to cook a tongue
The benefits of dishes prepared from this offal of cattle, depending on the method of preparation may be different. Many nutritionists claim that the most useful are boiled dishes. What is the use of boiled beef tongue?
During its preparation, the bulk of fats are digested in the broth. When cooking beef tongue, additional fats and spices are not used, which leads to its low calorie content.
But the addition of fats, oils, sour cream sauces or mayonnaise in dishes with the tongue when stewing or frying makes them saturated and not at all dietary.
In addition, in order for delicacies to melt in the mouth and delight you with a pleasant aroma, technological tricks should be observed when preparing them. Here are some examples of how to cook beef tongue.
Recommendations by professional chefs
- Before cooking, the tongue is soaked in water for several hours, after which it is scraped with a knife, and all impurities are removed from the by-product.
- Cooking time for beef tongue is at least four hours over medium heat.
- To preserve the tenderness of the flesh of the tongue, salt should be salted only at the end of the cooking process.
- It is easier to clear the top layer of already boiled tongue after holding the hot offal in cold water (no more than five minutes).
Boiled dish
Cooking beef tongue has its own characteristics:
- the offal is dipped in already boiling water;
- after five minutes it is taken out, allowed to cool, the top layer is removed from it - it is taken in bubbles, which facilitates the work process;
- then the purified product is boiled for several hours until cooked;
- boiled tongue is either stored in the broth, or divided into portionwise longitudinal slices, or made from broth and meat aspic.
Stew
Braised tongue is as tasty as boiled, but has a higher calorie content. The process of preparing the product in this way is as follows:
- the beef tongue is dipped in boiled water for five minutes, after which it is cooled and cleaned of the upper layer;
- divide the peeled product into portioned portions and put into a stewing dish, oiled with sunflower or olive oil;
- pour the divided portioned meat with a sauce of cream or sour cream and dry wine;
- simmer for several hours;
- at the end of cooking, you can add onions to the bulk of the dish and stew the dish for an additional twenty minutes.
Tongue in pastes
The most tender is beef tongue in pastes. For the preparation of pastry snacks, already boiled tongue and any boiled vegetables are used - beets, carrots, potatoes, as well as boiled eggs. Vegetables and boiled tongue, cut into pieces of medium size, are crushed in a blender.
The resulting mass is placed in a salad bowl or container, for a more airy consistency, butter or vegetable oil can be added to it. After cooking, the paste can be stored in tightly closed containers in the refrigerator for no more than five days. This dish can be served as an additional snack to the main menu. An addition to a beef tongue paste is decoration with fresh chopped herbs.
Now you know how beef tongue is useful, how to choose it correctly, how to cook it deliciously and who can safely eat it. We hope that the article was informative and useful for you. Pamper your household with delicious and varied beef tongue dishes that are good for your health! Enjoy your meal!