Pork belly in onion peel can be an excellent alternative to shop sausage and industrial-smoked brisket or balyk. The process of its preparation is quite simple and will not require any special skills or adaptations. And the result will certainly be appreciated by family members. Indeed, the cooked brisket in onion peel turns out to be very tasty, juicy, tender, looks appetizing and has a light aroma of smoked meats. Without any hint of the smell of onion peels.
The preparation of any dish begins with the purchase of products. Properly selected brisket is already half the success of your meal. Here are a few tips, following which the probability of buying a low-quality product will decrease significantly.
- When buying pork belly on the market, pay attention to the presence of a special hallmark of the laboratory.
- If there is such an opportunity, be sure to smell the purchased piece - the presence of extraneous odors not inherent in meat will indicate freshness and storage conditions. If this is not possible (you buy brisket in a supermarket), carefully look at the expiration date - pasted up with other information, wiped, pasted on top of the whole label, the expiration date most likely indicates the product's freshness and an attempt to conceal it from the buyer.
- If the fat on the brisket has acquired a grayish or yellowish tint, then it is no longer quite fresh.
- When pressing on a piece, it should immediately restore its original shape, if this did not happen, then the brisket is stale.
- The skin should be thin, well, if it has a light straw flavor.
- The upper layer of meat should be dark pink, and the one in the middle should have a pale pink color.
Choosing a pork belly, you can start cooking it.
Onion husk recipe
We need: pork belly (800-1000g.), Salt (100-120 gr.), A few cloves of garlic, a liter of water, onion husks (from 6-8 bulbs). Spices: peas of black pepper, bay leaf, ground black and red pepper, cloves and other spices your family likes. If desired, you can add a few drops of liquid smoke.
Cooking. Thoroughly rinse the husk with cold water, wring it. Put in a saucepan and pour a liter of water. Pour salt, throw peas of pepper, cloves, bay leaf and put on fire. We wash the brisket, after the water with the husk boils, put it there. The entire surface of the brisket should be covered with water, if there is little water, you can still add a little boiling water or take a smaller saucepan.
Boil for 25-30 minutes on low heat. Then remove the saucepan from the heat and leave the brisket in this brine overnight or for 10-12 hours. After it has stood, remove from brine and grate with pre-prepared spices: ground pepper, black and red, crushed garlic. You can also use a ready-made set of spices for lard or brisket. After rubbing, the brisket should be wrapped in foil and refrigerated to solidify for how many hours (you can for a day).
According to the same recipe, you can make lard in onion husks, but it needs to be boiled a little less; or pork ham - it, accordingly, requires a longer heat treatment.
A brisket in onion husks prepared according to this recipe will be an excellent snack on the festive table, as well as easily replace the sausage on the morning sandwich. And most importantly, it is a natural, environmentally friendly product that is so easy to prepare. And the recipe itself, thanks to a long list of various spices, leaves the mistresses a place for experiments. The breast in onion husks after being cooked can be rubbed with different spices each time - this will make it have a slightly different taste each time.