2018-07-03T13:11:55+00:00

Meat is a product that takes pride of place in our diet. The variety of types of meat products allows us to prepare it in different ways, creating new culinary masterpieces each time. Just think that stewed potatoes, for example, with chicken or lamb - these are completely different tastes!

Any meat can be baked, fried, boiled. But if you know how to stew meat correctly, then this simple cooking technique will definitely become your favorite. Provided that you follow a few simple rules, the result of such preparation will be tender, juicy, melt-in-your-mouth meat that causes real gastronomic delight. And with the help of different ingredients you can create a new, unique dish every time.

Depending on what result you want to get, you can choose different meats, and there are a lot of marinades to make your food more varied.

It’s worth starting with the fact that you can choose any type of meat for stewing:

• pork;
• veal or beef;
• turkey;
• rabbit meat;
• duck, goose, etc.

Therefore, the first thing that is necessary is to decide on meat products. Let's take, for example, . This is a unique product that pleases with a real abundance of beneficial properties and incomparable taste. If you think you don't like veal, it means you most likely just haven't tasted perfectly cooked meat.

Moreover, preparing it is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. It’s not for nothing that many housewives try to avoid it, because the meat turns out tough (not because the meat is like that, but because of the wrong approach to cooking). But if you know how to stew veal meat, then you will get a simply amazing dish that will exceed all your expectations!

Stewed veal is an ideal option both in the everyday diet and for the holiday table. Unlike frying, you don't need a lot of oil. This way, the meat will turn out more healthy, retain its miraculous properties, and you won’t have to clean it up. After all, whatever one may say, frying is a process from which greasy splashes fly all over the kitchen and need to be washed off in a timely manner. During stewing, the meat is cooked in its own juices, while retaining the maximum amount of benefits, juice and taste.

Before stewing meat in a pan or other container, the first thing you need to do is select the appropriate part of the carcass. As for veal, the choice is quite large. This means that a whole culinary world opens up before you: cook whatever you want, don’t limit yourself and be as creative as you want. If you follow all the rules of the chosen cooking technique, the dish will be delicious without fail. What can you choose from?

• Neck – although it has quite a lot of tendons, this piece is excellent for stewing. Has excellent taste.
• The back and sirloin is tender, juicy and flavorful veal. Also suitable for stewing meat in a frying pan. This also includes shoulder blade and brisket.
• Rump and rump are the most valuable parts that you simply must cook and enjoy this excellent dish.

There are no special restrictions in the choice of carcass for stewing. Unless you should use a tenderloin for this task. It is completely low-fat and is more suitable for frying, for example, chops, or for baking and grilling. Steaks cooked over the fire will produce a unique taste from such a piece, but it is better not to use it for stewing.

If you prefer, you can take it. The only difference will be in the cooking time. It is worth noting that you can also stew meat in the oven, as well as in a slow cooker. If you decide to use an oven, you will need:

• meat;
• spices;
• vegetables.

To begin with, fry the meat a little, cutting it into pieces first. It is worth noting that even small pieces will not become dry during stewing, as can be the case when frying, baking or barbecuing. A nice crust will appear on the fried pieces and, if you do this before stewing, the meat will perfectly retain its juiciness.

After the meat is fried a little, add chopped onions, carrots and sauté a little. Before stewing meat in the oven, you need to put it in portioned pots or a special container.

In general, the main rule of stewing is the correct choice of container with a thick bottom. This will prevent the bottom layer from burning and ensure even heating.

If you decide to cook meat in the oven, then you can put potatoes on the bottom and fried meat pieces on top. Then add salt, spices and add a little water. Cover the pots and place in the oven. But having an oven is not at all necessary. Moreover, this is just one of the options. To cook tender and juicy veal or chicken, you just need to know how to stew meat in a frying pan. In this option, you will also be left with less dirty dishes. To do this you will need:

• carrot;
• Bell pepper;
• meat of your choice;
• vegetable oil;
• tomato paste or fruit juice;
• spices to taste.

Fry the onion until golden brown. Then add the chopped pieces of meat and fry until they lighten. Then add grated carrots and diced or striped sweet peppers. Cover everything with a lid and sauté a little more. At this time, prepare the sauce - water and tomato paste. If you have it, you can replace the sauce with tomato juice or fruit drink. Pour the gravy into the aromatic mass in a frying pan, cover with a lid and simmer over low heat, stirring from time to time.

How to stew meat correctly. Alternative methods of stewing “without a stove”

Everyone knows that in nature, even the simplest sandwich with sausage is a hundred times tastier, to say nothing of dishes cooked over a fire. Have you ever tried porridge cooked in a cauldron? This is just finger licking good! And if you are planning an outing in the near future, then you simply must know how to stew meat in a cauldron. You won't be able to taste a more delicious option. Well, unless you regularly cook meat this way. It’s not for nothing that a cauldron is called a “cast iron miracle.” It will make the porridge from the ax “finger-licking good.” This cooking method guarantees you:

• unique taste;
• stunning spicy aroma;
• tender and juicy meat;
• appetizing appearance;
• and, most importantly, having a great time in nature.

First, prepare the meat:

• wash;
• cut;
• remove the film;
• marinate.

• meat in large pieces;
• onion, sliced ​​into rings;
• tomatoes slices;
• carrot rings;
• potatoes in large pieces;
• garlic, herbs.

Season the layers with a little salt and pepper. Cover everything and let it simmer over low heat. The juice released by the vegetables saturates the meat, making it very juicy, aromatic and tender. The dish is prepared after boiling for at least an hour. After cooking, without opening the lid, let it brew for another 15-20 minutes. Yes, the only disadvantage of stewing is the cooking time. After all, the secret of this method lies in long-term simmering of products at low temperatures.

If you don’t have free time, then you just need to know how to stew meat in a slow cooker. This technique has become a real lifesaver for modern women. Here the miracle machine does everything for you. All you need to do is choose the recipe you like, collect the ingredients, peel them, cut them and load them into the slow cooker, adding your favorite spices and seasonings. After that, select the “Extinguishing” mode. If necessary, depending on the multicooker model, select the meat mode and set the time. Once cooking is complete, you will hear a beep to let you know that the most tender and delicious stew is ready to eat.

And don’t let the fact that stewing takes a lot of time scare you. Trust me, once your taste buds experience the results, you will realize that every bite was worth your time! Moreover, multicookers make life a lot easier; you can set a timer and the device will turn on when needed, and when it’s ready, it will turn off the dish, leaving it in the heating mode. As a result, you can pack your groceries, for example, before leaving for work, and set the device on a timer. And in the evening, when you come home from work, a freshly prepared, hot dinner will be waiting for you.

For stewing, meat is used in large, portioned and small pieces. Before stewing, the meat is sprinkled with salt and pepper and fried until a crispy crust forms. Then they put it in a deep bowl, fill it with broth or water so that the portioned and small pieces are completely covered, and the large ones are half covered. To give the meat taste and aroma when stewing, add onions, parsley, celery, carrots at the rate of 100 g per 1 kg of meat, add spices and seasonings - peppercorns, bay leaves, parsley, dill, you can add cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, coriander, star anise.

Stew the meat in a sealed container at a low simmer, since during vigorous boiling, aromatic substances evaporate and the liquid quickly boils away. Spices and herbs are added 15-20 minutes before the end of stewing. To soften the connective tissue and add spiciness to the meat during stewing, add tomato puree, sour sauces, pickled berries and fruits along with juice, and kvass. The sauce is cooked in the broth remaining after stewing.

Stewed meat dishes are prepared in two ways.

The meat is stewed together with the side dish and released together. With this method, the dish turns out more aromatic and juicy. Meat cooked in clay pots with tight-fitting lids is especially tasty. However, meat stewed along with a side dish is difficult to portion when cooked in large quantities.

The meat is stewed without a side dish, and the side dish is prepared separately.

Stewed meat. For stewing in large pieces, use the side and outer parts of the hind leg of a beef carcass, the shoulder part of a lamb carcass, the shoulder part and neck of a pork carcass. Meat weighing up to 2 kg is rubbed with salt, sprinkled with pepper, fried until a crispy crust forms, placed in a deep bowl, filled halfway with broth or water, sautéed carrots, onions, parsley and tomato puree are added, simmered in a sealed container at a low boil of 1.5- 2 hours; 15-20 minutes before the end of stewing, add peppercorns, bay leaves, parsley and dill, you can add cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. The finished meat is taken out, placed on a baking sheet, poured over with the broth in which the meat was stewed, and placed in the oven to restore the crispy crust. The meat is then cooled and cut into portions.

Red sauce is prepared using the remaining broth. To do this, pour diluted red sauté into the broth, cook for 25-30 minutes and strain, rubbing the boiled vegetables. Sliced ​​meat is poured with the prepared sauce, heated and stored on a steam table until it is released. When on vacation, a side dish is placed on a portioned dish or plate - boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, pasta, crumbly porridge, stewed cabbage, next to it - meat, poured over with sauce.

Beef 170, or lamb 166, or pork 129, carrots 10, onions 7, parsley 8 or celery 9, rendered animal fat 7, tomato puree 15, wheat flour 5, side dish 150. Yield 325.

Stuffed meat. The prepared semi-finished product is sprinkled with salt and pepper, fried, and then stewed in the same way as stewed meat. Before release, the meat is cut into portions, and the sauce is prepared using the remaining broth. When on vacation, a side dish is placed on a plate or portioned dish - pasta, crumbly porridge, boiled or fried potatoes, sliced ​​meat next to it, sauce is poured over it, pasta can be sprinkled with grated cheese (10 g per serving).

Beef in sweet and sour sauce. This dish is prepared in two ways. First way. Meat, cut into portions, sprinkle with salt, pepper, fry on both sides until a crispy crust forms, put in a saucepan, pour in hot broth or water, add finely chopped sautéed onions, tomato puree and simmer for about 1 hour in a sealed container at low boil . Then add peppercorns, bay leaves, vinegar, crushed rye crackers, sugar and continue to simmer.

When on vacation, a side dish is placed on a portioned dish or plate - boiled pasta, crumbly porridge, boiled or fried potatoes, a complex side dish, next to it is stewed meat, poured over the sauce in which it was stewed.

Second way. The meat is stewed in large pieces, then cut into portions. When served, a side dish is placed on a plate, meat next to it, and red sweet and sour sauce is poured over it. The same side dishes are used.

Beef 170, rendered animal fat 7, onions 24, tomato puree 15, sugar

vinegar 9% 3, rye crackers 10, garnish 150 Yield 325.

Roast meat. The meat, cut into portions, is beaten, sprinkled with salt and pepper, fried, then placed in one row in a bowl, poured with broth or water, tomato puree is added and simmered until almost fully cooked. After this, the broth is drained, the diluted sauté is added to it and the sauce is boiled. In the bowl where the meat was stewed, add fried potatoes, sautéed vegetables (carrots, onions, parsley), cut into slices, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Pour in the prepared sauce and simmer until done.

When leaving, put the meat in the lamb along with vegetables, sprinkle with chopped herbs. In order to improve the taste and aroma, it is recommended to prepare the dish in portioned pots, tightly closed with a lid.

If the dish is prepared in large quantities, then the meat is stewed separately with the addition of broth, tomato puree, and at the end of the stew, diluted sauté, pepper, and bay leaf are added. Vegetables are stewed separately with the addition of tomato puree. The meat is served with stewed vegetables and sprinkled with the sauce in which it was stewed.

Beef 170, or lamb 175, or pork 147, rendered animal fat 12, potatoes 193, turnips 20. carrots 25, parsley 13, onions 30, tomato puree 15, wheat flour 3. Yield 325.

Zrazy chops. Prepared zrazy (see p. 69) are sprinkled with salt and pepper, fried, placed in a saucepan or on a deep baking sheet, poured with hot broth or water, tomato puree is added and simmered for about 1 hour. Then the zrazy are removed. The broth is filtered, diluted red sauté, sautéed tomato puree and vegetables (carrots, onions, parsley) are added, boiled for 15-20 minutes and filtered. Zrazy is poured with prepared red sauce, peppercorns and bay leaves are added and simmered for 30-35 minutes at a low boil.

When on vacation, a side dish is placed on a portioned dish or plate - buckwheat porridge, fluffy rice or mashed potatoes, next to it - 2 pieces of zrazy. per serving, pour over red sauce.

Homemade roast. For beef, the side and outer parts are used, for pork, the shoulder and neck parts are used. The meat is cut into 2-4 pieces weighing 30-40 g per serving and fried. Onions are cut into slices and sautéed. Potatoes are cut into slices and fried.

The prepared meat and vegetables are placed in a bowl in layers so that there are vegetables on the bottom and top of the meat, sautéed tomato puree, salt, pepper are added, the broth is poured so as to just cover the food, cover with a lid and simmer until done. 5-10 minutes before the end of stewing, add a bay leaf. Released in pots. This dish can be prepared without tomato puree.

Beef 162 or pork 129, potatoes 253, onions 30, rendered animal fat 12, tomato puree 15 Yield 325.

Goulash. The meat, cut into cubes of 20-30 g, is placed in a layer of 1-1.5 cm on a frying pan or baking sheet heated with fat, sprinkled with salt, pepper and fried until a crispy crust forms. The fried meat is transferred into a deep bowl, poured with hot broth or water, sauteed tomato puree is added and simmered for 1-1.5 hours. Then diluted red sauté, sautéed finely chopped onions, peppercorns, bay leaves are added and simmered at low boil for 25- 30 minutes until ready. You can add sour cream and garlic to the goulash.

When leaving, put a side dish in a lamb or plate, next to it is goulash, sprinkle with chopped herbs. As a side dish, crumbly porridge, boiled pasta, semolina dumplings, and potatoes are used.

Beef 162, or pork 129, or lamb 150, rendered animal fat 7, onions 24, tomato puree 15, wheat flour 5, side dish 150 Yield 325.

Azu. Meat, cut into cubes weighing 10-15 g, is placed in a layer of 1-1.5 cm in a well-heated frying pan with fat or on a baking sheet, sprinkled with salt, pepper and fried, stirring occasionally. The fried meat is placed in a deep bowl, poured with hot broth or water, sautéed tomato puree is added and simmered. Potatoes are cut into slices or cubes, fried, onions are chopped into strips, sautéed, pickled cucumbers are cut into small slices or strips and poached. Add diluted red sauté, sautéed onions, potatoes, pickles, peppercorns, bay leaves to the basics and simmer for 15-20 minutes until cooked. Before leaving, add finely chopped or crushed garlic. You can put fresh tomatoes, cut into slices, they are placed along with the potatoes.

When leaving, the azu is placed in a lamb and sprinkled with parsley or dill. When cooking in bulk, potatoes are not added during stewing, but fried potatoes are used as a side dish during holidays.

Beef 162, rendered animal fat 12, tomato puree 15, onions 30, wheat flour 5, pickled cucumbers 50, potatoes 193, garlic 1.0. Exit 325.

Lamb or pork stew. Meat chopped into pieces weighing 30-40 g is placed on a well-heated frying pan or baking sheet with fat, sprinkled with salt, pepper and fried. Then put it in a deep bowl, fill it with hot broth or water, add sautéed tomato puree and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Carrots, turnips, onions, parsley are cut into slices or cubes and sautéed. Potatoes, cut into slices or cubes, are fried. Diluted red sauté is added to the meat stewed until half-cooked, sautéed carrots, parsley, turnips, onions, fried potatoes, peppercorns, bay leaves are added and simmered until cooked. You can add boiled green peas to the finished stew. In addition to these vegetables, you can add zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, cauliflower, beans, and sweet peppers to the stew.

When leaving, the stew is placed in a lamb or plate and sprinkled with chopped parsley or dill on top. When cooking in bulk, the fried meat is poured with broth, tomato puree is added, and simmered for 30-40 minutes. Then add diluted red sauté, sautéed carrots, onions, parsley, pepper, bay leaf and simmer until tender. The side dish is prepared separately.

When leaving, put a side dish in a lamb or plate, next to it is a stew along with sauce, sprinkle with chopped herbs.

Pilaf. The meat, cut into cubes of 20-30 g, is sprinkled with salt and pepper, placed on a baking sheet heated with fat and quickly fried. Transfer to a deep bowl, pour in hot broth or water (fill in as much liquid as needed to prepare crumbly porridge), add tomato puree, sautéed carrots and onions, cut into strips, pre-soaked rice cereal, peppercorns, bay leaves and simmer until half cooked. After this, bring it to readiness in the oven. Pilaf can be prepared without tomatoes by adding dry sour berries (black currants, barberries). The finished pilaf is loosened with a chef's fork.

When on vacation, place in a lamb or in a portioned frying pan, sprinkle with chopped parsley or dill.

Lamb 150, or beef 162, or pork 129, rice cereal 67, margarine 15, onions 18, carrots 19, tomato puree 15. Yield 275.

Beef is a valuable protein product and a constant source of iron. A variety of dishes are prepared from it, but it is most delicious when stewed. However, to make the beef juicy and soft, you need to know some secrets.
Recipe contents:

Beef is a tasty and nutritious meat. This is a real storehouse of protein, B vitamins and useful minerals. Of the many options for preparing it, the most convenient way is stewing. This process will make even the toughest meat soft and tasty. The time for stewing beef usually takes from 40 minutes to 2.5 hours. It depends on the age of the animal and the part of the carcass. The softest parts of beef are roast beef and fillet. Also, the most commonly used parts include the shoulder blades, neck and hip. If you decide to make beef stew, the following tips and little tricks will help you make the usual dish even tastier.

How to stew beef correctly - principles and cooking methods

Despite the fact that beef is very popular, not every housewife is happy to cook it. Since this type of meat is considered capricious, because... It doesn't always turn out juicy. To know how to properly stew beef so that it is tender, you need to keep some secrets in mind.

• You can distinguish young beef (veal) from an adult animal by its softness, light meat, small fibers and light fat. Old beef is dark red in color with yellow fat.
• Before cooking, always remove films and fat from meat.
• Cut it into portions across the grain. Then it will deform less during heat treatment, become soft faster and be easier to chew.
• For stewing, it is better to cut the meat into small pieces, then during prolonged heat treatment the fibers will become soft.
• To soften the beef, first marinate it for 2-8 hours in milk, red wine, vinegar, lemon juice, citric acid, kefir, sour cream, etc. The acid softens hard fibers well.
• You can additionally soften the pieces of meat by beating them with a kitchen hammer.
• The fibers will become soft and easily separate from each other when the meat is stewed over low heat for at least an hour.
• A little liquid is required for stewing meat. It should not completely cover the pieces, otherwise they will cook and not stew.
• When stewing, make sure that the liquid does not boil or bubble, otherwise the meat will be tough and tasteless.
• Stewed beef goes well with soy sauce, sweet pepper, garlic, nutmeg, coriander, thyme, mustard, chili.
• You cannot salt the meat long before heat treatment, otherwise it will lose its juices. Salt the beef half an hour before cooking. Then it will retain its color and be juicy.
• For stewing, use a duck pot, clay pots, a thick-bottomed pan and other heat-resistant dishes.
• The lid should fit tightly and not let steam through.

Stewed beef with onions in a frying pan: classic recipe

Stewed beef with onions in a frying pan turns out soft and juicy. The main thing for frying is to use a thick-bottomed frying pan, ideally cast iron. Then the meat will not burn or dry out.

• Calorie content per 100 g - 275 kcal.
• Number of servings - 3
• Cooking time - 2 hours

Ingredients:

• Beef - 500 g (pulp)
• Onion - 2 pcs.
• Vegetable oil - for frying
• Sugar - 1 tsp.
• Ground black pepper - a pinch
• Drinking water - 100 ml
• Salt - 1 tsp.

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Despite the incredible variety of edible foods and the dishes that people have invented to prepare from them, humanity has not invented many ways to prepare them. Roughly speaking, there are hardly a couple of dozen cooking methods in total, and those that most people use in everyday cooking can be counted on the fingers of one hand. One of them is stewing, a method that allows you to get tasty and nutritious dishes for eaters of any age, and from very inexpensive products: the same stew is one of the best dishes in terms of cost-to-result ratio.

It is this last feature of stewing that has led to its enormous popularity, because preparing some delicacy is usually a quick and easy task, while sometimes you have to rack your brains over “simpler” products. Stewing removes all these problems, requiring nothing in return - a little patience, so this cooking method is one of the most universal, win-win, and at the same time well-known. You probably cook stewed meat, fish and vegetables quite often, and if you are not sure that you know everything about stewing, read on: in this guide, I have collected all the information on how to prepare the most delicious stews in the world.

What is stewing

I usually start every article on a topic with an attempt to define what will be discussed next, and this time I won’t make an exception either. So, what is stewing?..

In a nutshell, braising is the process of cooking food in a small amount of liquid. Imagine a classic stew, small pieces in gravy. If there was a little more of it - enough to completely hide the meat, and we would call it cooking, if there was a lot less of it, and the meat would be fried or baked, and not stewed, but in this case we are simultaneously observing several heat treatment processes occurring in parallel. The lower part of the meat, which is below the “waterline,” is boiled in gravy, while the upper part is either steamed from the boiling liquid (if stewing takes place in a saucepan with a lid) or baked (if we stew in the oven and in an open container). There is one more nuance that distinguishes boiling from stewing - in the first case, boiled meat or fish will be served separately from the liquid in which they were cooked (unless we are talking about soup), stewed dishes, as a rule, are always served in a sauce formed during the process of boiling and thickening of the liquid accompanying cooking. It's this culinary magic—the spontaneous creation of a flavorful, thick sauce without all the fuss—that's another reason why stews are so popular.

But if it's all about the volume of liquid, then there is a clear criterion - exactly how much water, broth, wine or other liquid should be added in order to get the perfect stew? .. Yes and no.

Such a criterion does exist, but it depends not only on the cooking time and temperature, but also on such subjective factors as the quality of the selected products or even the shape of the pieces into which they are cut. Therefore, stewed dishes are almost always prepared by eye, fortunately, if necessary, the amount of liquid can be quickly increased (by adding more) or reduced (by boiling over high heat).

Varieties of stewing

We’ll talk about how to cook stews as if you’ve been doing just that all your life a little later, but now we’ll talk about the classification of stewing methods. “For mercy, why complicate everything?” - the skeptic will ask, and will be immediately put to shame: firstly, the subtypes of stewing differ quite greatly from each other, and secondly, only by knowing their differences can you prepare the perfect dish. So,

Classic stew

This is exactly what first comes to mind when we talk about stewing in general. Meat, fish or vegetables are cut into pieces a little smaller or a little larger, if desired, first fried, then add liquid - water, or even cream, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer until soft, occasionally looking under the lid to Stir the contents and make sure that everything is in order and nothing is burnt.

Bruising

In fact, this is a completely separate way of preparing dishes; in English they even distinguish between stewing and braising - actually stewing and braising, but in our country not everyone has heard such a word. When you enter the word “cutting” into a search engine, you won’t find a consensus on what it is, but it’s actually quite simple. Unlike stewing, when stewing, the product (usually meat, but options are possible), firstly, is cooked entirely, and if it is cut, it is in very large pieces, and secondly, the cooking itself usually takes place in a closed heavy vessel - a pot, a roasting pan and the like.

Additional liquid is not always added - often the one contained in the product itself is enough, so it stews in its own juice. Let's say, if you cook a piece of pork neck in a closed roasting pan in the oven (my mom does this mind-blowingly), it's technically brining. Also, the method of cooking is used to prepare, for example, Burgundy beef or Burgundy rooster in wine.

Allowance

I wrote above that stewed dishes are usually served directly in sauce, but this rule does not work with poached dishes, which is why poaching is often called a type of cooking. And yet, from the point of view of culinary classification, this is precisely stewing: the product is filled with liquid, but not to the top, so that its lower part is boiled, and the upper part is steamed. Poaching is a great way to cook fish (whole or filleted) quickly poached in a light broth, wine or just water, but you can cook vegetables the same way. This story also works with meat, although in this case it will take more time.

Braising in oil

We are used to the fact that if something is cooked in oil, we are always talking about frying. But at a low temperature (below the boiling point of water) it behaves the same as any other liquid, which means it can be stewed in it. So, for example, finely chopped onions and vegetables in general are stewed in oil, which will later become part of a more serious dish - they are simmered slowly, stirring and not allowing the color to change.

Another method, which can also be attributed to stewing in oil, is called “confit”, and it was originally invented to ensure that dishes prepared this way would last longer. Nowadays, using the confit method, you can prepare both classics - duck legs in duck fat, and more modern dishes - for example, prepare salmon fillet using this method, heating it in olive oil, the temperature of which is maintained at a certain level.

Pseudo-fry

Unlike the methods listed above, this one is rather a mistake that spoils the intended dish, but everyone has encountered it. You're about to fry some pieces of chicken, a chop, or something else, you put the frying pan on the fire, add oil, put the meat in it, and then something goes wrong: your meat releases so much juice that it fills the entire frying pan, and fry it as a result, it really doesn’t work out. Such unsuccessful frying is actually nothing more than stewing in its own juices.

To avoid this, you need, firstly, to let the pan and oil heat up properly - in this case, they will not cool down so much when you put cold meat in them - and secondly, do not overload the pan: fry in several stages, placing the meat in a frying pan in one layer so that the pieces do not touch each other, and the liquid will quickly evaporate, without leading to unplanned stewing.

What foods should be stewed?

Absolutely any. Unlike many other cooking methods, you can stew anything and have every reason to expect decent results. But “you can” does not mean “you should”: stewing is often called a method of preparing inexpensive dishes, and this is no coincidence. After all, which meat cuts are the cheapest? The toughest ones are those that cannot be chewed if you accidentally try to fry them, grill them, or simply bake them. This rigidity is determined anatomically - the more often during the life of an animal a particular muscle is in motion, the more connective tissue it contains, which is not for everyone.

One of the main “building materials” of connective tissue is collagen protein, which has one wonderful property: during prolonged heat treatment, collagen disintegrates, turning into gelatin, which has a soft, almost jelly-like consistency. It is to this process that we owe the opportunity to eat meat that melts in the mouth, and in this case this is not a poetic turn of phrase, but a fairly accurate description of what a properly prepared dish from an inexpensive piece of meat becomes. Of course, this result can be achieved not only by stewing - long-term boiling and baking at a low temperature are also quite suitable - but stewing is the most generous method of these, giving you the right to make mistakes and an invariably excellent result. I will note that some tenderloin after stewing, of course, will also become softer, but it will not be as tasty - which means that rather than transferring expensive meat, it is better to cook it in some other way.

If we smoothly move from meat to other products, we will find that stewing can help us with them too. The fish is stewed in spicy aromatic sauces, cut into large pieces: the fish cooks quite quickly, so it won’t take you much time, and if you add a little seafood at the very end, the dish will turn out to be completely royal. Seafood is braised less often because the best method for most of it is to cook it as quickly as possible, but it is still braised. A case in point here is squid, the meat of which will become soft if you cook it for either less than 5 minutes or more than 1 hour, so it can and should be stewed in a sauce, tomato or other sauce of your choice.

Of course, we won’t ignore stewed vegetables - the family of dishes is as diverse as it is popular. The most common variation on this theme is seasonal vegetables, which are first fried, then added with liquid and simmered until they are completely soft but still hold their shape (though some prefer a different texture - softer or, conversely, crispier). ). Stewed cabbage is another example, here stewing is more a way to get rid of excess liquid, reducing the once crunchy vegetable to a state of tender, soft and pliable. But these are not the only ways to stew vegetables - no less good are dishes in which one vegetable is salted, for example, onions, carrots or even an overseas artichoke, which is stewed for a short time - for softness, but preserving both the shape and a hint of its initial taste.

The stewing also does not ignore less obvious products. I think there is no need to tell anyone about mushrooms stewed in sour cream or cream, but, say, for a dish like shakshuka, the Middle Eastern version of scrambled eggs with vegetables, the eggs are not fried, but rather stewed in a thick spicy sauce. In the same way, cereals and legumes are stewed in sauce - not for softness (they often end up in the sauce already boiled), but to “marry” the flavors of the sauce and the cereals themselves. Rarely, they stew dough products (for the same reason), herbs, stew fruits to make a sweet dessert... In a word, if there is any product left on the planet, no one has tried to stew it yet - give it to me. I'll stew it, it will turn out delicious.

How to stew correctly - meat and more

So, the time has come to move from theory directly to practice. Now I will tell you in detail, step by step, what and how to do to achieve the best result. It’s quite possible that you know all this without me - well, in that case, take this section as a kind of checklist that will help you not to forget about something important while cooking. I will explain using the example of stewed meat, but you yourself understand that exactly the same rules, with a slight amendment, apply to stewed fish, vegetables, whatever.

1. Preparation of ingredients

We assume that you either have a recipe or an idea of ​​what you are going to cook and from what products. Prepare all the ingredients in advance - cut the meat and vegetables, wash the herbs, measure out the required amount of spices and liquid ingredients, make sure that the utensils you need are at hand: these preparations will save you a lot of time and nerves during the cooking process.

2. Roasting

Pre-frying of meat is sometimes ignored: sometimes this is due to ideas about healthy eating, sometimes a recipe, sometimes simple ignorance. However, in general, by frying meat and vegetables, we will end up with a deeper and richer taste of the finished dish, which will give the gravy that same golden brown crust. If necessary, fry the vegetables first and separately from the meat, which must be seasoned in advance with salt, pepper and rolled in flour (if you wish, you can not use it, but flour gives, firstly, a deeper frying, and secondly, it helps thicken sauce). After this, fry the meat in hot oil until crusty on all sides, in several stages, so as not to overload the pan, otherwise you will end up with what is described above in the “Pseudo-frying” section. Place the fried meat in a separate dish.

3. Deglazing

There are little brown marks on the bottom of the pan you just used—little bits of meat and vegetables stuck to the pan. These are real capsules of taste that can and should be released and added to our dish using a method called “deglazing.” To do this, pour broth, wine, cream or other liquid in which you are going to stew the meat into the pan. It will boil quite quickly - don’t yawn, start rubbing the bottom of the pan with a spatula. The pieces will come off the bottom of the pan and quickly “dissolve” in the liquid, enriching it with their taste.

4. Braising

If you will be stewing meat in the same pan, reduce the heat and add vegetables, meat and other ingredients (for example, spices). If you use a lot of small spices, you can tie them in a gauze bag and tie the herbs into a bouquet, so it will be easier to remove them from the finished dish. All the juices that leaked from the meat while it was waiting for its fate should be sent back there, they also contain taste that we don’t want to lose. If you are going to stew the meat in another dish - a duck pot, a pot, etc., the sequence will be reversed: first we transfer the meat and vegetables into it, then we fill it with liquid from the frying pan, in any case without neglecting the previous stage.

After this, you can cover the vessel with a lid and simmer until the meat is softened with low heat on the stove or in the oven. The stewing time depends entirely on the properties of the meat you choose, but you should periodically look under the lid to stir the contents and make sure that the liquid has not boiled away ahead of time. To prevent this process from happening so quickly, which is especially important for stewing in a container with a lid that does not close tightly, place a sheet of foil between the dish and the lid.

At this stage, some recipes recommend adding flour to thicken the sauce, but this technique is not perfect from a culinary point of view. Strictly speaking, additional thickening may not be necessary at all - cream, say, during the stewing process will thicken perfectly on its own, but if you are stewing in broth, wine or water, you should first make a flour roux by frying a little flour in the same amount of melted butter oil, then add liquid into it, stirring. But this is not necessary either - if you rolled the meat in flour before frying, it may well be enough to thicken the sauce.

5. Finishing touches

When you realize that the dish is almost ready, it’s time to get it into the form in which it can be served. Catch out the old herbs and spices, adjust the amount and thickness of the sauce (a lot/thin - boil over high heat, stirring occasionally, little/thick - dilute and cook a little more), season with salt and black pepper and, if desired, garnish with fresh herbs and vegetables.

6. Feed

Well, this is all clear, so I included the last point just for show. Serve the stew (or whatever it is) really hot, since the sauce often tends to twitch into a thin film as it cools, and as a side dish it is better to choose those that go well with it - cereals, dumplings, some types of pasta. Legumes will perform somewhat worse in their place, and vegetables and especially mashed potatoes with stewed dishes in gravy are not categorically friendly, but this is a matter of subjective tastes: if you like it that way, then good for you.

Little tricks

Concluding the conversation on this voluminous topic, I want to give some practical tips of a general nature that may make your stews even tastier.

Don't use water. Whenever you have the opportunity, give preference to a liquid with its own taste and aroma - broth, wine, rather than water. The easiest and most economical way to always have broth on hand for cooking is not to throw away the bones after roasting chicken and cutting meat, as well as trimming vegetables, but put them in the freezer. Once enough has accumulated, you can make broth from these scraps that you would otherwise just throw away and freeze them until you need them.

More taste. Whether you're cooking a new dish or experimenting with an old recipe, never overlook the opportunity to add more flavor with spices and seasonings. Any dish will benefit from adding sweet peas, cloves, bay leaves, thyme and other seasonings while simmering, even if they are not in the recipe.

Take your time. Patience is the key to a delicious stew, so don't make it if you're short on time. It also happens that people, having heard enough stories on TV and the Internet, are afraid to stew meat for a long time, because this way there will be no vitamins left in it. There is no need to be afraid - there will be no vitamins left in it in any case, most of them are destroyed in the first minutes of heat treatment, so you need to look for them in other products, but your dish will definitely not become tastier from this haste.

Temperature. As a matter of fact, boiling, even if barely noticeable, is by no means a mandatory element of the program, but it is necessary so that the liquid - both added and that which was originally contained in meat and other products - boils away and thickens. After this, the heat can be reduced, and if you can adjust it in such a way that the temperature of the liquid is close, but still below the boiling point, you can simmer for as long as you like without fear that it will boil away.

It is not clear why some housewives do not like to cook pork dishes, although they eat sausage, boiled pork, and lard.

After all, pork easily responds to all types of heat treatment: it can be fried, boiled, baked, stewed. At the same time, the meat almost always turns out juicy and soft.

Cooking pork dishes takes much less time than beef dishes.

Pork does not need to be soaked in a vinegar marinade to get rid of a specific smell (as is done with lamb).

Of course, there are exceptions if the housewife, due to inexperience, purchases meat from an adult male boar at the market. If he was not castrated at one time, then his meat will smell unpleasant and smell like urine (not for the table, it will be said). And this smell can hardly be interrupted by anything.

Therefore, when you come to the market, do not rush to buy the first piece of pork that catches your eye. Look at it carefully.

If the meat is pinkish in color and the lard is white, then this is young pork. The skin of this meat is thin and can be easily pierced with a knife. And sellers often demonstrate this to buyers.

The thick, tough skin and yellowish color of the fat indicate that this meat is old. The surface of the meat should not be slimy or slippery. Smell the meat - it should not have any foreign odor.

Stewed pork: subtleties of preparation

• When stewed, pork turns out very tasty. It is prepared with all kinds of gravies, the base of which is most often tomatoes, tomato paste or ketchup.
• The best vegetables to go with pork are onions, carrots, and bell peppers. They can be cut into either large pieces or very small ones. In the second case, during the stewing process they are boiled, and the gravy turns out to be a thick, almost uniform consistency.
• Stewed pork meat can be spicy, sweet and sour, and very aromatic. It all depends on the spices and herbs that you decide to add to the dish.
• Pre-frying significantly improves the taste of meat.
• Instead of tomatoes or tomato paste, you can add sour cream or cream to the gravy, but then you do not need to add very spicy herbs and spices. Bay leaf, garlic, cumin, black pepper, and dill go well with sour cream sauce.
• Spices such as coriander, dill, tarragon, fennel, sage, marjoram, basil, onion, pepper, and caraway go well with pork in tomato sauce.
• And if you add soy sauce to the meat, you end up with an almost Korean dish.
• Cook the meat and gravy over low heat, covering the pan with a lid. The liquid should only boil slightly.

Stewed pork with gravy: goulash

Ingredients:

• pork – 600 g;
• medium onion – 2 pcs.;
• medium carrots – 1 pc.;
• red bell pepper – 1 pc.;
• tomato paste – 50 g;
• sour cream – 50 g;
• refined vegetable oil – 30 g;
• salt;
• black pepper - a pinch;
• bay leaf – 2 pcs.;
• paprika – 1 tsp;
• sugar – 0.5 tsp;
• water - about 2 cups.

Cooking method

• Wash the meat in warm water - this will better remove contaminants. Rinse with cold water, dry with a paper towel. Cut into 50 g pieces.
• Pour oil into a frying pan and heat it well. Fry the meat on it.
• Place finely chopped onion on top of it. When it softens a little, stir.
• Cut the carrots into small strips or grate them on a special grater. Add to meat and onions. Fry for 3-4 minutes.
• Place the bell pepper, seeded and chopped into strips. Stir again. During the frying process, make sure that the vegetables and meat do not burn to the bottom, otherwise the taste of the gravy will be spoiled.
• In a cup, combine tomato paste with sour cream and transfer to a frying pan with the remaining ingredients.
• Add salt, sugar, bay leaf, paprika. Pour boiling water over it. The water should completely cover the meat. Cover with a lid, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. Serve mashed potatoes as a side dish. Sprinkle with herbs.

Braised pork with gravy: sweet and sour (Chinese dish)

Ingredients:

• young pork – 600 g;
• carrots – 1 pc.;
• green bell pepper – 1 pc.;
• canned pineapples – 150 g;
• tomato juice – 150 ml;
• soy sauce – 100 ml;
• wheat flour – 1 tbsp. l.;
• starch - 1 tbsp. l.;
• vegetable oil – 50 g;
• sugar – 2 tbsp. l.;
• table vinegar – 40 ml;
• salt.

Cooking method

• Wash the pork, dry it, cut it into pieces 1 cm wide. Place in a bowl, pour in soy sauce, add flour and starch. Stir. Leave to marinate for 20 minutes.
• Peel the carrots, wash them, cut them into large strips or grate them on a Korean grater.
• Peel the pepper from seeds and cut into strips.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan, add chopped carrots, stir, fry for three minutes. Add pepper and cook for another 2 minutes. Don't fry them for too long, as roasted peppers take on a flavor that not everyone likes.
• Cut pineapple slices or rings into pieces and combine with meat.
• In another frying pan, fry the meat until golden brown, having previously separated it from the marinade. Make sure that the pieces do not stick together.
• In a separate bowl, mix tomato juice, vinegar and sugar. Place vegetables in a frying pan with meat, pour in tomato sauce. Add salt to taste. Simmer over low heat until the meat is soft. Thanks to the marinade and finely chopped meat, the dish is ready in 10–15 minutes.

Stewed pork with gravy: with mayonnaise and mustard

Ingredients:

• pork – 600 g;
• mayonnaise – 100 g;
• ready mustard - 1 tbsp. l.;
• onion – 1 pc.;
• water – 150 ml;
• any greens;
• black pepper - a pinch;
• vegetable oil – 1 tbsp. l.

Cooking method

• Cut the prepared pork into pieces and lightly fry in oil.
• Add finely chopped onion, stir, sauté until soft.
• Mix mayonnaise with mustard and dilute with warm water. Pour the resulting sauce over the meat. Simmer covered over low heat for 40–45 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with chopped herbs.

Braised pork with gravy: with garlic and soy sauce

Ingredients:

• pork – 800 g;
• soy sauce – 70 ml;
• sugar – 1 tbsp. l.;
• medium-sized onion – 2 pcs.;
• garlic – 2 cloves;
• refined vegetable oil – 50 g;
• bay leaf – 2 pcs.

Cooking method

• Wash the pork, dry it, cut into large strips. Place in a thick-walled bowl.
• Put onion, cut into half rings, chopped garlic, bay leaf, sugar, pour in oil, soy sauce. Mix well. Leave to marinate for half an hour.
• Place on the stove and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until meat is tender.

Stewed pork with gravy: with ketchup and coriander

Ingredients:

• pork – 500 g;
• onions – 2 pcs.;
• carrots – 1 pc.;
• Bulgarian ketchup – 3 tbsp. l.;
• sour cream – 1 tbsp. l.;
• coriander – 1 tsp;
• bay leaf – 2 pcs.;
• salt;
• refined sunflower oil – 1 tbsp. l.

Cooking method

• Pork, wash, dry, cut into thin slices. Lightly fry in vegetable oil.
• Chop the onion into half rings and place on the meat. Do not stir yet, but start chopping the carrots.
• Cut the peeled and washed carrots in half and then cut crosswise into thin slices. Place in a frying pan with meat and onions, stir. Fry for 5 minutes, avoiding burning on the bottom of the pan.
• Add ketchup, sour cream, coriander. Pour enough boiling water to cover the contents of the pan by 1-2 cm.
• Cover the dish with a lid, turn the heat to low and simmer for about 1 hour until the meat is soft. Five minutes before the dish is ready, add salt. Serve fluffy rice as a side dish.

Braised pork with gravy: with wine

Ingredients:

• pork – 500 g;
• pork lard – 30 g;
• tomato paste – 1 tbsp. l.;
• flour – 1 tbsp. l.;
• onion – 1 pc.;
• white grape wine – 70 ml;
• bay leaf – 2 pcs.;
• peppercorns – 5 pcs.;
• salt.

Cooking method

• Cut the pork into pieces, add salt, and fry in a frying pan with fat. Sprinkle with flour, stir, continue frying for another 5 minutes.
• In a separate frying pan, sauté the onion and transfer it to the bowl with the meat. Add tomato paste, salt, pepper, bay leaf. Pour in the wine. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer over low heat until the meat is soft. Add salt to taste.

Tip: instead of wine, you can add water or broth, and replace the tomato paste with ketchup.

Note to the hostess

For stewing, you can use either the pulp alone or meat on the bone (ribs). The main thing is to cut off the lard, leaving only a thin strip, otherwise the gravy will turn out very greasy and tasteless.

You can serve any side dish with stewed pork: mashed potatoes, fluffy rice, pasta, buckwheat.