Kholodets is a favorite dish of many Russians, prepared according to a wide variety of recipes. Some of them lay pieces of meat sorted into fibers in bowls and fill with broth, others first twist everything through a meat grinder. Some add slices of carrots, boiled eggs to the dish, greens, onions, pickles for beauty in the dish. Any option has the right to exist, but all recipes have one thing in common - the result is a very tasty, satisfying dish with a clear garlic-meat aroma. And in order for the jellied meat to turn out exactly as the household loves, 5 secrets must be observed when preparing it.
Pick your recipe
In the old days, a hearty and tasty jelly was prepared only in winter, after slaughtering cattle for meat and the onset of frost. During cooking, bridges were moved, kneecaps, cuts of veins and fat from bones. All this was poured with a strong broth, cooked in a Russian stove. If such a jelly with garlic, horseradish, brown bread, remembering the bright taste until next year. Nowadays, not everyone has stoves, but many have freezers and crock-pots. Therefore, jellied meat is cooked both in spring and summer, eat as a separate dish, add chopped pieces instead of sausage to your favorite okroshka. And even without jellied meat (this is also sometimes called jellied meat), almost no one presents a New Year's table.
In order not to worry if the broth hardens or jelly spreads on a plate, you need to follow 5 simple rules when preparing the ingredients and cooking meat.
Compliance with the proportions of products
You can cook jellied meat from any meat - beef, pork, turkey, chicken. However, a sticky and thick broth for pouring will be obtained only by adding bridge levers (bones of the legs, head) and various "illiquid" from the carcass - ears, tail, skin, cartilage, scraps with pieces of fat to the pan or bowl of the multicooker. Be sure to take into account the proportions of bones, meat and water, so that the finished jellied meat solidifies well, does not fall apart when cut into pieces.
Experienced housewives advise on 2 kg of bridges (chicken, beef, pork legs) to take no more than 1.5 kg of the remaining meat, add water not a whole pan, but just to hide the pieces.
Meat soaking
Before cooking, all bones, scraps, meat pieces must be soaked in cold water. What for? To wash off the remnants of coagulated blood, remove small adherent bones, debris. After soaking the skin will become soft, it will be easy to clean from litter with a knife.
Replacing the "first" broth
The "first" water, which barely boils in a pan with meat pieces, is recommended to be drained so that the broth is not too greasy. If this is not done, then a layer of fat 1-2 cm thick will form on the surface of the finished jelly, which will still have to be removed with a spoon or knife and discarded.
After boiling from the broth, you just need to remove the foam, drain it, and pour the meat with clean cold water, so that it barely covers. Salt a little again. Again, wait for boiling, and already cook according to the recipe until cooked under a closed lid.
Add spices
You can’t immediately salt the jelly - the water will boil away, and there is a risk of greatly salting the broth. It is better to add it during the cooking process closer to the end, then it will definitely turn out fine to taste. Whole carrots and onions are recommended to be added to the meat 4 hours after boiling, and all the necessary spices (bay leaves, garlic, peppercorns) - half an hour before the end of cooking. Then the jelly will remain fragrant, take on the flavor of seasonings.