Secrets of a chef to make the best meat stew

A prestigious chef who has won several Michelin stars shared a recipe for tender and juicy meat stew prepared with Pork Cheek. This piece of meat, which is known as cheek pads (or cheeks) of the pig, calf or cow, refers specifically to the cheek muscle.

It is a small cut of very lean and fibrous meat. For this type of meat, slow cooking is recommended so that it remains tender and juicy, and takes advantage of all the nutritional potential, since it has and high content in collagen and connective tissue. Long, slow cooking causes this collagen to become jelly.

This cut of meat, aBeing muscles subjected to movement, they have a more meaty flavor. intense and deep, ideal for stews.

Juicy meat stew

The original recipe is from Martín Berasategui, the chef with the most Michelin stars in Spain, who shares his technical tricks that turn the recipe into a master guide to treat this cut. The process of preparing the stew has four key aspects: caramelization, sautéing, avoiding flour and adding a touch of butter.

1. Caramelization: It is vital to brown very good the meat over high heat. This seals in the juices and, more importantly, creates the Maillard reactioncreating toasted and umami flavors that form the aromatic base of the sauce.
2. “Clean” stir fry: Cook the vegetables slowly, just so that wolf and poached, guarantees that they provide their flavor sweet and fresh. Toasting or burning them would generate bitter compounds that would spoil the sauce. One has to poach, do not fry.
3. Avoid flour: The meat should not be floured. The flour would toast quickly, leaving the bitter aftertaste that we try to avoid. The sauce should thicken natural by the gelatin released from the meat and the reduction.
4. Combine with cold butter: Add cold butter In the end it is key. It emulsifies with the sauce liquid, providing a spectacular shine and a texture silky and velvetyrounding out the flavor of the stew.

The chef opts for slow cooking in a conventional pot (a few three hours), allowing a more gradual extraction of flavors. The proof that it is ready is unmistakable: When you pierce it, the meat should not resist.

Ingredients

1 kg of pork cheeks

Vegetables (1 carrot, 1 onion, 1 leek)

1 glass of red wine

1.5 liters of meat broth

25 grams of cold butter

Preparation mode

1. Clean the meat (remove excess fat) and season with salt and pepper.
2. Mark the cheeks in the pot with oil until they are well golden and caramelized. Reserve.
3. In the same pot, poach Cut the vegetables into small pieces, allowing them to sweat without taking on color.
4. Add meat and juices again. Add the wine and reduce by half over medium-high heat.
5. Cover with the broth. When it boils, remove the foam, lower the heat to minimum and cook. covered for 2-3 hours until very tender.
6. Remove the meat, strain the sauce (discard the vegetables). Reduce the remaining liquid to slow fire until it thickens.
7. Return the cheek pieces, heat and add the cold butter into cubes, integrating it gently to bind and give shine to the sauce.

Keep reading: