The bowl of frozen meat is clear, when eaten, the meat feels soft and absorbs the flavor, and the clear jelly-like liquid gradually dissolves to roll out the flavor. This is an indispensable delicacy on every traditional Tet holiday.
Ingredient
( 4 )
- 1 kg of pork leg meat
- 300 gr tenderloin
- 100 grams of wood ear mushrooms
- Spices: Salt, delicious fish sauce, pepper, MSG (optional), dried onions
Making
- Choose fresh and delicious pork leg meat (deboned) with signs such as an even block of meat, a natural light pink color, a dry cut line, and elasticity when pressed by hand. Choose to buy extra tenderloin or rump skin to increase the adhesion of the frozen meat. Buy pork leg meat and skin, shave off hair, squeeze salt and wash.
- Put the pork leg meat and skin in a pot of cold water to cover the surface, add a little salt and crushed dried onions and bring to a boil. At this time, many impurities will wash out. Take it out, wash it several times until clean, cut into bite-sized pieces. Be careful not to put the pork leg meat or skin in hot water, causing the outer surface to suddenly contract due to heat shock, making it difficult for impurities (foam) to come out. Marinate the pork leg and skin with a little salt and delicious fish sauce to absorb the flavor. You can marinate with a little ground pepper, but if you want the gravy to be clear like jelly, you should add pepper after finishing. Depending on each family’s taste, there are some people who do not marinate the meat but cook the meat and skin before adding salt and fish sauce.
- Frozen meat cooked in the old-fashioned way has the addition of soaked wood ear mushrooms, washed, and cut into long pieces. Add delicious fish sauce and ground pepper. Ancient eastern meat also did not use shiitake mushrooms because it easily “destroys the taste” of its purity. Over time, the dish has changed to please each person’s taste buds and senses by adding eye-catching flowered carrots and shiitake mushrooms (optional).
- Traditionally, after marinating the meat, fry the dried onions until fragrant (if you want the water to be clear, scoop out the onions), pour the meat into the pan and stir-fry. Dried onions go well with pork, helping to enhance the flavor of the dish. Then add hot water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer. Some families cook the old way, wanting the meat to be firm and pure, not stir-frying but cooking it directly with hot water.
- To have a delicious bowl of frozen meat, you need to pay attention to heat and fire. When simmering meat and skin, keep the heat simmering and open the lid of the newly frozen gravy in the bar. Because when cooked at high heat, the collagen in the skin can easily disintegrate, making the water cloudy and tasteless. So let it simmer for the collagen to slowly transform into gelatin – the glue that helps stick and solidify like jelly. Simmering time is about 50 – 60 minutes, the meat will be soft and naturally sweet, depending on the type of pork.
- Add the wood ear mushrooms and continue to cook over low heat for 6 – 8 minutes to keep the texture of the wood ear mushrooms. Season with a little fish sauce and MSG (optional). Depending on each person’s taste, if you don’t like eating the skin, you can remove it.
- In the old way, after the meat is cooked, scoop it into a bowl (enough for each meal) then cover it and put it on trays, wait for the temperature to drop and the cold dew to fall, then take it out and put it outside in the yard. At this time, the meat will absorb the air during the changing seasons, so it will have a pure, sweet taste. Nowadays, housewives can more conveniently freeze meat all year round. After scooping the meat into a bowl, let it cool and put it in the refrigerator. When eating, gently shake and place face down on a cupped plate. Frozen meat served with pickled sauerkraut or pickled onions during Tet is perfect.
- Finished product requirements: The solid bowl of frozen meat is as clear as morning dew. When eaten, the meat is soft and absorbs the flavor, the jelly-like liquid gradually dissolves and is very delicious. This is a traditional delicacy during the old Tet holiday.
Attention:
- The most common way to cook frozen meat is to use pork leg with tenderloin. Depending on taste, you can use more tongue and muzzle if you like it rougher. Or take advantage of leftover meat such as armpit meat or optional shoulder loin meat.
- You need to add enough tenderloin so that when cooked, it creates gelatin/glue, don’t add too much and the frozen meat becomes hard. If you don’t like eating the skin, take it out after simmering.
- The old way of marinating or seasoning with salt will create a sweet taste, but if you use fine salt, it will easily have a harsh taste. Fish sauce also needs to be chosen to be delicious to help enhance the taste and flavor of the dish.
- If the meat is cooked lightly, sprinkle it with fish sauce and chili pepper.
- Currently, some people like to put frozen meat on hot rice to let it melt to feel the delicious sweetness from the meat mixed with the soft simmered water.