It is impossible to say with complete certainty when this offal became desirable on the table and, moreover, scarce and high-status, but it is known for sure that peasants were forbidden to eat it; it was the privilege exclusively of gentlemen and people from high society.
Nowadays, this product is also an infrequent guest on the table, and traditionally dishes from it appear on the table on holidays. A lot of different dishes are prepared from beef tongue; it is used in first courses instead of regular meat; with its addition, salads are made, main courses and various gourmet snacks are prepared. Ready-made smoked, salted and marinated delicacies in various dressings are sold in store windows. But even without adding other ingredients, it is very tasty in itself and can be consumed as an independent product due to its rich, original taste. Beautifully chopped boiled tongue, neatly laid out on a plate with vegetables and herbs, will decorate any table.
Calorie content and composition of beef tongue
Beef tongue is valued not only for its high taste, it also has a unique composition. The product contains a balanced composition of protein, microelements, including sodium, potassium, iron, zinc and others, necessary for excellent well-being and full development of a person.
Depending on the methods of heat treatment, its calorie content changes:
- 100 grams of raw meat is approximately 173 kcal.
- Boiled will contain only 90 kcal.
- The calorie content of the stewed product will be 183 kcal.
Therefore, on a diet, it is better to eat it after cooking as a separate dish or by adding a light side dish of raw vegetables, and for heavy physical labor or intense training, it is recommended to stew it with the addition of healthy cereals.
Determination by seasons
Depending on the time of year, a dream may have special meaning. Interpretation of night vision by season:
- Spring. Seeing in a dream means gossip and rumors from the outside. Dreaming of a man without a tongue means forced patience with the actions of his children. The sleeper sees himself without a tongue - to a fun time with friends.
- Summer. A tongue seen in a night vision is a warning to a scandal involving alcohol. Biting until it bleeds means spreading gossip about the sleeping person.
- Autumn. Such an image indicates the need for the dreamer to carefully select words when communicating with loved ones.
- Winter. Seeing it in wounds or sores means serious quarrels with your partner, which may result in separation with bad consequences.
The interpretations presented in dream books help determine the meaning of the dream. Most often, such an image speaks of the need to refrain from unnecessary conversations.
Other interpretations may indicate problems in various areas of human activity.
Selection of quality raw materials
No cooking method can correct the quality and taste of a stale, stale product, especially one with a “smell.” All the beneficial properties of the tongue are inherent only in fresh, high-quality meat. This is a product without signs of weathering, without spots and color unusual for meat - this is what the tongue should look like. By the way, the spots may be from the color of the animal’s tongue, but they cannot be confused with rottenness and signs of spoilage of the product.
An adult animal will have a very large tongue, but this may also be an indicator of old age. It will take a long time to cook.
More nutrients are found in the meat of an adult, but not an old animal. Veal, pork and lamb tongues are inferior in their benefits to beef, but are an alternative substitute due to their greater availability in stores and due to their lower cost.
Useful properties of the product
Due to its rich composition, the condition of the skin improves, the immune system is strengthened, and most importantly, due to the high content of complete protein, this product is almost irreplaceable in the diet of children and pregnant women. Protein is responsible for building the muscle corset and is the main building material for a growing body. Lack of protein leads to muscular dystrophy and developmental disorders of the child's body. With a lack of protein in the diet, the skin, hair, and hormonal structure suffer.
Beef tongue is useful for anemia and during recovery after illness and surgery, as it contains a lot of iron.
There is an opinion that the tongue takes a long time to prepare. This is true if you cook it in the usual way. But almost every family has a multicooker and a pressure cooker, which reduces the need to control the cooking process to a minimum; the main thing is to choose the right mode . In a multicooker, the “stew” mode is suitable, but in a pressure cooker it’s even easier, just pour a little water into the bowl, put your tongue in and turn it on to the maximum setting. However, the list of beneficial properties of the tongue outweighs the cost and time spent on preparation, since the product:
- Contains a lot of minerals, including vitamins B, PP, zinc, which is rare in meat in such quantities. Iodine, potassium, phosphorus and iron are responsible for the production of hormones and amino acids.
- Promotes the body's production of insulin, which is important for diabetics.
- Responsible for tissue regeneration in postoperative patients.
- Makes the skin elastic.
- Does not contain connective tissue, making it easier to absorb for patients with gastritis and ulcers.
- Reduces blood cholesterol.
- It is an excellent product when dieting for weight loss, as it contains a lot of protein and little fat.
How to properly cook and clean beef tongue
There are several ways to cook a tongue.
First way
If the tongue is cooked for slicing, then pre-boiled water is poured into the pan, the tongue is put in, everything is brought to a boil and cooked over reduced heat for 10-15 minutes. Then the water in which the tongue was boiled is drained, clean boiling water is poured in, and cooked until ready. This is done so that, along with foam, unpleasant odors and dirt located on the rough surface of the hard skin of the product are removed from the tongue. During cooking, and the cooking time, depending on the weight and age of the animal, can reach up to 3 hours, you should monitor the water level so that it does not boil away, and add boiling water if necessary.
Preparatory stage
How to cook pork tongues and peel them? Before cooking, the product must be washed and excess fat removed, because dishes made from it are already high in calories. Veins and other inedible parts should also be removed.
You should not peel the product raw, because it is difficult to do and you may lose some meat.
To get a truly delicious dish, you need to know:
- fresh tongue has a bright red color;
- if the product is fresh, it smells pleasant, a little sweet;
- Before cooking, you need to soak the product for several hours.
How to properly clean your tongue
Step-by-step instructions for cleaning the product are as follows:
- Raw reeds need to be cleaned of dirt and mucus. It is advisable to pre-soak the offal in cold water; you can leave it overnight.
- Anything that gets wet should be cleaned off with a knife, scraping off the plaque and removing any remaining meat and salivary glands at the root.
- Rinse before storing in clean running water.
- Place in a saucepan, add boiling water and bring to a boil.
- Remove the foam, boil for 15 minutes and remove if the semi-finished product will be peeled at this stage. If it will be cleaned at the end of cooking, then reduce the heat, remembering to remove the foam with a slotted spoon, and simmer at a barely noticeable boil until done.
- If the skin is cleaned after preliminary boiling, then you should transfer the meat to cold water and wait until the moment when you can pick it up with your hand.
- Peel off the skin. It will have a white tint and easily move away from the main mass when prying it with a knife.
- If necessary, finish cooking by pouring clean boiling water and adding spices to taste.
Cleaning
Boiled offal
The process of cleaning boiled pork tongue can be divided into several stages.
Place a pot of water on the fire and wait until the liquid boils. Place the pre-treated pork tongue into boiling water and wait until the liquid boils again. When the foam appears, it should be carefully collected. After the water boils a second time, the fire in the burner is reduced to the minimum value. At this stage, it is recommended to add spices, such as bay leaves and peppercorns. Salt the meat after 30 minutes from the moment it boils. The offal should be cooked for 1.5-2 hours until it becomes soft. You can check its readiness by piercing the pulp with a fork. If this cutlery fits freely into the meat, then it is ready. Please note that it is not recommended to overcook the pork tongue, since if it is cooked for too long, it can become very tough and lose all its beneficial properties. When the meat is ready, remove it from the pan and place it in a container of cold water for a few minutes.
This little trick makes it easy to separate the film from the pulp. Using a sharp knife, pry off the film and quickly remove it before the meat has cooled. Hold the offal by the base with one hand and carefully remove the skin with the other. Try to very quickly pull the skin to the tip of the offal.
Many housewives recommend removing the film when the boiled pork tongue is under running cold water. The water jet should be directed so that it hits the area between the film being removed and the still uncleaned offal. This will allow you to quickly and easily remove unnecessary skin, and also avoid scalding your hands, since the process of removing the skin must be done while the meat is still hot. If it gets too cold, then you won't be able to separate the skin without damaging the flesh.
Do not try to remove all the skin at once - you can carry out this process gradually. To do this, make longitudinal shallow cuts across the entire surface of the pork tongue. In this case, you will remove the film in small pieces.
If you notice that the film is constantly tearing, and you have difficulty separating the flesh from the skin, it means that the pork tongue is not cooked enough. Put it back into the broth and simmer for some more time. A well-boiled offal will be very easy to separate from the skin.
Many housewives recommend putting cleaned pork tongue into broth with spices and boiling it for another 15–20 minutes. This broth should be well salted. This little trick will allow you to get incredibly tender, aromatic and tasty meat, which can be served as a cold appetizer, decorated with herbs.
Raw tongue
Despite the fact that it is much easier to clean a boiled pork tongue than a raw one, in some cases this cleaning procedure will not work, especially if you want to cook roast or stewed tongue. To quickly remove the skin from a pork tongue, you need to follow a certain sequence of actions.
- Boil water in a saucepan and place the pre-treated tongue in it. It should boil for 2-3 minutes.
- After the specified time, the offal is removed from the boiling water and placed in a container with cold water. The meat should lie in this water for a minute or two.
- Pry the film with a sharp knife and gradually remove it.
Some housewives also recommend lightly freezing the pork tongue so that the film comes off easily and quickly. In this case, you should not pre-soak the meat in water - just rinse it thoroughly under running water.
- Place the pork tongue in a plastic bag and place it in the freezer for a short period of time. The meat should not completely freeze, but only slightly “grab” the top layer.
- Using a thin-pointed knife, pry up the skin and carefully separate it from the pulp. Do a similar procedure, moving in a spiral: this will avoid the risk of tearing the skin.
To prevent the pork tongue from slipping out of your hands when you try to peel it off the skin, hold it by the tip and wrap it in a paper towel.
You can learn how to clean a pork tongue from the following video.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=C0H3uvhXTjc
