10 tips for perfect stew: where things often go wrong
An ordinary portion of fries with sour beef stew or a fancy boeuf bourguignon: butter-soft stewed meat is truly the kind of comforting dish that can get you through winter. But sometimes it doesn’t work out, the meat stays tough and it never falls apart. What are you doing wrong?
#1: You’re using the wrong method
There are two ways to make your meat deliciously tender: by stewing it for a long time at a low temperature, or by adding something acidic to your stew. Something acidic could be a generous splash of red wine, but also vinegar, apple juice or a glass of cola (yes, seriously, it’s very acidic!). Keep the temperature below 90 degrees, for example in a slow cooker or over a low flame on your gas stove. An occasional bubble in the sauce is a good sign.
#2: You’re choosing the wrong meat
For a stew, you usually use beef, lamb or game, certain cuts of pork. Stewing chicken? Don’t do it for too long, because then it will completely fall apart. If you take the meat out of the freezer, let it thaw in the fridge for a day before processing it further.
#3: You cut away those white bits
This is the secret to perfect stew: the connective tissue in the meat needs to be converted into gelatin. That gives your stew its butter-soft texture. Connective tissue is those white veins running through the meat, such as a thick white stripe in pieces of blade steak, or the wisps and flaps you see on stewing meat. So don’t start cutting them off neurotically (fat! Yuck!), because they’ll melt away completely and make your stew deliciously rich and tender.
#4: You forget to brown it first
Grandma always dusted the meat with a little flour and then briefly browned it. Of course, you don’t have to, but if you sear the meat before stewing it, you’ll get a deeper flavour and a darker sauce. And the flour on the meat helps create a thicker sauce.
#5: You add the wine cold
Whether you’re stewing in cola, wine, stock or another liquid: add it warm to the meat. This prevents the sauce from suddenly cooling down considerably, meaning you’ll have to wait a long time for everything to come back up to temperature and for the actual stewing to begin. A good trick: pour it over the meat along the inside of the pan, so it warms up on the way down.
#6: You’re using too little liquid
Add enough liquid; the meat should be completely submerged in your pan. Check occasionally that everything is still covered and otherwise add a little extra stock.
#7: You stew in beer
Want to stew in beer? Only add the beer towards the end of the cooking time. Beer turns bitter if you let it simmer for too long.
#8: You remove the lid from the pan
Close the pan with a lid, or cover your stew with a layer of aluminium foil. Stewing on the gas stove works well, but it works even better in the oven. If you have a slow cooker at home, you’re truly the king of stewing, because it works perfectly.
#9: You’re using the wrong pan
The best way to stew is in one of those extremely heavy cast-iron pans. If you don’t have one at home, use your gravy pan and place a flame diffuser underneath it—you know, that strange little plate your grandma always had in the kitchen too. The simmer plate, exactly!
#10: You have no patience
The longer you stew, the more delicious your stew will become. So allow a few hours for it. In a hurry? Hello, that’s what the pressure cooker was invented for: rendang in forty-five minutes—it can be done!
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- Snackspert is wildly enthusiastic: a stuffed bara with curried chicken like this is simply amazing
Source: Vlees.nl
