We have spent the past months explaining how to grow the best
crops and produce quality meat, eggs and milk from your livestock.
Today, we share with you the various ways of cooking those choice meat cuts that cattle, poultry, sheep and goats offer.
Beef
The
best beef cuts come from ribs, brisket, short loin, sirloin, round,
chuck, flank and plate. There are various methods of preparing the
different cuts.
The beef rib cut is classified into rib
eye steak and rib steak from the small end, both of which are suitable
for broiling or pan-frying.
Rib eye roast and rib roast
from the small end are suitable for roasting. Back ribs are best
braised – that is, cooked in liquid – and rib roast from large end is
excellent for roasting.
The brisket cut is classified into corned brisket and brisket
that are both best braised. The short loin cut is categorised into
T-bone steak and tenderloin, both suitable cuts for roasting or
broiling.
Then there is the boneless tenderloin steak,
porterhouse steak and tenderloin steak, all of which are excellent for
broiling, pan-broiling or pan-frying.
Sirloin cut is
categorised into sirloin steak, flat bone, round bone and top sirloin
steak, all of which are best braised, pan-broiled or pan-fried.
Round
cut is classified into boneless rump roast, bottom round roast, top
round roast, eye round roast, tip roast, cap off, round steak, tip steak
and top round steak, which are excellent for roasting or braising.
Chuck
cut, on the other hand, is classified into cross rib pot roast, arm rib
pot roast, boneless shoulder pot roast, boneless top blade steak, under
blade pot roast, flank style ribs, blade roast, short ribs and chuck
eye roast, all of which are suitable for braising.
Flank
and short plate cuts are classified into flank steak, skirt steak and
flank steak rolls, which are best broiled, braised or pan-fried.
Some
of the preferred beef cuts for broiling are filet mignon steak, strip
loin, steak, rib-eye steak, top butt sirloin steak, chuck tender steak
and top round steak.
Grilling and broiling refer to a
similar cooking process but with one difference. When grilling, the heat
source is below, as with a barbecue grill, but in broiling, the heat
source is above. Both grilling and broiling involve intense direct heat.
Some of the preferred beef cuts for stewing are boneless chuck, heel of round, flank steak, top rib, shin of beef, and plate.
Stewing
is a long, slow method of cooking where meat is cut into pieces and
boiled in water, stock or sauce. The food and cooking liquid are served
together.
Best cuts for braising are top round, top sirloin, chuck shoulder, bottom round, chuck blade steak, flank steak and short ribs.
Braising
is frying food lightly and then stewing it slowly in a closed
container. Some of the preferred beef cuts for pan-frying are top round
steak, top sirloin steak, shoulder steak, chicken steak, bottom round
steak, eye round steak and flank steak.
Compared to
shallow frying and deep frying, little oil, just enough to lubricate the
pan, is used in pan-frying. In the case of fatty food, no cooking oil
or fat is added.
Preferred beef cuts for pot roasts are centre-cut chuck, chuck shoulder, rump roast, bottom round, top rib, brisket and plate.
Pot
roasting is cooking meat slowly in a covered dish. A braised beef dish
is made by browning a piece of beef before slow-cooking it in a covered
dish.
Other beef cuts include ground/minced beef that
is best broiled, pan-fried, pan-broiled, roasted or baked and cubed
steak that is best braised, broiled, pan-broiled or pan-fried
Veal
Veal
is calf meat. The rib and loin sections of a calf are divided into chop
and roast cuts. The hind legs are tender enough for roasts.
Cuts
from the neck, shoulder, breast, chuck and shanks are less tender,
hence require moist-heat cooking methods. Arm steak, loin chop, rib
chop, blade steak and leg cutlets are best braised or pan-fried; riblet
is best braised.
Pork
Preferred
pork steaks and chops suitable for pan-frying are centre-cut loin chop,
centre-cut rib chop, loin end chop, fresh ham steak, shoulder arm steak
and blade pork steak. Chops are one of the most familiar pork cuts.
They
can be prepared by pan-broiling, grilling, broiling, roasting, sautéing
or braising. Thin chops are best sautéed while thicker chops can be
grilled, roasted, braised or pan-broiled.
Chops are classified into sirloin, centre-cut loin, blade steak, pork rib, pork loin chop and boneless pork sirloin chop.
Pork
tenderloins are among the leanest cuts of pork. The ribs are commonly
used for barbecue meals and are excellent for slow-roasting or braising.
Pork roast is a large cut of pork from the loin, leg,
shoulder or tenderloin; it can be roasted in the oven, barbecued over
indirect heat or braised in an oven.
Lamb
The
best lean lamb cuts include the rump, steak, shoulder and leg. If cut
thin enough, lamb loin chops, ground/minced lamb, rib chops and sirloin
chops can be pan-fried.
Roasting is suitable for the
boneless lamb shoulder and boneless loin roast. For braising, stewing
and moist cooking, shanks, leg and shoulder chops are the most
preferred.
Chicken
Chicken
can either be used as a whole bird or divided into cuts. Common chicken
cuts include wings, breast, thighs and drumsticks.
Other
chicken parts are the giblets that include the liver, heart, gizzard
and neck. Wings can be broken down further into three parts, namely,
wing tip, winglette and wing drumette.
The chicken
breast is a lean cut from the pectoral muscle on the chicken underside. A
whole chicken has one chicken breast with two halves, usually separated
during the butchering process. The chicken breast can further be broken
down and the tenderloins (fillets) removed.
The breast is the healthiest chicken part; it is white meat and has less cholestoral than dark parts (legs and wings).
The
chicken leg can be broken down into the thigh and drumstick; the legs
are split at the knee joint to separate the thigh from the drumstick.
The
whole bird can be used for chicken stock making; it can also be roasted
or grilled. Chicken breast can be stir-fried, marinated and grilled,
pan-fried or oven roasted.
The breasts can also be baked or poached and used in sandwiches and salads or shredded and put into soups.
Tenderloins
are more tender than the whole breast and are good for baking or
grilling. Chicken thigh meat has a little more fat than the breast.
The
thigh fillets can be stir-fried or baked. When the thigh and drumstick
are not separated, this part is great for roasting and baking and can
also be barbequed or grilled.
The wings and drumsticks are great baked in a marinade. Chicken giblets can be used to make gravy, stuffing or soup.
Lower fat meat cuts
To achieve a healthy diet, choosing lean meat cuts and following guidelines for reduced fat cooking, are recommended.
To achieve a healthy diet, choosing lean meat cuts and following guidelines for reduced fat cooking, are recommended.
The lower fat meat cuts include round tip, top round, eye of round, top loin, tenderloin and sirloin for beef.
For
pork, tenderloin, boneless top loin chop, lean cured ham and centre
loin chops are the lean cuts. Skinless chicken breast, skinless chicken
leg, skinless turkey dark meat and skinless turkey leg are the
recommended lean cuts from the poultry category. Lamb loin chop and leg
are the lean cut options.
Reducing fat content in meat
Keep
your meat selections lean. Trim all visible fat and let the remainder
drip off during cooking. When you prepare meat, broil, grill, bake or
roast on a rack.
Buy skinless poultry or remove skin
before cooking; this greatly reduces fat content. Remove fat from stews
and soups by chilling them and skimming the hardened fat from the top.
Do
not fry. The coating of breadcrumbs on chicken soaks up fat and after
frying, you are less likely to remove this coating before eating the
meat. The margarine and butter used on broiled food also increases fat
content of meat.
Tenderise lean cuts of meat by cooking
them in liquid or marinate them before cooking. Pounding, grinding and
slicing across the grain also helps.
Ms Ndungi works in the Department of Human Nutrition, Egerton University.
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