Cooked to submission
Braising turns tough cuts of meat into tender dinner
You may recall we first broached the topic of braising about 10 years back. Today, a little refresher. Heed its lessons, and practice its tenets, and soon you’ll be thinking, “Well, who knows what fresh hell the future may bring, but, sweet mother of pearl, at least I can braise a piece of meat.” WHY YOU NEED TO LEARN THIS: The braising method is designed to take tough (read “cheap”) cuts of meat and render them moist and tender. Plus, the rich velvety sauce that is its natural byproduct will make you glad our ancestors evolved tongues.
THE STEPS YOU TAKE: In a nutshell, braising combines a quick sear of a large hunk of meat with a longer, slow simmering in a flavorful liquid.
Conveniently, cooking follows the laws of the universe, just like everything else in the universe, no matter what the science-averse like loudly and confoundingly to aver. This means that everything that happens in the kitchen happens because it has to happen, given what you’ve done to the food. Dig?
The more you know about the composition of your food, and the more you understand how the forces of nature (heat!) affect that composition, the more likely your actual outcomes will align with your desired outcomes.
Meat comes from muscle, and the more exercise a muscle gets, the tougher its meat will be. This has to do largely
(though not completely) with tough connective tissue. Muscles that get a lot of exercise must be more securely tethered with a connective tissue called “collagen.”
In the kitchen, we love collagen. When heated slowly, it breaks down into gelatin and water. In a braise, that gelatin gives the braising liquid body and mouthfeel. The longer the braise, the lovelier that mouthfeel and the more tender the meat, since there’s less collagen holding it together. You know the phrase, “falling-off-the-bone tender”? This is where it comes from.
Braising is not for every cut of meat. There’s no reason to braise a chicken breast or a pork tenderloin because they’re already tender. Tougher cuts, though, benefit greatly from a braise.
And the thing is, once you understand the method, you can braise anything that needs it: a beef brisket, a veal shank, anything.
Deliciously painless braises
Think Italian, and braise pork shoulder in your favorite simple tomato sauce. To serve, augment the sauce with sauteed mushrooms, onions and peppers.
Do a variation of the Belgian stew called carbonade, and caramelize some julienned onions in your stockpot before braising a beef chuck roast in a Belgian ale. Or turn it Irish with some Guinness Extra Stout.
Go French with coq au vin: Braise an 8-cut chicken in red wine, then augment the strained, thickened sauce with precooked pearl onions, mushrooms and bacon.