Salt
Brining foods in a saltwater mixture before you cook them adds flavor, tenderness, and reduces cooking times. It is a process that is pretty simple by itself and could be very helpful if you deal with a piece of meat that is less tender than expected, like the meat I get here all the time.
Adding water to the meats
So brining my meat here is a welcome process. The end result is a very tender piece of meat, full of a very nice salty taste to it. In this particular recipe, I used beef and pork.
A bit more salt is added
Audax of Audax Artifax was our November 2012 Daring Cooks’ host, with Daring Kitchen.
Audax has brought us into the world of brining and roasting, where we brined meat and vegetables and roasted them afterwards for a delicious meal!
After about 2 hours of soaking, drain the meats from the salted water
Posting Date: November 14th, 2012
Download the printable .pdf file HERE
Note: Important Information – brining must be done in the refrigerator the salt water will not stop the growth of germs and bacteria. Also brine cannot be reused always discard it after first use. Make sure that the brine goes into the cavity of large chickens and turkeys when brining.
So for my own recipe, after I had brined the meats and drained it well, I used pretty colorful vegetables and drop everything in a pot, on the top of the stove.
Add any veggies you might have on hands, I usually go for the colors
Using a pre-mix kind of Malaysian envelop, I cooked it for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes were tenders.
Meats and veggies cooking together
Here is the mix I used. Basically, it is one cup of coconut milk, about 1/4 cup of any curry sauce you can buy in a grocery or make your own by using 3 teaspoons of curry powder or more if you like it ‘hot’, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1/4 cup of water mixed all together. One tablespoon of ‘fish sauce’ is added at the end, just before serving. The fish sauce could be replaced by ‘soya sauce’.
Drop the milk in the pan, bring it to a rolling boil, add the meats and veggies, mix well. Add the curry mix and let it cooks until all the veggies are done to your taste.
You could use any kind or make your own with what you have handy. The process of the brining stay the same.
An ordinary Malaysian curry mix was used in my recipe
Ready to have dinner, just after about 3 hours, from start to finish
Brining is the perfect way to go when dealing with harder meats on hand. The salty water will soften the meat and the ingredients added to the meats after, seem to taste better. A sure way to serve meats if you are on a budget!
