Salted lard is a masterpiece of Ukrainian culinary thought
Not only fresh lard is subjected to salting, butand boiled, so you can diversify your diet with different versions of this dish. Surprisingly, properly salted lard is almost a dietary product, since it is almost impossible to gain weight from it. Salted Ukrainian lard can be served as a separate snack, or used later for preparing a variety of pasty snacks and even as a component during the preparation of Ukrainian borscht. The best recipes for salting this product were passed down by Ukrainian housewives from mother to daughter, so this dish has passed through the centuries and currently has a lot of fans among lovers of Ukrainian cuisine. The main thing in the matter of salting is to adhere to the recipe and the subtleties of choosing the main ingredients so that the result is truly unsurpassed.
How to choose the right fat and salt for salting according to Ukrainian recipes?
To get the perfect picklelard, it is very important to choose the most important ingredient. There are several criteria for choosing this product, including its quality, freshness and, of course, the presence or absence of a meat layer. It is worth noting right away that both lard with a meat layer and that which does not undergo salting. In this case, everything depends on individual preferences, but if the dish is planned to be used as an appetizer, it is worth paying attention to the one that has a meat layer, although it is usually more expensive due to the peculiarities of raising pigs to obtain such lard. It is very important that the lard is fresh, since old lard acquires an unpleasant taste after salting. So, when buying lard, you need to carefully examine it, it should have a pink or yellow crust without any wool residue, that is, carefully processed. The color of the lard itself should be light pink or white, but in no case bluish or purple. If you buy lard without a meat layer, it must be at least 4-5 cm thick. If you buy lard with a layer, a 2 cm layer of pure lard is allowed, and then mixed layers of meat and lard. In addition, a good product for salting should not have foreign smells and tastes. Usually, only the product obtained from old or sick pigs, as well as adult boars, has an unpleasant smell, and sometimes smells strongly of urine, so it is better not to buy such. Fresh, beautiful lard without foreign smells - this is exactly what you need to prepare the perfect snack according to traditional Ukrainian recipes. Salt - this is the second most important ingredient needed for salting, and not every salt is suitable for this business. There is currently a great variety of salts on the market, with varying degrees of processing and even with the addition of additional components, such as iodine, but such processed salt is not the best option for salting. In order for the lard to be saturated with salt throughout the entire depth of the piece, it is very important that the salt melts slowly, because the time for which the main ingredient needs to be placed in the salt is quite long. Considering this undoubtedly important parameter for salt, we have to admit that the best option would be ordinary rock salt that has undergone a minimum of processing.
The easiest way to pickle bacon
So, first of all, you need to cutlard so that the pieces are no more than 4-5 cm wide and about 8-10 cm long. Such piece sizes will allow the lard to be well salted in a fairly short time. Next, you need to prepare the spices for salting. As a rule, for regular salting, garlic or red pepper, salt and no other ingredients are used. Garlic or red chili pepper, depending on what was decided to use, must be thoroughly ground, for which you can use a blender, and thoroughly mix the resulting mass with salt, do not worry if the composition turns out to be somewhat wet - this is quite normal for salting. It is best to salt in a glass container, any other will not work, since a reaction is possible, therefore, first, 2-3 mm of the prepared spice mixture must be poured onto the bottom of a suitable container, so that later you can put pieces of lard on it. Before placing the lard in the salting dish, it is necessary to rub it thoroughly with the spice mixture, and on all sides. It is necessary to ensure that the lard is completely covered with salt, otherwise it will not be salted. Next, the prepared pieces need to be placed in the salting dish, but so that they are placed tightly to each other. Sprinkle the lard with the remaining spice mixture on top. Next, cover the dish in which the product is salted with a lid and place it in a dark place for 2-3 days so that the dish is well saturated with salt. When the required time has passed, you need to take out the lard and carefully scrape off excess salt from the sides. It is strongly not recommended to leave the lard in salt for long-term storage, as it quickly loses its taste and becomes old and suitable only for cooking various dishes on it, for example, frying potatoes.
Salted lard with herbs in Ukrainian
In order for the lard to eventually turn outsofter and had a spicy taste, Ukrainian housewives include some herbs in the spices for salting lard. But you need to properly prepare the plant components so that they give the desired effect. So, for high-quality salting of lard, you will need garlic, dill, cumin, marjoram and cardamom. All herbal ingredients are needed exclusively in dried form. In order to achieve the desired result, it is best to grind the herbs in a mortar or blender. Garlic also needs to be chopped for adding to the spices. All spices need to be mixed in proportions for 3 cups of salt 1 cup of chopped dry herbs. The spice mixture should be set aside for several days so that the salt is soaked and only then can you start salting the lard. The lard needs to be prepared for salting, that is, cut into small pieces for further placement in a glass container. As in the first case, a small layer of salt should be poured onto the bottom of the dish, and the remaining spices should be poured on top. The closed container with the salted dish should be placed in a dark, cool place for 3 days, after which you need to clean off the excess salt and enjoy the delicious spicy lard.
Salt of cooked fat according to Ukrainian recipe
Salted boiled lard is certainly not thatdurable as fresh and cannot be stored for more than 7 days, but this version of cooking this dish is worth it to be cooked. For this method of salting, you should not take ingredients by eye. For 0.5 kg of lard, you will need 5-6 tablespoons of salt, bay leaf, dill, a few cloves of garlic, onion peel. To prepare boiled salted lard, it is better to take a product with a meat layer, it will turn out much tastier. First, you need to boil water and add a large amount of onion peel to it, this is necessary so that the final dish acquires a beautiful golden hue. Next, you need to put all the herbal spices and, of course, salt in the water. Lastly, put the chopped lard in the water. The water should completely cover the pieces, otherwise the lard will be salted unevenly. Do not be afraid that the final dish will turn out too salty, since with this method of preparation, exactly the amount needed for optimal salting is absorbed. The optimal time for cooking lard for salting is 15-20 minutes, after which it should be removed from the water and rubbed with pepper. The finished dish prepared in this way should not be stored for a long time, as it will spoil, in addition, it is not recommended to freeze it, as this will affect the taste.
Small fineness of salting salad
No matter how we salt the lard,First of all, you need to prepare this product. Few people know that lard bought at the market should not be washed before salting, it needs to be scraped with a knife. This is a rather painstaking process, but this is the only way to get rid of all the contaminants, because fat can absorb many substances with which it came into contact, and it is simply impossible to wash lard well with water. The product is scraped until the upper loose layer is removed. Only carefully prepared lard can be salted well, so it is worth paying special attention to this. Housewives make a big mistake by adding a large amount of garlic to the spices. This ingredient, of course, makes the product more delicious, but still, excessive spiciness is not necessary. Everything should be in moderation, so it is recommended to add no more than 2-3 cloves to the spices. Some try to replace garlic with black pepper, which is almost pointless, since this ingredient is more needed to add smell than taste. Traditional salting recipes allow you to get ideal salted lard, so in this case there is little point in experimenting, since these recipes have been tested for centuries.
