Are freshly slaughtered pork and beef the freshest and most delicious? Here’s how to choose and cook pork, it’s healthy and delicious!

Author: Xue Qingxin, member of Chinese Nutrition Society, registered dietitian, health manager, public nutritionist

Reviewer: Han Hongwei, Director and Researcher of Risk Communication Department, National Food Safety Risk Assessment Center

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Meat is an indispensable delicacy on many people's tables and is also part of a balanced diet. Eating meat in moderation not only provides us with high-quality protein, but is also very helpful for iron supplementation.

However, if the meat is not selected properly or not cooked well, it will often be dry and hard, and the taste will be bad. So what kind of meat is the most delicious? Many people believe that the meat that has just been slaughtered is the freshest and most delicious , and cooking with such meat must be delicious.

Is this really the case? How should meat be cooked to be tender and tasty?

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Cooking a meat dish may seem simple, but there is actually a lot of knowledge involved. In this article, we will focus on pork, which is the most commonly eaten meat, and talk about some tips on choosing and cooking meat, so that you can easily master it.

analyze

When is meat best to eat?

Many people believe that the meat is most delicious right after the animal is slaughtered, but this idea is really wrong. The meat is the least delicious when it is just slaughtered. The lactic acid content of the meat is the highest at this stage, and the pH value is 5.4~6.7. When the pH reaches 5.4, the muscle fibers of the animal will harden and become stiff.

Beef will go into rigor mortis about 2.5 hours after slaughter, while lamb, pork and chicken will go into rigor mortis about 1 hour after slaughter. The meat tastes bad at this time, has an unpleasant odor, is very hard after cooking, and the broth is turbid.

After the rigor mortis stage, the meat begins to ripen, also known as meat aging. Meat in the ripening stage is the most suitable for eating. At this time, the pH of the meat drops further, and the enzymes that digest protein in the muscle fibers will break down the protein tissue in the muscle, weakening the overall muscle structure and softening the meat.

Enzymes break down proteins into flavorful amino acids, convert liver glycogen into sweet glucose, convert adenosine triphosphate into delicious inosine monophosphate, and convert fat into aromatic fatty acids. This series of reactions gives the meat in the ripening stage a rich meaty and nutty flavor, and makes it soft and juicy, and delicious after cooking.

A dry film will also form on the surface of the meat to prevent the invasion of microorganisms. After slaughter, the meat can generally be cooked in 1 to 3 days at 4°C. The higher the temperature, the faster it will cook. However, if it is too long, it will enter the next stage that is not suitable for consumption, that is, the autolysis stage .

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Once the meat begins to autolyze, it means that it has gradually entered the process of deterioration. Dark green sulfide hemoglobin will form on the surface and deep layers of the muscle, accompanied by muscle fiber relaxation, which will reduce the quality of the meat and cause the internal organs to deteriorate faster.

When the deterioration is serious, it will enter the corruption stage and the meat will become smelly, sticky and green. This is the result of the combined effects of indole, sulfide, skatole, cadaverine, bacterial toxins, etc. decomposed from protein and fat, which also means it is inedible.

So, don’t think that the meat that has just been slaughtered is the most delicious. The meat that is in the mature stage is the most suitable for enjoying!

How are these common parts of meat suitable for cooking?

Different parts of pork have their own most suitable cooking methods. Only by cooking them correctly can you better taste its deliciousness and excellent taste.

Generally speaking, whether meat tastes soft or tough is closely related to the age, exercise status and body part of the animal. Young animals do not exercise much and their muscles are not strong, so the meat is tender, but there are fewer flavoring substances and the aroma is not strong. Older animals accumulate flavoring substances and grow muscles during their growth, and the collagen content in the body gradually decreases, leaving more complex protein filaments in the muscle tissue, so the taste is rich but the taste is harder.

In addition, the influence of the location is also very important. Let me briefly introduce it below:

① Tenderloin: Tenderloin is almost entirely lean meat, with a protein content of 19.6% and only 7.9% fat. It is the most tender part of the meat of pigs, cattle and sheep.

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The tenderloin is the tender meat of the animal's waist. Pigs, cattle, and sheep all stand on all fours and lower their heads to eat or nibble grass. The shoulders, neck, legs, forelimbs, chest and other parts have to exert strength. Only the muscles in the back move less, so it is the most tender.

Because the tenderloin is mainly lean meat, it is more suitable for slicing and frying, stir-frying, and boiling.

However, if the cooking time is too long, the meat will lose a lot of water and taste particularly hard. To avoid this problem, you can use starching method when cooking, such as using starch, cooking wine, egg white, etc. to marinate. During cooking, starch or egg white will form a protective shell to prevent the loss of water in the meat, making it taste more tender. You can also pre-treat it with tenderizer powder or pineapple juice, papaya juice, kiwi juice, etc. for about 20 minutes. They contain enzymes that digest protein, that is, proteases, which can break down the muscle structure and tenderize the meat.

②Pork tenderloin: The main feature is that it is mostly lean meat, but mixed with a trace of fat. It is the meat of the neck between the front shoulder and the front leg of the pig. It is slightly older than the tenderloin.

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Because of the marbled texture, it is more suitable for pan-frying. When frying meat, it will make an appetizing sizzling sound, which is actually the sound of water evaporating from the meat when it touches the hot surface of the pan.

During the frying process, the surface of the meat will turn brown and emit an attractive aroma. It is important to turn the heat down immediately after the surface of the meat turns brown to avoid the outside of the meat being burnt before the inside is cooked.

③Pork belly: It has clear layers of fat and lean meat. It is the meat from the pig's belly. The protein content is lower than that of tenderloin, only 7.7%, but the fat content is as high as 35.3%. If you want to lose weight, you should eat less.

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Pork belly is divided into upper pork belly and lower pork belly. The part connected to the pig ribs is the upper pork belly . It has thick fat, less lean meat, and a greasy taste, making it suitable for chopping into stuffing . The part connected to the pig's belly is the lower pork belly . It looks like three layers of pork belly, with relatively more lean meat and a not very greasy taste, making it suitable for making Dongpo pork, braised pork, twice-cooked pork, etc.

④ Pork leg: Relatively speaking, it has more lean meat and less fat. Because the legs are used for walking and supporting the weight of the entire pig, the front leg meat is older and has more tendons, while the hind leg meat has less tendons than the front leg. Both are more suitable for making stewed dishes or braised meat. The front leg can also be used to make meatballs or stuffing, and the hind leg can be used to make the famous Jinhua ham.

For large and tough meat, slow cooking can be used. If you want the meat to be tender and juicy, the cooking time must be long, usually 1 to 2 hours. The key is to cook it slowly over low heat. Slow cooking helps the enzymes tenderize the meat and increase the flavor. When cooling, the meat should also be cooled in the soup. The meat will absorb some of the soup, making it delicious and juicy.

How to choose a good piece of meat?

People often wonder: There are all kinds of pork on the market, how can we buy high-quality pork? It is not difficult to buy good pork. There are mainly 6 points:

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① Look at the color: The muscle of healthy pork is bright red or dark red with a luster, and the fat is milky white or pinkish white. The muscle of dead pork is dark red or even purple, and the fat is abnormal in color.

② Look at the skin: The skin of healthy pork is uniform in color, without spots or bruises. However, dead pork often has purple spots or large patches of dark red, or even lumps or rashes.

③ Press: The meat of healthy pork is elastic, and the sunken part can be restored immediately after pressing with fingers. However, the meat of dead pork is not elastic, and cannot be restored after pressing, and a large amount of dark red liquid oozes out.

④ Look at the viscosity: The surface of healthy pork is slightly dry and does not stick to the touch, while diseased pork may be sticky and the cross-section may appear to be tofu-like.

⑤ Smell: The smell of healthy pork is normal fresh meat. After boiling, the broth is clear and transparent, with fat gathered on the surface of the liquid and a pork aroma. However, dead pork has a bloody smell, a rancid smell, and other peculiar smells, and the broth is turbid.

⑥ Check the lymph nodes: The lymph nodes of healthy pork are normal in size, while those of dead pork are enlarged.

In addition, you also need to be careful about "rice pork", also called "pox pork", which refers to pork infected with cysticercosis, a white, mung bean-sized parasite that lives in the connective tissue of muscle fibers, which is the thick white film on the surface of the meat.

in conclusion

Meat is not the freshest and most delicious when it is just slaughtered. On the contrary, the lactic acid content of meat just slaughtered is the highest, and it will be in a state of rigor mortis. At this time, the taste and smell of the meat are not good. After cooking, it is also very hard and the broth is turbid. Meat in the post-ripening stage is the most suitable for enjoying. The meat in the post-ripening stage has a strong meaty and nutty flavor, and is soft and juicy. It tastes delicious after cooking.

There are some tips for choosing meat and cooking it. Once you understand it, you will become a meat cooking master in seconds. However, although meat is delicious, don't eat it in excess. According to the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents", it is recommended to eat 300 to 500 grams of livestock and poultry meat per week.

References:

[1] Sun Changhao. Nutrition and Food Hygiene 7th Edition[M]. People's Medical Publishing House. 2017:45

[2] Harold Mackey, Food and Cooking: Milk, Eggs, Meat, Fish. Translated by Lin Huizhen. Beijing Fine Arts Photography Publishing House. August 2013.

[3] Yang Yuexin. Chinese Food Composition Table 6th Edition Volume 2[M]. Peking University Medical Press, 2018

[4]http://www.ipraction.gov.cn/article/zskt/sjbj/yjsp/202004/175860.html

[5] Chinese Nutrition Society. Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents[M]. People's Medical Publishing House. 2022

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