Pork, Beef, Duck. How to Deliciously Cook and Easily Clean a Tongue

During the winter holidays, hostesses often boil tongue, either beef or pork. It is used as an ingredient for Olivier salad, additional meat for aspic, and a magnificent platter can be made from the tongue. The main thing is to ensure the meat is tender. Oleg Kusov, the chef, explained how to boil a tongue so that it is soft and tasty, as well as how to clean it.

— You can use different types of tongues: lamb, pork, beef, venison, even duck. Pork tongues are more commonly used, although beef tongues are also widely boiled. But lamb tongues are good too; they are very tasty.

It cannot be said that pork tongue is fatty. It is not meat; in terms of fat content, pork tongue does not exceed beef tongue. I usually make aspic at home with pork tongues.

Choosing a tongue is not difficult at all; they are all the same, frozen, just take any. The only thing is that duck tongues have a bone.

How to Boil a Tongue

Any tongue should be boiled the same way, until tender, in a very aromatic broth, but without strong boiling. You can add the following to the broth while boiling:

roasted onion,
garlic,
carrot,
celery stalks or root,
allspice (mandatory),
bay leaf,
black peppercorns.

Additionally, you can add Sichuan pepper, star anise, or cinnamon if desired.

Put all this in water, bring to a boil, and immerse the tongue in the broth. Boil until tender. The boiling time depends on the size of the tongue.

All tongues have different densities; the boiling time will vary. Beef tongue takes the longest to cook, about 2-2.5 hours. Pork will cook faster.

It should be noted that the tongue is a super strong muscle, and it needs to be boiled well.

How to Clean a Tongue

The most difficult part is not boiling the tongue, but cleaning it after boiling.

You need to clean it while it's hot, right after you take it out of the boiling water. Put on the thickest gloves, you can wear several pairs to avoid burning your hands. Turn on the cold water and start cleaning the hot tongue under cold water. This way, it will turn out perfectly beautiful and smooth.

How to Use a Tongue

I boil the tongue for aspic: I cook it together with the other meat, then clean and chop it.

You can add boiled tongue to Olivier salad or make other salads with it.

You can also make a tongue platter.

In principle, you can do everything you do with boiled meat.

You can also slice the tongue thinly, prepare a puree from chanterelles, place it on the tongue, and sprinkle a lot of black pepper. Simmer some potatoes in cream, and lay all this on top—it will turn out incredibly delicious.