How to boil meat for cooking stew and other Nigerian food.
There are different kinds of meat we use for cooking Nigerian foods. The meat that’s mostly used is beef. Beef is used when cooking Nigerian soups, Nigerian stews, and even sauces. There is a proper way of boiling meats especially beef for cooking.
There is also
a way you boil beef and it takes longer than normal to soften and cook.
The way we boil meats for Nigerian stew is different from meats for Nigerian soup. The ingredients are different for stew and soup.
Seasoning meats with too much spices and seasoning can be unhealthy and bad fattening. Adding garlic and ginger properly not only enhances the taste of our meats but makes the cooking healthier and safer for the whole family. The spices I add sometimes to my boiled stew meats are a little thyme and Nigerian curry powder. They do wonders when used sparingly without overpowering the meats.
Below is the video of how I combine garlic and ginger to steam meats for stew.
HOW TO BOIL STEW MEAT WITH GARLIC AND GINGER
First, let me explain a little on how to boil meats with ginger and garlic for tomato stew. Boiling meat with garlic and ginger for a stew can be a bit tricky. Too much garlic in boiled meat can overpower other ingredients and make the stew taste too garlicky. When garlic is used minimally in combination with onion and ginger, the tomato stew turns out really delicious.
I am updating this post today July 28, 2020, by adding a video of how to boil beef with garlic and ginger for stew.
Watch this video of me combining ingredients and boiling beef with garlic and ginger from scratch.
You can watch on YouTube and subscribe to enable you to get notifications from our channel. The boiled meat gave us the best Nigerian tomato stew as always. Finger licking stew because these are the ingredients that actually give the best taste in cooked meats if combined in the right proportion.
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PROPER WAY TO BOIL BEEF FOR NIGERIAN COOKING:
- Put washed beef in a pot with no water. The beef cooks best in its juices. Adding water at the beginning of cooking will make the beef to toughen and take longer to cook. For other meats and fish, we add water at the beginning of cooking but not beef. Cow meat has to boil and begin to dry up before any other water is needed.
- Only a few ingredients are needed when boiling beef. Acidic ingredients like fresh peppers and tomatoes are not needed at the beginning of beef cooking, they tend to harden and make the meat take longer to cook. Many boil beef with pepper and that may not be the best method for this kind of meat. Peppers and tomatoes should come in later in the cooking.
- The ingredients needed to boil beef are just salt and onion. If the beef is for making stew, like Nigerian tomato stews, I add garlic and ginger as shown in the video I posted above. Some people argue that salt at the beginning is not the best too. Why I add salt at the begging is to ensure that it penetrates the meat while cooking. My meat has to taste good and well-seasoned to enable me to eat because I’m not a meat lover. Without salt in the meat, it tastes really bland. Salt and onion are the most important ingredients needed for boiling meats when you cook Nigerian meals.
- Depending on what the beef and its stock will be used for, you can add the other ingredients after it boils. If you are going to use it for tomato stews, there is really no need for other proteins like stockfish or dried fish. Kpomo can be added because we love kpomo (Cow skin) in Nigerian stews. After beef cooks tender, it can be added to the fried tomatoes to make Nigerian tomato stews.
- When boiling beef for making Nigerian soups, the first ingredients to add are still salt and onion. Onion adds flavour and helps soften the beef faster. Beef boiled for Nigerian soups is made richer by the addition of other ingredients like crayfish, dried fish, stockfish, smoked fish, and whatever ingredient needed depending on the type of Nigerian soup being cooked. Beef boiled with the right quantity of salt and onion can be served and enjoyed Gonce it’s cooked tender.
FINAL MEAT BOILING TIPS:
Generally, even though some people add water to wash beef before cooking, it doesn’t affect the taste but takes longer to get meat tender. The best practice when meat is boiled for Nigerian cooking is to just wash, season, and boil in low heat. Bringing beef to a quick boil doesn’t really help.
- Washed beef should be allowed to cook in low heat and simmer first of all as that opens up the meats and allows the juices to simmer into the pot. Beef stock tastes better when it’s cooked in low heat. Even chicken too. Chicken stock tastes better when it is seasoned and allowed to cook slowly in low simmering heat.
Boiling chicken to get very tasty stock is almost the same method as beef but for chicken, it’s best for us to add water at the beginning of cooking.
HOW TO BOIL MEAT: SECRET REVEALED
If you know how to boil meats for cooking Nigerian food, your cooking will always be a hit. We use stock from boiled meats, so, if the meats are not properly seasoned and boiled, the result won’t taste that great. The taste of Nigerian cooking starts with the stock.
The stock gives the base for almost all of our cooking. If you get the beef stock right, your Nigerian soup or stew will turn out very delicious. If you get the stock wrong or salty or too spicy, that will definitely affect the taste of whatever it is you are cooking.
This is how we boil meat, especially beef for Nigerian cooking. Do you boil your beef differently? What is the most important ingredient you can’t do without when you boil beef?
Please share. For me, the most important ingredient when I boil beef is onion and salt. With these two ingredients. I can eat my beef when it’s tender without needing any more ingredients.
ALSO, SEE:
HOW TO COOK CRUNCHY PEPPERED SNAILS
10 INGREDIENTS FOR GOOD NIGERIAN TOMATO STEW