Fast Ed: Secret cheap cut that ‘really delivers flavour’

WANT more flavour in the meat you cook and eat? There is an inexpensive meat that is a cut above anything else, Fast Ed writes.

• Fast Ed says think of the environment and cook mackerel

WANT more flavour in the meat you cook and eat? The first step is to choose a cut that can really deliver, because there is a linear relationship between the amount an animal uses any one of its muscles, and the intensity of flavour that muscle will develop.

Much of the taste-quality you’ll find in meat is triggered by the production of lactic acid in the muscle. But this means you must keep in mind that there is a side effect to this additional flavour. Because as anyone who plays sport knows, lactic acid hurts. It’s the soreness you feel after a workout. But just as your muscles get stronger through exercise, they also get tougher. In animals reared for meat this results in reduced tenderness when we cook them.

So, while prime cuts come from parts of the carcass that are less used, the tastier ones come from muscles utilised all through the day. Legs for walking, cheeks for chewing, necks for keeping heavy heads up, chest muscles for breathing.

At home with Ed Halmagyi at Bilgola Plateau

Each of these may need special culinary attention to make them delicate, but they start with the real advantage of being truly delicious.

In the world of pork, there are a variety of these secondary cuts that can help make cooking rewarding, but one of the best, least known and cheapest is the hock. This is the smaller bottom part of the leg, just above the trotter. The hock has a relatively small amount of meat for its size, as there is plenty of bone, cartilage and connective tissue, but given the price point this really doesn’t matter. You simply serve a whole hock for each person.

Like most secondary cuts, the process is going to take longer. To transform those tough muscles into tenderness is a chemical process that combines time and temperature. A minimum of three hours is required (often longer) and the heat needs to be maintained at a point that allows the connective tissues to break down, but without the muscle fibre drying out. Around 140C is a good rule of thumb.

fast-ed.com.au

Crispby pork hock.

CRISPY PORK HOCK WITH EASY PICKLED CARROTS

Serves 4

1 bunch rosemary

1 bunch tarragon

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil + 1 Tbsp

1½ cups cider vinegar

4 pork hocks

sea salt flakes and freshly-ground black pepper

500g carrots

250g purple carrots

¼ cup caster sugar

2 Tbsp salt

6 cloves garlic, sliced

½ bunch thyme sprigs

green beans, to serve

Method

1 Preheat oven to 220C. Combine the rosemary, tarragon, ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil and 1 Tbsp vinegar in a blender and purée until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve. Load into a meat syringe and inject into the pork hocks.

2 Score the pork, rub with the remaining olive oil and season with salt. Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to 140C and bake for 3 hours. Increase the heat to 220C and bake for a final 10 minutes.

3 Meanwhile, peel and slice the carrots, then combine in a glass jar with the garlic, thyme and 1 tsp black peppercorns. Heat the remaining vinegar with the sugar and salt, pour over, then cover and set aside for at least 2 hours. Serve with the roasted hocks.