How to Make Beef-tea
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the beef
Cut the beef into half-inch square pieces, removing all fat.
Place the beef in a brown-necked jar with cold water and let it soak for 1 hour.
Cook
Add salt and place the jar in a saucepan of hot water, boiling for 1 hour.
Ensure no water enters the jar, keeping it nearly up to the neck.
Strain and serve
Pour the beef-tea through a fine strainer.
Serve hot in a small teacup with dry toast cut into dice, and season with pepper and salt.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Shin of beef
- Provides the main flavour and body, as its gelatin and juices dissolve into the water during long gentle cooking.
- Cold water
- Acts as the cooking liquid that slowly extracts the beef's juices and flavour without toughening the meat.
The step that matters
Keep the water out of the jar. Water entering the jar dilutes the beef tea and washes out its concentrated flavour, so the jar must stay nearly up to the neck while it cooks in the outer pan.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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