Ox Tongue
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the tongue
Soak the tongue in cold water for 2 hours if fresh from the pickle, or at least 10 hours if dried.
Choose a tongue with a smooth skin, indicating it is young.
Cook
Place the soaked tongue in a saucepan with cold water and a bunch of savoury herbs, then bring to a boil.
Remove the scum, then reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 2.5 to 3 hours for a small tongue.
Once cooked, remove the tongue, peel off the skin, trim the root, and remove any small bones or hard parts.
Shape and finish
Stand the tongue upright on a board, securing the root with a fork and stretching out the thin end, fastening the tip with another fork.
Insert a strong skewer through the thickest part into the board to keep it upright, and leave until cold.
When cold, trim neatly and brush with melted glaze.
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.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Tongue
- Its dense muscle becomes tender and sliceable after long, gentle simmering in water.
- Melted glaze
- Adds a glossy surface and flavour to the cooled tongue when brushed on.
The step that matters
Simmer until tender. Gentle simmering breaks down the tough connective tissue in the tongue. Boiling hard can toughen the meat and break the skin, so keep the liquid barely moving.
“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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