Beef Tea
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the beef
Cut the beef into small squares or mince, removing all fat.
Make the broth
Place the beef in a clean stewpan with cold water and bring to a boil.
Skim off the scum that rises to the surface. Add a small amount of cold water at the edge of the stewpan to help with skimming.
Simmer for about 30 minutes until reduced by half.
Strain and serve
Strain the broth through a clean sieve or napkin into a basin.
Serve in a cup with dry toast 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.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Lean beef
- Provides the meat flavour and dissolves into the liquid as the broth simmers.
- Cold water
- Extracts flavour and gelatin from the beef slowly as it heats and simmers.
The step that matters
Skimming the scum. Scum is coagulated protein and impurities that rise as the liquid heats. Removing it as it forms keeps the broth clear and less cloudy. Adding a little cold water at the edge helps the scum rise and separate.
“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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