Beef Tea
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the beef into small squares or mince.
Make the broth
Place the beef in a clean stewpan with cold water and bring to a boil.
Remove the scum that rises to the surface with a spoon.
Add a small amount of salt and cold water at the edge of the stewpan to help with skimming.
Simmer gently for about 30 minutes until reduced by half.
Strain the broth through a clean sieve into a basin.
Serve
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
- Fresh lean beef
- Provides the meat flavour and dissolves into the liquid to give the broth its body.
- Cold water
- Extracts flavour and gelatin from the beef slowly as it heats and simmers.
The step that matters
Removing the scum. Scum is coagulated protein and impurities that rise as the liquid heats. Skimming it as it forms keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting, so it should be taken off promptly rather than left to cook back in.
“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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