A TikTok food content creator has revealed the correct way to make minced meat so the flavours are well mixed without adding extra ingredients. You’ll thank him later.
Minced meat is a staple in many popular dishes, used when making spaghetti Bolognese to cottage pies, but did you know there’s a way to elevate the flavour of the dish without the need to add unnecessary extra ingredients?
According to TikTok food content creator Alex, you’ve been cooking your minced meat wrong this entire time and missed on the hidden flavours. This one cooking method can also be used for any dish.
Under the username @cookeslasheat, Alex wrote: “How to cook ground beef the correct way for literally any dish. Please do this, you will thank me.” He then explained that every time he sees someone cooking minced meat in the wrong way, he gets “horrified”.
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As per his explanation, people aren’t browning their meat for long enough, which affects its flavour. He added, “The point of browning your meat before you add your veg or whatever you’re putting in is to introduce something called the Maillard reaction.”
In the video clip, Alex said that the Maillard reaction is a “chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars to create melanoidins, the compounds which give browned food its distinctive flavour.” By doing so, it caramelises and also adds flavour to the dish.
Sharing his cooking method, he said: “Instead of throwing your veg into some grey, boiled meat, start with a medium hot pan, throw it in, break it up as you normally would […].” The chef said that if you add the vegetables when the pink bits have disappeared, it would feel like eating a “grey steak”.
“Instead, what you want to do is let it go for slightly longer,” he added. “Flavour is not a race, people. It’s lovingly crafted, it’s delicious. You’ve taken your time with it.”
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When cooking the minced meat, you’re “rendering the fat”. Also, the leftover juice shouldn’t be thrown away. Alex explained that if you’re “not rendering it properly, all you’re pouring away is the water that comes out of the meat as it’s heated up.”
“The fat is still in there, and you’re just pouring away your flavour.” Doing this affects the overall flavour of the minced meat and the overall dish. Instead, it’s best to fry it until you see brown flecks on the meat, which he explained to be “literally pure, concentrated flavour”.
Alex concluded: “Don’t worry about overcooking. Mince meat is made with the toughest cuts of meat so it can cook for a while.” By following this simple advice, experienced and non-experienced chefs will be making the most flavourful minced meat, because you’ve “rendered it”.