Tuesday, February 07th 2012

Biltong Recipe

500 grams very lean beef
2 tbsp sea salt
2 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, very finely chopped
1 tsp dry red chilli flakes
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp coriander seed, freshly toasted and ground
3 tbsp malt vinegar

Cut the beef into long steaks about 1 inch thick along the grain. Trim any fat, silverside, gristle, and nerves--very important.

Mix the salt, sugar, garlic, coriander, pepper, turmeric and chilli together. Sprinkle a layer of this mixture into a large clean glass baking dish, then add the meat. Cover the meat evenly with the remaining spice mix, rubbing it in well. Add the vinegar, sprinkling it evenly over both sides of the meat, then rub it in. Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours, turning the meat and rubbing in the mixture again after 2 hours.

Remove the meat from the dish. Shake off any loose seasoning and carefully pat dry with white kitchen paper. Hang each strip of biltong individually from a hook, using a piece of string. Leave it to dry in a warm, dry place for at least four days - longer is fine. It will become harder and drier the longer you leave it.

You can dry biltong completely using a very low oven. Hang the meat from the top shelf with the oven on its lowest setting. If you think it may be too hot, leave the oven door slightly open. Alternatively, if the weather permits - i.e. if it’s hot, dry and sunny with a good flow of air - the biltong can be fully dried outside. When finished, the biltong should be so dry that it will splinter when bent in two.

Store the biltong wrapped in waxed paper. It will keep for 2-3 weeks when semi-dried and for up to 2 years when fully dried.