Cook’s notes
So, is this an Asian dish or a South American dish? It’s a fusion of the two.
On a scale of one to 10, just how good is it? Hmmm… 11.
On a scale of one to 10, how difficult is it to make this dish? Five, really. Just boil the beef tongue until tender, cool, peel and slice. The sauce requires no cooking — just stir to combine.
Tip # 1: The exact cooking time will vary depending on the weight of your beef tongue. To test if the tongue is ready, pierce the skin with a knife. Using kitchen tongs, tug at the skin. If it separates from the meat easily, the tongue is ready.
Tip # 2: If the beef tongue is combined with bread or rice for a main course, a one-kilogram tongue should be enough for four. If serving as an appetizer, it should be good for eight to ten people.
Tip # 3: To give the beef time to soak up the flavors in the sauce, leave to soak for about 15 minutes before serving.
Beef tongue with lemongrass chili sauce
Ingredients
Beef tongue
- 1 beef tongue about one kilogram / 2.2 pounds in weight
- rock salt
- 3 slices ginger
- 1 bunch scallions bottom part of the stalks only
- 3 cloves garlic
Lemongrass chili sauce
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 6 tablespoons calamansi juice (or lemon or lime juice)
- 4 tablespoons palm sugar (honey works too)
- 2 tablespoons sliced lemongrass
- 2 shallots (or one small red onion) peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
- 1 bird’s chili thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons sliced scallions dark green portion only
Instructions
- Scrub the beef tongue with rock salt repeatedly to remove the sliminess. Rinse well.
- Place the tongue in a pot, cover with water, add the ginger, scallions, garlic and two tablespoons of rock salt.
- Bring to the boil, skim off any scum that rises, lower the heat, cover and simmer until tender.
- Scoop out the tongue and rest on a rack until cool.
- Peel off the skin and discard.
- Wrap the tongue with cling film and keep in the fridge overnight.
- Unwrap the tongue and, while cold, cut into thin slices.
- Arrange the slices in an overlapping fashion on a serving plate. If you don’t want to serve the meat chilled, stick the plate in the microwave and heat on high for two to three minutes.
- To make the sauce, whisk the fish sauce, calamansi juice and palm sugar until the sugar is fully dissolved.
- Stir in the lemongrass, shallot, garlic, chili and scallions.
- Spoon the sauce and vegetables over the beef tongue.
- Optionally, garnish with torn basil. Serve at chilled or at room temperature.
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