Jellied meat, or kholodets, boosts the immune system and increases energy levels, combats anemia, and supports the musculoskeletal system. This dish improves blood composition, positively affects the nervous system, and stimulates brain activity. Kholodets is beneficial for healing sore joints and has a favorable impact on bones, cartilage, and muscles, making it an essential part of the diet for recovery from injuries or fractures. As a rich source of collagen, it restores skin elasticity and smoothness while enhancing the condition of nails and hair. To ensure that collagen from food contributes to the production of your own “youth protein,” kholodets should be included in your menu twice a week. In 100 grams of pork kholodets, there are 350 calories; beef has 220 calories, chicken has 120 calories, turkey has 80 calories, and fish has 50 calories. The classic kholodets made from pork and beef is prepared using beef shank and pork hocks.
Ingredients (for 10 servings): beef shank – 2 kg; pork hocks – 2 pieces; onions – 2 pieces; carrots – 2 pieces; egg whites for clarifying the broth – 3 pieces; garlic – 3 cloves; black peppercorns – 5 pieces; bay leaves – 3 pieces; salt – to taste.
First, we scorch the pork hocks and thoroughly wash them with a brush, while the beef shank should be soaked in cold water for 4 hours before washing and scrubbing with a brush.
Next, we chop the hocks and shank and place them in a pot. We add water so that the liquid is 8 cm above the level of the meat. Then, we add the carrots and onions, place the pot on the stove, and bring it to a boil.
We skim off the foam, reduce the heat, and simmer gently for 6-7 hours. The broth should be salted about an hour before it’s done. Fifteen minutes before turning off the heat, we add the bay leaves and peppercorns. If the tender meat easily separates from the bones, the cooking can be finished.
We remove the carrots, onions, and bay leaves from the broth. Let it cool until the meat can be handled by hand. We separate the meat from the bones, picking out the peppercorns from the broth as we go.
Now we can clarify the broth. We whip the egg whites into a strong foam (1 egg white per 1 liter of broth), pour it into the pot where the meat was cooked, and place it over high heat. While stirring constantly, we bring it to a boil. We remove it from the heat, let it sit for 10 minutes, and then bring it to a boil two more times with 10-minute pauses in between. In total, we boil the broth three times. We filter the cooled liquid through two layers of cheesecloth.
We mix the shredded meat and distribute it into molds, pouring the broth over it. No gelatin is needed, as the beef shank and pork hocks provide enough natural gelatin.
We place the molds in the cold until fully set. Serve the classic kholodets with horseradish or mustard.
Life Hacks
- In addition to pork hocks, pork shank (rich in tendons and joints from the upper part of the leg above the knee) is suitable for making kholodets, but not the shank (the back part of the pork leg).
- If the broth was simmered gently, it usually turns out almost clear: you can skip the clarification step and just strain it through two layers of cheesecloth.
- You can check the stickiness of the broth with your hands: if your fingers stick together when dipped in the broth, the kholodets will set properly.