Salted Meat [Video+Recipe] Carne Salada, Cecina or Tocino

Salted Meat [Video+Recipe] Carne Salada, Cecina or Tocino

While salted meat (Dominican carne salada or tocino) is a dish and food preservation method that was very popular in the pre-refrigeration days, but created a cut of meat with its own characteristics, flavors, and virtues.

Course Lunch

Cuisine Dominican

Keyword carne salada de cerdo, como hacer carne salada, dried salted meat, salted preserved meat

Prep Time 50

Cook Time 4 25

Total Time 5 15

Servings servings

Calories 579kcal

Author Clara Gonzalez

Ingredients

To preserve meat

2½ pound meat pork, beef or goat [1.13 kg]
½ cup coarse sea salt
3 tablespoons oregano (dry leaves), crushed
1 tablespoon pepper (freshly-cracked, or ground)
2 tablespoons mashed garlic (optional)

For meat stew

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large red onion sliced
4 large tomato chopped
4 cloves garlic crushed
½ teaspoon oregano (dry, ground)
1 cup tomato sauce
1 tablespoon cilantro chopped
1 teaspoon salt (or more, to taste)
1½ cups liquid from boiling meat

Instructions

1. To season the meat

Slice the meat as thinly as possible and discard any connective tissue, bone and cartilage.
Season the meat with salt, pepper, and oregano, coating it well, and let it rest overnight in the fridge.

2. Dry the meat

Remove the meat from the liquid that would have seeped out overnight. Pat dry with a paper towel.
Place the meat on a wire rack and dry in a dehydrator until it is completely dry and stiff. It took me about 8 hours. You can dry it in the oven over 200 ºF [93 ºC] until the meat is quite stiff and dry to the touch (it took me about 3 hours).

3. Storing

Cool meat to room temperature and store in a sealed bag in the refrigerator for up to a month.

4. To de-salt meat

Rinse meat in running water. Soak overnight in abundant water (about a gallon [3.8 lt]) in the refrigerator.
Boil in the same water it soaked overnight until the meat is very tender.
If you cook it in a pressure cooker it should take 20 minutes. In a conventional pot it should take about an hour, add water if it becomes necessary to maintain the same water level. Save the liquid to use later on.

5. Shred meat

Cool the boiled meat to room temperature and shred it.

6. Sautee

Heat oil in a 2 quart pot [2 lt] over low heat. Add onions, cook and stir until onions become translucent. Add garlic and cook stirring until the garlic releases its aroma (about a minute).
Stir in the meat and cook until it has heated through.

7. Make sauce

Mix in tomatoes and oregano and stir. Add tomato sauce and 1½ cup of water from boiling the meat (check that it's not too salty before adding it).
Cover and simmer over low heat for ten minutes. Taste and add salt to taste if you find it necessary (I did not).

Video

Nutrition