Horse meat

Description

For nomadic peoples and their heirs, horse meat is a completely common thing. This meat is eaten in Central Asia as often as we eat beef, almost every day. It is ideal for a nomadic lifestyle – it is absorbed very quickly, in three hours, versus 24 hours that beef is absorbed. In addition, horse meat has a warming effect.

Horse meat has the highest protein content, up to 25%, in addition, this protein is ideally balanced in terms of amino acid composition. Horse meat lowers blood cholesterol, regulates metabolism, and neutralizes the effects of radiation. It contains a large amount of vitamins and trace elements that are very necessary for our body: potassium, sodium, phosphorus, iron, copper, magnesium, amino acids, thiamine, riboflavin, vitamins of group B, A, PP, E. In addition, horse meat is hypoallergenic and may well used for baby food.

It is not surprising that this meat is so beloved by nomads: horse meat easily replaces a varied diet with many vegetables, fruits and cereals, such as among sedentary peoples engaged in gardening and cereal cultivation.

Horse meat is considered the most environmentally friendly, nutritious and digestible, the most useful. But this meat is not widespread everywhere. Only in Central Asia, a little in Russia and Hungary. The Japanese are very fond of horse meat, but they have absolutely no place to raise horses, so horse meat in Japan is very expensive.

But in other countries, the thought of trying horse meat causes some tension, if not disgust. There is a myth in Europe that horse meat is meat that tastes disgusting. Researchers believe that this opinion was “brought” by French soldiers back in the 19th century. Then the Napoleonic army retreated from Russia, and the starving French ate carrion – horses, and even instead of spices they used gunpowder. There were a lot of poisonings.

In some Catholic countries, horse meat is simply prohibited. Pope Zechariah and Pope Gregory III in the Middle Ages forbade missionaries to eat horse meat, since the use of this meat is similar to pagan rituals. To this day, the Catholic Church does not welcome the consumption of horse meat.

Horse meat composition

Despite the type of meat, horse meat always contains 20-25% protein and about 75% water.
In addition, it combines phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, iron and copper.
The composition includes vitamins C, B12, B6, A, PP and B3.

• Energy value of the product (ratio of proteins, fats, carbohydrates):
• Proteins: 20.2g. (∼ 80.8 kcal)
• Fat: 7.0g. (∼ 63 kcal)
• Carbohydrates: 0.0g. (∼ 0 kcal)

How to choose

In order to have only the most delicious and juicy horse meat on your table, give preference to foals from 9 months old or 1-2 year old horses. This is due to the fact that the older the individual, the harder its meat and the more laborious the process of processing such a product will be.

In addition, it is worth considering the appearance of the meat. It should be firm, juicy and rich in color, free of other shades of stains or blood.

How to cook

Horse meat is very tasty if baked. But given the hardness of this product, it should be cooked for at least 2 hours.

Tip: in order for the cooking process to become smaller, and the dish turned out to be more tender, the meat should first be marinated or you should choose an already smoked or salted piece.

It is customary to make minced meat from horse meat, which is directly used for cooking sausages. Such products are distinguished by their special taste and elasticity.

In addition, the meat is boiled, dried or dried. The last two types of processing result in a delicacy that costs a lot of money.

The benefits of horse meat

Given the high protein content and low calorie content, horse meat is classified as a dietary meal.
This meat is so hypoallergenic that it can be eaten by young children.
Interesting: for the human body to digest horse meat, it takes three hours, while for the complete digestion of beef – a day.

Horse meat is able to normalize metabolism and reduce blood cholesterol, since the fat of this animal has choleretic properties.

Harm

Horse meat is such a unique and healthy meat that it cannot do any harm. Therefore, the only contraindication may be individual intolerance, which happens extremely rarely.

Stewed horse meat

Ingredients

• Water 500 ml
• Horse meat 700 g
• Bay leaf 1 pc.
• Bulb onion 1 pc.
• Refined sunflower oil 2 tbsp. l.
• Pickled cucumbers 1 pc.
• Sweet pepper (Bulgarian) 1 pc.
• Black peppercorns 3 pcs.
• Salt 1 pinch

Preparation

1. Prepare products: horse meat pulp, pickled cucumber (or salted), onions, red bell pepper, spices, sunflower oil for frying, salt.
2. Cut the vegetables into cubes (1 cucumber, 1 peppercorn, 1 onion). You can also use straws if you want the vegetables to be larger in the gravy.
3. Wash horse meat (700 g), dry and cut into strips across the fibers.
4. Fry in vegetable oil (2 tablespoons) first onion and pepper for a couple of minutes. The onion will begin to redden.
5. Then add meat to the vegetables and fry for 3-5 minutes over high heat, stirring occasionally.
6. Fill the meat with vegetables with water (500 ml, preferably boiling water), add a little salt to taste (we make it a little undersalted, since we will add more cucumbers to the meat), spices (3 black peppercorns and 1 bay leaf). You can add your favorite spices, for example, beef spices work well. Cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.
7. After 30 minutes add the pickled cucumber and stir. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer again until the meat is tender. If necessary, add boiling water if the water boils away strongly. In order for the meat to become soft, you need to simmer from 1 hour to 1 hour 40 minutes. It all depends on the pulp, where it comes from. It happens that the total stewing time for me does not exceed 1 hour and the meat melts in my mouth. And this time I stewed the meat for a little over 1.5 hours. 10-15 minutes before the end of stewing, you need to add salt to the meat if necessary.
8. Stewed horse meat with gravy is ready. It is good both with potatoes and with pasta, rice or buckwheat.

Enjoy your meal!