Belarusian Polendwitsa (Air-Dried Meat)
(mydeliciousmeals.com)Alena TarasevichPolendwitsa (or poledwica) in Belarusian cuisine is meat, salted, rubbed with spices (usually bay leaf, coriander, caraway seeds or dill), and then air-dried. It's an incredibly delicious appetizer that goes great with beer. How long you air-dry it depends on how dry you want your meat, my family usually can't wait longer than a week, but one of my friends is tough enough to let it dry for 3 weeks. You should try polendwitsa and I'm sure you'll get hooked like we are. Update : One of my Pinterest friends suggested a better name for it - Salt Cured Tenderloin - whatever you call it, it tastes amazing!
Ingredients
- 3 pounds pork tenderloins (rinsed, pat dried;)
- 3 tablespoons salt
- black pepper (I prefer freshly ground)
- bay leaf (crushed)
- dill (dry)
Yield: 3 tenderloins | Prep time: 216 hours, 15 minutes |
Instructions
1. Rub meat with salt on all sides. Place in a bowl or glass baking dish, cover and refrigerate for 2 days (3 days for thicker meat), turning once a day.
2. Dry meat with paper towels, sprinkle with ground black pepper, dry dill and crushed bay leaf (you can also use such spices as coriander or caraway seeds) on all sides.
3. Wrap tightly in cheesecloth (4-5 layers), tie with kitchen twine.
4. Hang in a dry, well-ventilated place for 7-10 days (depending on how dry you want your meat). When we use air conditioner, I often hang the meat in a closet closer to air vent.
5. Store in refrigerator, wrapped in cheesecloth. Remove the cheesecloth and slice. Serve as an appetizer.
.jpg "Beef Chebureki (Deep Fried Beef Dumplings)")
Comments
Amazing!!! Thanks a lot for sharing!!!
kath April 30, 2014 2:43 PM