Jellied meat, or kholodets, boosts the immune system, increases energy, helps fight anemia, and supports the musculoskeletal system. The dish can improve blood composition, affect the nervous system, and stimulate brain activity. Kholodets is useful for healing sore joints and benefits bones, cartilage, and muscles, making it a good option during recovery from injuries or fractures. As a rich source of collagen, it restores skin elasticity and smoothness while improving the condition of nails and hair. Include kholodets in your menu twice a week to help dietary collagen contribute to the production of your own ‘youth protein.’ In 100 grams of kholodets, pork contains about 350 calories; beef contains 220 calories; chicken contains 120 calories; turkey contains 80 calories; and fish contains 50 calories. Classic pork-and-beef kholodets is prepared with 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, scorch the pork hocks and scrub them thoroughly with a brush. Soak the beef shank in cold water for 4 hours, then wash and scrub it with a brush.
Chop the hocks and shank and place them in a pot. Add water until the liquid stands about 8 cm above the level of the meat. Add the carrots and onions, place the pot on the stove, and bring it to a boil.
Skim off the foam, reduce the heat, and simmer gently for 6–7 hours. Salt the broth about an hour before it’s done. Fifteen minutes before finishing, add the bay leaves and peppercorns. Finish cooking when the meat separates easily from the bones.
Remove the carrots, onions, and bay leaves from the broth. Cool the pot until the meat can be handled by hand. Separate the meat from the bones, picking out the peppercorns from the broth as you go.
Clarify the broth by whipping the egg whites into a strong foam (use 1 egg white per 1 liter of broth). Pour the foam into the pot where the meat was cooked and place it over high heat. While stirring constantly, bring it to a boil. Remove it from the heat, let it sit for 10 minutes, then bring it to a boil two more times with 10-minute rests in between. In total, boil the broth three times. Filter the cooled liquid through two layers of cheesecloth.
Mix the shredded meat and distribute it into molds, then pour the broth over it. No gelatin is needed; the beef shank and pork hocks provide enough natural gelatin.
Place the molds in the refrigerator until fully set. Serve the classic kholodets with horseradish or mustard.
Life Hacks
- In addition to pork hocks, pork shank (the upper part of the leg above the knee, rich in tendons and joints) is suitable for making kholodets; avoid using the back part of the pork leg.
- Simmer the broth gently and it will usually turn out almost clear; skip the clarification step and just strain it through two layers of cheesecloth.
- Check the stickiness of the broth with your hands: if your fingers stick together when dipped in the broth, the kholodets will set properly.
