Nutrition
| Per 100 g | Per 1 oz (28 g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 405 kcal | 115 kcal |
| Protein | 61.2 g | 17.3 g |
| Fat | 15.5 g | 4.4 g |
| saturated | 5.6 g | 1.6 g |
| Carbohydrate | 1 g | 0.3 g |
| sugars | 0.4 g | 0.1 g |
| Fibre | 0.5 g | 0.1 g |
| Sodium | 1185 mg | 336 mg |
Estimated from the ingredients, for the finished dried product. Actual values vary with the produce you use and how far you dry it.
Ingredients
- 5 kg beef (silverside or topside)
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) coarse salt
- 2 tablespoons crushed garlic
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) chilli flakes
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 150 ml red wine vinegar
Instructions
- Choose silverside or topside and cut it with the grain into strips roughly 2.5 cm through. Both cuts are lean and close-grained, which is why they are the traditional choice — a marbled cut leaves fat that will go rancid while the strip hangs.
- Rub the coarse salt into every face and stand the strips in a dish for an hour or two. Liquid will pool underneath; that is the cure working, and pouring it off is part of the process.
- Splash the red wine vinegar over the salted strips and turn them until each is wet all over. Vinegar on the surface is the traditional safeguard for meat that is going to hang for days at a temperature where nothing is being cooked.
- Combine the crushed garlic, chilli flakes, smoked paprika and Worcestershire, then coat the strips and refrigerate them overnight in a covered dish. Turn them once so the garlic does not settle into a layer at the bottom.
- Scrape the bulk of the wet garlic off before the strips go on the hooks, leaving only what has stuck. Fresh garlic holds water and will not dry at the speed the meat does, so a thick paste of it becomes a damp patch that spoils.
- Hang the strips with space between them so air passes on all sides. Chilli flakes and paprika mark whatever they touch, and two strips pressed together dry into one piece.
- The cabinet sits at 25 °C and the strips stay in it 72 hours, which leaves them wet and fatty. For a drier biltong add another 24 hours at a time until it suits you. That is barely above room temperature on purpose: biltong is cured and air-dried, not cooked, and heat would case-harden the outside long before the middle was ready.
- Press a strip at its thickest point — it should feel firm right through with no soft spot. For a check you can trust, slice one open: an even dark red through the cut means done, while a bright wet core is the wet style, and for a drier biltong add another 24 hours at a time until it suits you.
- Slice it and keep it in a paper or cloth bag somewhere cool, taking what you want as you go. It carries enough moisture that an airtight container will sweat and grow mould; breathing, it holds a month, and it goes on slowly drying the whole time.
