South African Biltong – The ultimate South African snack

What’s the first snack you can think about which you had at your first rugby game? Chances are that it was biltong, wasn’t it. Biltong is the South African name and variation of a dried, cured meat. Biltong is made with all kinds of meat but beef is the most common. Some like it super dry and lean while others like it “wetter” and with a lot more fat. The choice will be yours, but South African Biltong will always be delicious and your friends and family will be very impressed.

Often biltong is made with off-cuts and other times uses to highest quality meat, including the fillet. You will be making your own balsamic vinegar curing solution. If you have a dehydrator or biltong fridge, you’re sorted, However, you can hang it in a dry room with a fan for a few days and dry it to your liking. If you want another great treat, make carpaccio. It’s the slightly cured South African Biltong after a few days which you have raw and we liven up the flavour with black pepper and capers, but you can also try balsamic mushrooms and rocket. Use high quality cuts like fillet when making your carpaccio.

It’s summer and we know you love a handful of biltong. Make your own South African Biltong and let the games begin!

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Homemade Biltong Recipe

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Recipe by Irene Muller Course: SnacksCuisine: South AfricanDifficulty: Easy

Prep time

35

minutes

Cooking time

0

minutes

Total time

35

minutes

Ingredients

• 3 kg beef (silverside)

• 1 cup grinded coarse salt and black pepper, mixed

• 1 cup coriander seeds

• 9 whole cloves

• 10 whole allspice seeds

• balsamic vinegar

• INGREDIENTS – CARPACCIO

• olive oil

• black pepper

• capers (optional)

Method

• Dry your meat with a paper towel to remove the moisture.
• Slice the meat into suitable strips.
• On medium setting, heat a frying pan and add the coriander seeds. Stir until you can smell the coriander aroma – do not toast the seeds. Remove from heat.
• Add the coriander seeds, allspice and cloves to a mortar and grind into small pieces. Make sure it’s not too fine.
• Rub the meat on both sides with the balsamic vinegar, then the ground salt and pepper and sprinkle the spices on both sides. Wrap each slice of meat in cling wrap and let it stand overnight in a cool place.
• The next day remove the cling wrap, shake off a little of the extra salt and spices.
• Hang each slice of meat on a hook in a dry and airy place.

  • 

• BILTONG
• Hang the meat to dry as you like it. For the first few days you can use a fan on the hanging meat to help the drying process.
• CARPACCIO
• To make carpaccio, hang the meat for 48 hours, depending on how you want to have it.
  To serve the carpaccio, slice it thinly, add a little olive oil and capers, ground black pepper and salt. 
• Add trimmings of your choice. Allow to rest for 30 minutes before serving.

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