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South Africans have a very unique taste in food.  We love to braai, watch rugby, drink beer and eat biltong!  In short we love eating!  We have our traditional braai (barbeque) at least twice a week, but we use an open fire. We use wood and charcoal. A braai is where we get together as a family. The women usually cook the food that accompanies the meat but the men stand outside by the fire and wait until the coals are ready to actually grill the meat. We usually have a great time and this gives us time to connect with our friends and family. 

                                

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When we watch rugby we usually just serve snacks, because of all the beer flowing, it is necessary to line the stomach a little. A well known snack here is biltong.  We just love biltong and today I would like to share our favorite biltong recipe with you.  We often just buy our biltong from the butchery or from a biltong shop...(yes, we have biltong shops here that only sells biltong and dry wors.) but we love making our own.   

What will you need?

Ingredients 

Approximately 4 pounds ( 2 kg) of meat.  

3 Tbs of coarse sea salt. 

250 ml vinegar ( we use red vinegar)

1/2 cup ground coriander 

2 Tbs smoked paprika

 2 Tbs ground black pepper 

Hooks to hang the meat ( You will need as many as the pieces of biltong you make)

Step 1

To make proper biltong is not a very difficult process. The best meat to use is usually NOT the best meat. Any type of meat can be used but a C grade beef is usually the best.  It also depends on the fat content or the other standard factors like the cut or the age of the meat.  Some people also love using Venison as it has a leaner quality. 

We usually choose a piece of meat with fat.  Not too much fat, as this could cause the meat not to dry properly, and can spoil the meat.  Balance plays a great role here.  Meat also loses it's  mass during the drying process.  About 4 pounds ( 2 kilograms) meat will do.  We usually buy rump steak (C-grade) in bulk only for the purpose of making biltong.    Next step is to cut the meat into pieces.  The pieces should be approximately 20 cm in length and not more than 1 to 1,5 cm thick.  The thicker the meat, the longer it will take to dry.   

                     

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Step 2

Prepare the meat by rubbing it with sea salt.  Coarse sea salt.  It should be covered on both sides.  Biltong is quite salty but this is part of the preparation process only. Once the meat is covered with salt, let it rest for 30 minutes.   

                                                

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Step 3

Make a mixture of the dry spices.  Mix the left over salt, smoked paprika and the pepper together. Add this mixture to the coriander.  Use a flat dish to pour some of the vinegar and sprinkle a layer of spices.  Now add the meat. Make sure that the whole piece of meat is covered on both sides.  Keep on doing this until all the meat is covered.  The meat will be quite soggy now because of the vinegar, so add the meat in a covered dish in the fridge for about 4 hours.  

Let the meat rest now.  After 4 hours, remove the meat and rinse the meat thoroughly with vinegar.  Make sure that you dry the meat thoroughly with paper towels. Once dry, use the left over spices and sprinkle a layer over the meat.  Rub the spices into the meat. 

                     

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The meat is now ready to be hung. Biltong needs to dry in a cool dry space.  We use a biltong maker to hang our meat, but some people make a space to hang the biltong in the garage, on little hooks.  Where ever you decide to hang the meat, make sure that it is dry, as humidity will make the meat go rotten.  

                                                   

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Once you hang the biltong, keep on checking the dryness.  It could take anything from 24 hours to 14 days for biltong to dry completely. We usually put a fan blowing directly towards the biltong maker so that there is a constant flow of dry air (It really helps) 

After the biltong is dry use a sharp knife to cut the biltong in pieces and enjoy!

                                   

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If you are a meat lover, you should really try this.  Biltong is eaten on every occasion possible.  I just love biltong and I will create an occasion if necessary!

So go on...try this!  You will surely love it!

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