How to soak liver before cooking and why is it necessary?
Liver is a specific food that not everyone knows how to cook. The main secret of this delicious dish is that you need to pre-soak the beef liver in milk. A simple manipulation improves the taste of the offal: it removes bitterness, adds juiciness and tenderness. And if milk is not at hand, any other dairy and fermented milk products will come to the rescue - or even water with spices and salt. We invite you to learn all the intricacies of soaking and preparing delicious liver.
Why soak the liver?
The need to make the liver tender in consistency is the main reason why it is kept in milk before cooking. It is believed that soaking also removes bitterness and unpleasant odors. The procedure is especially desirable if the product was purchased from an unknown seller and its quality is in doubt.
What types of liver are soaked and why?
- Pork. It is the fattest and has a pronounced odor; after cooking it is slightly bitter. To improve the taste and aroma, it is cut into portions and soaked in milk or water with the addition of spices and salt. Some chefs sprinkle cinnamon on top before frying the pieces. This gives the dish a unique aroma.
- Beef. When fried without soaking, it turns out dry and also often smells unpleasant. Beef liver must be soaked. Typically, warm milk with spices is used.Before cooking, the product is allowed to drain.
- Chicken, goose and turkey liver do not soak. Even without this they turn out quite soft.
It is worth considering that the liver does not need to be soaked for all recipes. Usually it is kept in milk only before frying. When stewing and cooking, moisture accumulates during the cooking process, and the offal is already soft. When frying, on the contrary, the liver dries out and becomes tough.
How to soak the liver correctly?
Everything is quite simple. Correctly soak the liver as follows:
- If the offal is frozen, let it thaw.
- Rinse the liver thoroughly, remove the film and bile ducts.
- Cut into portions (optional).
- Pour milk over the liver until it is completely covered.
- Wait the right time.
- Place the liver in a colander and let drain.
- Start cooking.
To make the liver dish juicy and tasty, you should carefully remove all the veins and remove the film. Experienced chefs use one trick: the film will come off easier and faster if a piece of liver is scalded with boiling water or kept in hot water for 20–30 seconds.
Soaking time
The duration of soaking depends on the size of the liver and the presence or absence of odor. How long does it take to keep it in milk on average?
- Kisses – 3–4 hours.
- Chopped – 30–40 minutes.
For convenience, many housewives leave the liver in milk overnight so they can quickly cook it in the morning. You can keep it in the marinade for a long time, up to 8 hours. It is believed that the more time it remains in the liquid, the better it will be saturated and softer. Naturally, you can only leave soaked offal for such a long period in the refrigerator.
Fried liver recipe
Liver fried with onions turns out juicy even without soaking.Onions eliminate unpleasant odor and improve taste.
Prepare the dish like this:
- Rinse the liver under running water, remove the film, and cut into portions.
- For 500 grams of offal, take 2 onions, finely chop and fry over medium heat.
- Then the frying is removed for a while and pieces of liver, rolled in spices, salt and flour, are fried in the same frying pan over high heat for 5 minutes.
- After the specified time, add the onion and reduce the heat. Cook the dish for 5 minutes with the lid closed.
What else can you soak it in besides milk?
It often happens that fried liver needs to be cooked now, but as luck would have it, milk was not at hand. Fortunately, there are many replacement options.
What can you soak the liver in, other than milk?
- Sour milk, kefir and whey will give the liver a slight sourness.
- Soaking in fermented baked milk will give a subtle hint of baked milk and creaminess.
- The liver will marinate and become softer if you soak it in water with chopped onions and salt.
- Plain water can also remove bitterness. Salt and spices are immediately added to it: rosemary, thyme, basil, marjoram, pepper, nutmeg, mint (your choice or a mixture).
When time is short, you can use the dry method to tenderize beef and pork liver. You need to cut it into pieces, wash it, lightly sprinkle it with soda and leave for 5 minutes. Before cooking, all that remains is to rinse the offal thoroughly.
Liver soaked in milk can be fried, boiled, baked, stewed, made into pates, cakes, cutlets. The offal is included in many delicious dishes. Don't be afraid to experiment with it! Soaking in different marinades will allow you to surprise your household and guests with new spicy notes every time.Combine liver with vegetables, mushrooms, herbs, eggs, pears and enjoy an unforgettable taste!
Nonsense! I fry beef without any soaking, it turns out soft and juicy, we don’t eat chicken or pork, so I won’t write. It’s also nonsense about bitterness - the liver is bitter if the gallbladder was damaged when it was cut out, but it depends on your luck, although bile usually “burns” the liver and this is visible.
Pork is usually bitter. Not for everybody. Beef simply becomes tastier with milk.
Agree 100%….
I've been simmering in milk for a long time, but! I don't drain the milk.
What are you drinking?
Before frying, roll the pieces not in flour, but in STARCH!. The crust from it will seal all the juices, preventing them from leaking out and burning in the pan. It turns out much tastier than with flour.
Don't be smart. Just soak the liver in salted water….
Good afternoon. I have been a professional chef since 1982. Never! I didn’t soak the liver in anything. If the liver is fresh, or, more often, in public catering, frozen, and properly defrosted, then it does not have any special smell, except for the smell of fresh liver, and there is no question of bitterness at all. Pleasant taste, consistent with the taste of fried liver, with small, sweet notes.
Have you looked at the Internet? There===Horror))) That's who it's given, that's===GIVEN!!! and who MAKES... AN HOUR AND A HALF)))) Don’t be surprised later that you lick your soles))))))
I agree with you, Yaroslav!! Soaking does not affect the taste.. Although the taste and color...
I agree with previous comments. If the liver has an unpleasant odor, it should be given to dogs. High-quality ones do not need soaking.
Clean the liver, cut into pieces of 50-60g, roll in flour and fry in a hot frying pan until crusty, put in a saucepan with many chopped onions and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes. That's all.
Excellent post! All the subtleties that are described here, I collected bit by bit on the Internet and successfully use them. Otherwise, I couldn’t make friends with liver for a long time, even though I’m over 50. Everything soft and juicy didn’t work out. But somehow I felt sorry milk (the cat doesn’t drink it after the liver). And I found a recipe just about soda. Only I dilute it with water and soak the liver pieces in this liquid for 2-3 hours. Then I rinse thoroughly. But I can’t always remove the film, the liver breaks out and jumps all over the kitchen, so I’ll keep that in mind about dousing it with boiling water. After baking soda, pieces of liver fried in flour, egg or stewed with potatoes turn out very tender! I also heard about starch and will try to fry it in it someday.
I bought beef liver at the market, soaked it in milk for 3 hours, then fried it with carrots and onions, and it ended up being bitter.
Sliced liver with salt and pepper, potatoes. and no cooking. if you are confident in the quality of the product.
Thank you all very much
It is very convenient to cut the liver into small pieces and then soak it. Takes much less time. Thank you