Aspic from a Pig's Head
⏳ Time
6 hours + 8 hours
🥕 Ingredients
8
🍽️ Servings
15
Description
Things to pay attention to: 1. To make the aspic clear, you need to remove the foam and fat as often as possible. 2. For the same reason, do not boil on high heat — the broth will become cloudy. 3. If possible, the trays for the aspic should be metal, not plastic. 4. If more than six hours pass since placing it on the heat — it won't be worse, but the meat will fall apart into fibers and won't look very aesthetic. 5. In principle, you can skip the chicken (just use a little less water), but with chicken legs, the aspic will be noticeably more tender. 6. Subjectively, store-bought heads are too fatty; it's better to buy a head for aspic from a local farmer's market.
Ingredients
- Chicken bones - 35.3 oz
- Pig's Head - 246.9 oz
- Garlic - 3 heads
- Onion - 2 heads
- Salt - 3 tablespoons
- Carrot - 3 pieces
- Green peppercorns - 15 pieces
- Bay leaf - 6 pieces
Step by Step guide
Step 1
Cut off the ears from the pig's head (you can also cook something from them later) and soak it in cold water for 8–12 hours, changing the water once. After soaking, cut the head in half across, being careful not to damage the skull, so that the head fits into a bucket. Rinse the head again, removing any small pieces of jawbone that may have formed at the cut. Place both halves of the head in a regular enamel bucket, fill it to the top with cold water, and put it on the heat. Bring to a boil and simmer on low heat for six hours, constantly skimming off the foam and fat. During the cooking process, you can gradually add water to keep the water level in the bucket constant.
Step 2
After two hours, add the thoroughly washed, unpeeled onions, cut crosswise, and three heaping tablespoons of salt to the bucket. At the end of cooking, the onions will need to be removed.
Step 3
While the head is cooking, boil the carrots, slice them into rounds, and place them at the bottom of the trays. Also add the peeled and grated garlic (the size is up to your preference, depending on how you like it).
Step 4
After another two hours, add the chicken legs, pepper, and bay leaves to the bucket. Continue to cook for another two hours.
Step 5
Carefully place the cooked head and chicken legs on a platter, remove the bones, brain, skin, and the fattiest parts of the head — they won't be needed. Cut the remaining meat across the grain with a knife, arrange it in the trays, and pour the remaining broth from the bucket over it, preferably through a metal strainer.
Step 6
Place in the refrigerator overnight — in the morning, the aspic is ready.
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