The entraña is a cut of Argentinian origin which is increasingly popular in Spain. Nowadays it is much easier to find this type of cut in the supermarket. How is it prepared? What is the traditional way to do it? The entraña, like all meats, can be prepared in different ways, but the best way to prepare it is grilled and accompanied by a good sauce.
What is beef entraña?
The entraña is the part of the veal that corresponds to its diaphragm. It is characterized for being an elongated and narrow cut and for having a very red color; in addition, the flavor is quite intense. Therefore, it does not need a very laborious preparation, since the flavor is already given by the meat itself.
This piece of veal is covered by membranes. If you grill the entrails, it is best to remove them. Cleaning the entrails is very easy, but you can ask your butcher to make the cuts or remove the membranes for you.
The juiciest part of the entraña is the thinnest portion, since the entraña, along its length, has a wide and thick section and a narrower and thinner one. It is precisely the latter that has the juiciest and most tender flavor.
You can accompany the entraña recipe with french fries or a very simple salad. But you cannot miss a good chimichurri sauce, originally from Latin America and with which the entraña recipe is usually served in Argentina.
Ingredients for the meat
- Half a kilo of beef entraña.
- 10 milliliters of extra virgin olive oil.
Ingredients for the chimichurri sauce
- 30 milliliters of vinegar.
- Lemon juice (40 milliliters).
- One chopped onion.
- Freshly ground black pepper.
- A bay leaf.
- 90 milliliters of extra virgin olive oil.
- One finely chopped garlic clove.
- Chopped parsley.
- Dried oregano.
- Salt to taste.
Preparation
- The recipe for entraña will not take you more than half an hour. The most laborious part is the chimichurri sauce, but even so, it is very simple to make.
- The first thing to do is to grind all the ingredients. It is advisable to slice the garlic and chop it finely as well as the onion and parsley (if you buy it in bunches). Place all the ingredients except the oil into a bowl.
- Add the oil little by little, stirring until it reaches a thick consistency.
- Once the sauce is ready, let it rest in the refrigerator, covered with cling film, or in a hermetically sealed container. This allows all the ingredients to settle. You can keep the sauce and use it in future stews, as it goes very well with meats.
- For the entraña to be just right, the meat should be left to temper for a couple of hours beforehand. To temper the meat means to leave it at room temperature for a couple of hours, and not to cook it at the temperature at which it comes out of the refrigerator.
- Grilled entraña needs all the outer membranes to be removed from the meat. You can do this with the help of a knife and your hand or ask the butcher to clean it to your liking.
- Preheat the griddle for at least ten minutes before using it.
- Coat the griddle with a little oil so that the meat does not stick to it.
- Place the meat on the griddle and let it brown for five minutes on each side.
- When you turn the meat over, add salt.
Tips for a good grilled entraña recipe
If you want your guests to go crazy for the entraña recipe, you must follow a series of recommendations. Although it is very simple to prepare, it is advisable to respect the cooking times and to make the chimichurri sauce well in advance. Choose a good cut of entraña and, preferably, buy the meat the same day you are going to prepare it; at the most, one day before. Leave it out of the refrigerator, at room temperature for a couple of hours. If you are not an expert in cleaning the meat, ask your trusted butcher to remove the membranes for you and to cut the meat into portions of more or less similar sizes.
The entraña has by itself a very strong and characteristic flavor, so it is not necessary to marinate it beforehand. Even so, if you want the meat to acquire more flavor, it will be enough to prepare it very early in the morning and leave it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. For this marinade do not use too many spices, just a little salt, pepper and cumin; add a dash of lemon or lime and let it rest, covered with cling film. Remember to remove the meat from the refrigerator and leave it at room temperature before cooking.
As for the chimichurri sauce, it is also advisable to prepare it in the morning, to give it enough time to settle well and for the ingredients to mix. Do not forget to take the sauce out of the refrigerator well in advance of cooking, as if the sauce is just taken out of the refrigerator, it could cool the entraña.
