Pastrami: Recipes

Pastrami is a delicious dish, however, much less known than it should be. The dish is very tasty and remembered for its sweet and sour taste. However, as it is difficult to make, it is important to be careful and pay close attention when preparing it.

So, to find out how to make good pastrami, among other things, continue reading until the end.

What is Pastrami

Firstly, you need to discover what Pastrami is, and then develop the subject of the best recipes for this interesting and tasty dish.

So, from the beginning: Pastrami is a product made from beef – but pork, lamb or turkey can also be used. 

The meat is traditionally made from the belly of the animal (the needle point or beef brisket), which, while raw, is salted, partially dried and seasoned with spices and herbs. The preparation ends with the smoked and steamed piece of meat.

Pastrami was originally created with the intention of preserving meat before refrigeration. Its name comes from Romanian and means something like “preserving food”.

How to make Pastrami?

Making pastrami is not difficult, however, it is important to follow the tips and step-by-step instructions carefully to make it work.

Because pastrami is a sausage, the cut of beef (pork, lamb or turkey) called brisket, in English, brisket or black itself, is used. However, you can opt for a specific area, the end of the animal's navel, the tip of the needle or beef plate.

With this specific cut you will get the best of the dish, while the first option, although tasty, will not provide you with the peak of flavor.

An interesting detail is the very practical comparison between the beef cut for pastrami and the pork cut. This needle tip is a very fatty cut which goes well with the pork bacon, therefore, it is a possible and very coherent replacement.

However, despite the cuts of meat that can be a little more complicated to find, the ingredients for preparation are very simple. However, preparing pastrami is time-consuming and, therefore, complicated.

The meat must go through three preparation phases: curing with brine, smoking and, finally, cooking. 

In the beginning, while the piece of meat is not yet cured in brine, it will be covered with a mixture of spices such as; garlic, coriander, black pepper, paprika, cloves, allspice and mustard seeds and then smoked.

Then the meat is cooked until the connective tissues inside the meat break down into a gelatin.

Pastrami Recipe

Now, when it comes to the recipe specifically, you will first need to prepare the necessary equipment so that your recipe can be made properly. Therefore, the necessary equipment is:

• A smoker
• The wood needed for smoking
• plastic film
• Paper kitchen towels

Furthermore, make sure that the basic equipment for handling the recipe's ingredients is at your disposal: knives, pots, cutting boards, etc.

Now, the ingredients:

• 1 piece beef navel (beef plate), or beef brisket (brisket)
• 1 teaspoon curing salt
• 1/2 of onion
• Garlic cloves to taste
• black pepper/black pepper
• of coriander seeds
• of mustard seeds
• brown/brown sugar
• ginger powder

The preparation method is the next step, now that you know the necessary equipment and ingredients. 

Preparing your pastrami

As previously mentioned, the preparation method is essential for you to have a true and delicious pastrami on your hands. So, pay attention to these tips, follow them carefully.

1. To make the brine, use 1 teaspoon of salt and curing salt – which is a mixture of table salt and sodium nitrite
2. Also add half an onion and garlic cloves to taste.
3. After the salt is completely dissolved, cool the brine quickly with ice and ice water
4. Pour the brine over the meat (immerse it completely) and cover with plastic wrap
5. Let the meat cure for 10 days, turning it every day
6. After 10 days, wash the meat in cold water and dry it with paper towel.
7. Prepare the seasoning to rub on the meat: black pepper and ground coriander seeds. Once coarsely ground, add the mustard seeds, brown sugar and finally ginger powder
8. Massage both sides of the meat with the mixture
9. Now, it's time to smoke the meat. Place it in your oven with the temperature set to about 110°C (precisely 107°C, if desired) until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 90°C.

And that's it, by following these tips you'll have delicious pastrami on your hands. However, it is important that you know that you can find preparation methods, ingredients and even equipment that are a little different from this. 

Other ways of doing it are not wrong. However, this is one of the calmest and simplest recipes to follow that brings a tasty result.

Recipes with Pastrami: spaghetti with pastrami ragú

Ragu is a sauce made from cooked meat, traditionally used to accompany pasta in Italian cuisine. It is also used in Brazilian cuisine, mainly from São Paulo, with Italian influence.

Therefore, it pairs perfectly with pastrami, which makes this dish delicious and special.

Its ingredients are:

• 1 kg of Italian tomatoes
• 150 g chopped onion
• 80 g minced garlic
• 60 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 400 g of artisanal pastrami
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon basil
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon juniper grain
• 3 bay leaves
• salt and water to taste
• cotton fabric (about 10×10 cm) next to the string

Furthermore, it is very important that you already have the pastrami, like the one made with the previous recipe, and a simple spaghetti ready so you can follow the preparation method below.

Method of preparation

The preparation method is very easy, as the pastrame should be ready at this point. Do the following:

First, wash the tomatoes and make an “x” cut at their base. Then, place the tomatoes in boiling water for about 45 seconds until the skin comes off. 

Remove the tomatoes from the pan and immerse them in ice water, then remove the skin that came loose from the seeds and cut them into small cubes. Now, in a pan, sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil.

The next step is to add the tomato cubes to the mixture in the pan and sauté for another three minutes. After that you must add the chopped basil, bay leaves and pastrami, which must also be cut into cubes. Cover everything with two fingers of water.

Using the fabric, make a bundle with the black pepper, juniper and coriander. When finished, tie it with string and place it next to the pastrami, inside the pan. Reduce the heat and let it cook, adding water if the liquid evaporates quickly.

Now, to finish, wait an hour and then check the softness of the pastrami. If it is not very soft, let it cook for a few more minutes. When ready, remove, add salt and serve the ragu with previously made spaghetti.

Conclusion

In short, pastrami can be considered an easily accessible delicacy, however, with a certain difficulty in making it. It is delicious, however, time-consuming, but totally worth the wait, especially to make tasty pasta with pastrami ragú.