Chitterlings is a traditional English dish made from diced potatoes, carrots, and onions cooked in butter and herbs. The dish is typically served with butter and bread, making it a perfect quick meal.
The term chitterlings refers to the potatoes, which are usually waxy potatoes like Irish potatoes or French fries. Because of this, many recipes call for potato dough to make your chitterlings.
In addition to the food safety reasons to use baking soda in this recipe, it can also save time in other ways. For example, when washing the carrots and potatoes, you can use a combination of water with just enough (salt-free) salt to cause the mixture to stick together.
Contents:
Add the baking soda to the water
Once your fish are cleaned, you want to add the baking soda to the water to help neutralize the ammonia in their blood and urine. This will prevent too much of it being created in their system.
As with all pH-adjustment products, make sure the baking soda is mixed well with the water. Some brands recommend adding a little salt as well, but that does not counteract the beneficial properties of baking soda. Make sure to check your fish’s water quality before starting this process.
Some experts suggest doing this once a week, depending on your fish. Weekly cleaning helps prevent dried out skin and misshaping of fins that can occur when doing it twice a week.
Bring the water to a boil
When the baking soda is dissolved, the chitterlings will stick to the spoon and start to dissapear. This may take a few attempts as some get the idea, but eventually they will let you put it in!
Cleaning Chitterlings is a fun way to spend some time.
Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes
Once the chitterlings are cooked, try them in as little as an hour or two, they will be soft and fluffy.
Remove the chitterlings from the water and rinse
Once your cleaned chitterlings, it is time to prepare them for cooking. You can either put them in the oven or toaster oven to bake or place them in the broiler.
To put them in the oven, you will need to place a glass or ceramic dish with some water and baking soda. The chitterlings will have to sit with this until they are dry and crispy. This takes about 10 minutes of observation.
To get these crispy chitterlings in the toaster, you will need to use half a cup of brown sugar and pour that into one of the slots on your newtoaster. You can also put some butter on top of these before you try cooking them.
Pull off any loose skin
Once the chitterlings are cleaned and prepared, it is time to get rid of the skin. The easiest way to do this is to pull off all of the skin around the chitterlings using a credit card or chopstick.
Another way to remove the skin is to use a knife along the grain of the meat and remove it slowly. Be careful not to cut into white fat or you will have raw meat!
By doing these two things separately, we are developing more confidence in this person cutting up our food. The person must be careful not to cut into white fat or you will have raw meat!
Once they are pulled off, let them sit on a paper towel until they cool down enough to store.
Slice into bite-sized pieces
When baking soda doesn’t work, try cutting into the chitterling with a knife. If the baking soda doesn’t work, try adding some salt or putting a small amount of vinegar in with the mixture. Either one can create spaces or points where the chitterling sticks to it.
Both of these items can help you remove more pieces of fish, so this is an excellent way to finish cleaning it!
Another way to try is to slice up some carrot and plantain chips. You can put one piece of carrot and one piece of plantain per fish, mixed together.
Clean your pot and return chitterlings to pot
When you’re ready to eat your chitterlings, the first step is to clean them. You can do this by using a potato masher or even just by gently rubbing the chitterlings on a bowl of coarse salt.
Depending on how big your pot or cooking device is, you may have to do this in several places. For example, if your pot is large enough to need two bowls of salt, then you would need to put a second pot of water and salt on the stove to cook the chitterlings.
You can also put the pots and pans in the dishwasher if they are fairly durable.
Add salt and pepper to taste
When cleaning your fish, do not use harsh detergents or chemicals that contain detergents. These could harm your fish or make it difficult for you to remove unwanted debris.
Instead, try baking soda and water mixture to clean your fish. This works due to the natural lye in the baking soda. You can also use some fine sand or salt as a cleanser, too.
Both of these work by pulling away moisture from the fish and allowing it to dry more easily.