Traditional Biltong Recipes
Making biltong using the traditional biltong recipe guarantees wonderful flavours. To make biltong, you need good quality meat. We recommend using Silverside or Top Side cuts as these cuts of beef work well. you can also use game meats to to make biltong
Traditional
This is the best-tasting biltong recipe when you are making biltong, it is essential to follow the process, you can adapt it to your taste, but make small changes until you get the perfect combination for you.
The width you cut the meat is essential, an effective way to measure the meat before cutting is to place your thumb on a table and push down lightly. Your thumb should be the width of an inch as it is pushing against the table and this is the ideal width.
All the seasoning ingredients below are ones that I have personally used. Please make sure that you use a sharp knife and the equipment used to cut and prepare the meat is sterile before use. You can change the quantities of the ingredients to suit your taste.
What Vinegar do you use to make biltong?
You can use white vinegar, brown vinegar or cider vinegar, depending on your preference. We prefer cider vinegar.
Making Traditional Biltong
If you have time, this is a perfect recipe. You need three bowls. You will need to spend some time roasting the coriander before you start the process. Place the coriander in a frying pan and roast the seeds until they are light brown.
Ingredients
- 2kg fillet of beef
- 150ml vinegar
- 50ml Worcestershire sauce
- Two tablespoons crushed coriander seeds
- One tablespoon black pepper
- 500g course salt
- 150g brown sugar
- One teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Steps
- Take the cuts of beef and cut the meat with the grain into 5cm thick strips. Put all the silverside meat into a clean bowl and pour the vinegar and Worcestershire sauce over the meat, mix well covering all the meat.
- In a pestle and mortar mix the coriander seeds and pepper together
- Take the meat out the bowl of cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce, Add the meat to a container cover both sides of the meat with the spices, crushed coriander , salt and brown sugar
- Leave it for 6 hours to rest in the bowl
- Turn the meat in the bowl and leave to rest for a further 6 hours
- Remove the meat from the bowl and lightly pat it down to remove excess moisture
- Insert the sterilised hooks into the thickest part of the meat and hang the meat to dry. Do not use paper clips as these rust.
Drying Times
Drying time takes 5 to 7 days depending on the climate you are in and the air flow around the meat you are in the drying box. You can test the biltong by squeezing it slightly to see how firm it is. Some South Africans like wet biltong but I like dry biltong. The longer you hang the meat the drier it gets but it does depend on the drying conditions. The final product will taste great and all you need is a sharp knife to cut the biltong and enjoy it.