How long to soak a rabbit in water before cooking?

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Author of the publication

Yulia Lapushkina

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Rabbit is famous for its unique taste and dietary properties. Stewed with mushrooms and sour cream or in white wine, it will become a highlight of both festive and everyday dinner tables. But for everything to work out perfectly, you need to know how to properly soak a rabbit carcass.

In what cases is rabbit meat soaked before cooking?

There are several factors on which the need to soak the meat in question depends:

• freshness of the product - the natural aroma of fresh meat is very appetizing and there is no need to interrupt it with anything, but for an already resting carcass you should carefully select a marinade that will not only fight off the unpleasant odor, but also soften the rabbit meat, slightly refresh and disinfect it;
• origin - meat from farm rabbits requires a minimum of processing, but a wild hare must be soaked for a long time and thoroughly, otherwise the meat may turn out to be tough, with an unpleasant odor (and even bitter);
• slaughter method - the faster the animal was killed, the less adrenaline gets into the meat, which means its taste will not deteriorate;
• age of the animal - the carcass of a young rabbit does not require long preparation, it does not require aggressive marinades (it will be enough to add a small amount of spices for a piquant taste), but old meat will need to be thoroughly soaked for a long time.

It is necessary to soak the rabbit before cooking if the meat is old or the animal was caught in natural conditions and not purchased from a farm. Under such conditions, ordinary water cannot be used. You will need a marinade with an aggressive composition and a lot of spices. It will be enough to soak a young farm rabbit for a short time in water with a pinch of spices. The meat will still turn out tasty, soft, tender.

How long does soaking last?

It takes varying amounts of time to soak the rabbit before further cooking. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to answer this question unambiguously. The recommended duration of the procedure will depend on various factors. First of all, it is the freshness and quality of the meat. The younger and fresher the carcass, the less time it will need to be kept in marinades. But the request of the cook himself is also important - the desired degree of soaking of the carcass. There are dishes for which it is undesirable to interrupt the natural flavor of meat. And, for example, for rabbit meat kebab it is worth making a product with a spicy, bright taste.

The table clearly shows the optimal soaking time:

Causes of unpleasant odor from a decorative rabbit

Rabbits are clean animals; they constantly lick their fur and wash themselves with their paws. Despite this, the smell of a pet can still be felt, but it is one thing when it is barely noticeable and does not cause disgust, and another thing when it is intense and terrible. It is important to understand that a healthy and well-groomed animal does not stink, but smells like food or bedding. If there is a stench coming from an animal, there are several explanations for this:

Read also: How and what to treat scabies in cows

Attention! If you smell a putrid odor coming from your pet, check the inside of his ears. With purulent otitis or infection with mites, the ears stink.

Rabbit recipe with balsamic vinegar

After such a marinade, the rabbit simply melts in your mouth.

Ingredients:

• rabbit meat – 1 carcass;
• balsamic vinegar – 60 ml;
• olive oil – 60 ml;
• garlic cloves – 2 pcs;
• bay leaf – 2 pcs;
• rosemary sprig – 1 piece;
• water – 1 l;
• salt and pepper to taste.

Cooking sequence:

1. Prepare the meat in advance: clean, rinse and cut into several pieces (optimal quantity - 8 pieces)
2. Prepare the marinade. To do this, boil a liter of water. Add all the ingredients there and mix. Once boiling, remove from heat.
3. Once the liquid has cooled slightly, place the rabbit meat in the pan. And leave for 30-40 minutes.
4. Then let the rabbit dry from moisture.
5. Heat oil (3 tbsp) in a frying pan. Fry the meat on it for 5 minutes.
6. Then pour in a little of the resulting marinade. Cover with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes.
7. Delicious and aromatic rabbit is ready to eat.

Calorie content per 100 g – 132 Kcal.

You will find another option for preparing rabbit meat with balsamic vinegar in the video below:

Universal recipe

This marinade can be used not only for hare, but also for other types of meat. It perfectly emphasizes the taste of the product. To prepare the marinade, you need to heat two liters of water, add a couple of bay leaves, carrots, two teaspoons of salt, one teaspoon of sugar, 20-30 black peppercorns and a few cloves. When the mixture has cooled, you will need to add one chopped onion and a few crushed cloves of garlic. After this, 250 ml of vinegar or half a liter of red wine is poured into the mixture. The carcass should lie in this marinade for at least 12 hours, but the longer the better. The meat should be turned over from time to time.

Delicious rabbit in the oven with potatoes

The meat turns out tender and juicy, and the potatoes are magnesium and aromatic, an excellent recipe for holidays and everyday life. Suitable for a family dinner, for get-togethers with friends, or just to please your family and feed them a hearty dinner.

Ingredients:

• rabbit 1 kg
• onion 1 piece
• 0.5 kg potatoes
• salt, pepper, meat seasonings
• 5 tbsp. l. mayonnaise
• 4 tbsp. l. vegetable oil

First, let's cut the meat into pieces, be sure to wash it, then soak it, or do without this procedure. I put the dried pieces (I remove the moisture with a paper towel) into a bowl.

I add salt, pepper, Italian herbs, you can use any seasonings. I peel and cut the onion into half rings and mayonnaise. And mix everything well.

I cover it with film and put it in the refrigerator to marinate for 2 hours, this is if I’m in a hurry, but if I’m not in a hurry, you can leave it for 6-8 hours, or overnight.

After the time has passed, I peel the potatoes and cut them into pieces. I salt, pepper, and add a little sweet paprika, but you can do without it.

I covered the bottom and sides of the pan with foil, put pieces of chicken and onions on the bottom, and potatoes on top.

Cover everything with foil on top and place in the oven for 1 hour, temperature 180 degrees. This way it will be tender and soft; mayonnaise serves as a good softener. We have cooked meat in mayonnaise many times, I want to say that it melts in your mouth, very tender and juicy.

Instead of a store-bought product, you can take a homemade one that you prepared yourself, or replace it with sour cream and cook it in sour cream. Alternatively, mix sour cream and mayonnaise in equal proportions.

After 1 hour, remove the foil and put it in the oven for another half hour. And in total, it turns out that the meat takes 1.5 hours to cook. Oven dishes are much healthier than those cooked in a frying pan. We often bake chicken and pork, it turns out great.

This is what the finished dish looks like, all that remains is to move it into a beautiful bowl and serve it to the table. You can sprinkle with fresh and aromatic herbs.

We check the readiness of the meat with a knife or fork, if you pierce it, and there is clear juice inside, everything is ready, if you see red juice, let it sit in the oven. But if the juice does not stand out, then it is overdried.

Pay attention to the age of the hare, I have a young rabbit, and it took 1.5 hours to cook; if it’s old, then perhaps it will be tougher, and it will take more time to cook it.

Heat treatment

The lower the temperature at which you cook the rabbit (starting from 70 ° C and no more than 160 ° C), and - proportionally - the longer the time, the tastier the dish will be. Calculate this: for an average rabbit weighing 2 kg at a temperature no higher than 100 ° C it will take 4–6 hours. If you do not have that much time for low-temperature processing, cook in the oven or in a frying pan over medium heat. Be sure to cook the rabbit in a liquid or sauce - this will prevent the tender meat from drying out. A completely natural steamed rabbit turns out to be very tasty. You don't even need to salt it.

Be sure to cook the rabbit in a liquid or sauce - this will prevent the tender meat from drying out.

Which spices should you choose?

You can soak the rabbit before cooking with spices. This will make the taste of any dish made from the meat in question tastier, more appetizing, and more aromatic. But not all spices go well with rabbit meat. Therefore, such additives must be selected very carefully.

Rabbit meat is best complemented with bay leaves, regular ground black pepper and dried/fresh onions. Before adding to the marinade, it is usually pureed to a pulp.

Also, basil, dill and parsley in any form go well with rabbit meat. You can also add coriander, thyme, garlic, lemon, cinnamon, and cloves to marinades for such meat. Rare but very tasty additions are juniper berries and cinnamon. It is taken in minimal portions. Even if various spices were used at the soaking stage, they can be added to the rabbit later during the heat treatment process. This is especially true if you want to prepare a spicy, savory treat.

Combinations

A green mixed salad with sun-dried tomatoes, olives and capers is perfect for any cooked rabbit. Hot side dishes include green beans with butter, asparagus (green or white), grilled or steamed vegetables. And, of course, potatoes - baked, boiled or in the form of creamy mashed potatoes.

Grilled or steamed vegetables go well with rabbit.

Cutlets

Do I need to soak the rabbit before making the cutlets? This is also necessary, this is done in order to get a tender and truly tasty dish. Rabbit cutlets are satisfying and are loved by both adults and children. The dish goes well with potatoes, cereals and pasta.

To prepare delicious cutlets, you need to choose good rabbit meat that has a soft pink color. No blood clots, which will then be difficult to remove or soak out.

Ingredients for minced meat:

• hind legs - 2 pcs;
• chicken egg - 1 pc;
• rice (50 g);
• salt, spices, vegetable oil.

The cooking process includes the following steps:

1. Rinse the rice thoroughly to remove dirt and starch. Cook until done for 15 minutes.
2. Next, prepare minced meat from the meat.
3. Add an egg to it.
4. Add cooked rice, salt and spices to the minced meat. Then the mass is thoroughly mixed and proceed to frying the cutlets.
5. Balls are prepared from minced meat by rolling them in flour. Fry in vegetable oil over medium heat.
6. Then bring the cutlets to readiness, covering them with a lid.

Serve the dish with mashed potatoes, porridge or pasta.

Festive rabbit with plums

Festive option! Very beautiful, rosy rabbit meat in a duet with delicious plums.

The dish turns out tender, soft, juicy with wonderful notes of plum and thyme aroma.

Guests will simply fall over you, and your family will be proud of you for such a treat!