How to soak a hare: recipe, means, tips

• October 25, 2018
• Cooking
• Ekaterina Komisarova

Every hunter will surely be delighted with such prey as a hare. These animals live in central Russia, Asia, Europe and the USA. There are quite a lot of such eared inhabitants in the forests. But catching the hare is not enough. It is important to know how to properly cook meat so that it is tasty and nutritious. Only in this case will you be able to fully enjoy the taste of the prey. In this review we will take a closer look at how to soak a hare.

basic information

Hare meat is considered a healthy dietary meat. It contains a large amount of nutrients and proteins, but the content of fats and carbohydrates is low. Hare dishes have a special interesting taste. However, to cook them correctly, you need to know how to prepare the meat. The process of preparing hare meat usually takes from 40 minutes to 2 hours. It all depends on the weight of the carcass and the number of pieces of meat. Such dishes will definitely decorate your home feast and will please your guests.

Hare meat is white with a slightly reddish tint. In itself it is quite stringy, with a lot of films. The meat of Russian hares is considered the most delicious. The taste characteristics of game largely depend on the habitat and diet of the animal. The inhabitants of mountainous areas are considered the most tasty, and the least tasty are the hares living in the swamps. The quality of game meat is usually highest in winter and fall. You should also take into account such an important parameter as the age of the animal. Old individuals are stronger and more muscular.

To give hare dishes a unique taste, you must follow some recommendations. Otherwise, the meat may turn out tough and have a specific smell.

Differences between hare and rabbit meat

Both the rabbit and the hare belong to the order “Lagomorpha”, however, there are external and taste differences between them.

Rabbit meat

Rabbit meat is the meat of domesticated animals. Although rabbits are still found in the wild to this day, individuals from farms are used as food.

Farmers raise meat breed rabbits, which are characterized by large amounts of muscle tissue and rapid weight gain. The meat of these animals is more tender than that of hares. This is due to the feeding habits in captivity and a sedentary lifestyle.

In rare cases, rabbit meat may have an unpleasant odor. It is inherent in inseminating males. Such carcasses must be soaked.

Young animals are often sold on a large scale, since the average time for raising rabbits on a farm is about six months. Their meat has a delicate texture and pleasant aroma.

Soaking the rabbit allows you to get rid of the slightest foreign odors and give it a piquant taste.

Hare meat

Unlike rabbit meat, hare meat is more difficult to find on store shelves. A hare dish on the dinner table is the result of a successful hunt. Carcasses, as a rule, differ from rabbit carcasses in their larger size. When visually compared, hare meat is redder and rich in blood.

Special snares can be used for catching, but more often hares are killed in amateur hunting. The animal experiences stress, which triggers a series of chemical reactions; there is a sudden release of adrenaline. The hormone affects the metabolism of sugars, and as a result, the pH of the rabbit’s muscle tissue changes.

It is difficult to reliably determine from the appearance of a hare carcass whether the meat will be soft, aromatic, or have a specific odor. The age of the animal and its feeding habits remain unknown.

According to hunters, the most delicious will be a young hare - up to 1 year. Age can be determined by the following criteria:

• the knees are thicker, in contrast to the fragile paws;
• ears are smaller than those of adult hares;
• the neck is shorter.

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Regardless of age, it is necessary to soak a hare, but the meat of a young animal is not subjected to such lengthy processing. The procedure will eliminate the unpleasant odor and slight bitter taste.

Preparing the meat

This aspect deserves special attention. It is recommended to keep the hare carcass in a cool place for several days immediately after catching. After this, you must perform the following procedures:

1. Skinning: The carcass, suspended by the hind legs, is cut lengthwise in the belly area and the skin is separated from the meat.
2. Gutting: a small incision is made in the groin area, the carcass is carefully cut to the middle of the length, and the internal organs are removed. After this, it is cleared of film and washed.
3. Cutting: different hare dishes will require different parts of the carcass. First of all, the shoulder blades are separated, the front part is cut off, then the saddle, the kidney part and the hind legs.

How to properly butcher a hare?

cut the inside of the paws lengthwise towards the tail, remove the tail; cut the skin around the anus, remove it from the hind legs; the skin is removed from the front paws up to the wrist joint, it is cut and remains in the skin; To free the head, the cartilage at the base of the ears, eyes and nose is cut with a knife.

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Soaking

So what is this process? Many hunters are interested in how to properly soak a hare. This stage should take at least a day. Soaking removes blood and characteristic odor from the carcass. Many people believe that this procedure is not necessary if the meat is fresh. It doesn't really matter in this case. The fact is that hares are wild animals, and they are killed quickly and extremely inhumanely. In the last minutes of life, a release of adrenaline into the blood may occur in the animal’s body. This affects the taste of the meat. In addition, unprocessed hare meat is usually bitter and tough. Soaking will help make it softer and juicier. Plain water, milk or vinegar can be used to carry out this procedure. The method depends on the recipe you choose. Let's look at them in more detail.

How to soak a hare before cooking

The statement that fresh hare meat can be cooked immediately after it is delivered home is completely incorrect. During the hunt, hares are shot or caught in snares, which also cannot be called a humane way of killing. Stress leads to the release of adrenaline into the blood, due to which meat changes its taste. In addition, it is impossible to even approximately guess what the taste of a particular wild hare will be, because it is unknown where and what it ate. There is one more point that hunters know about, but which few people outside this community know about - hare meat is quite tough and tastes bitter, so all that remains is to soak a wild hare in milk, vinegar, and water.

In water

How to soak a hare before cooking? The simplest and most common method is soaking in water. Any game has a specific taste and smell. To get rid of them using plain water, you will have to spend quite a lot of time - from 12 to 24 hours. At the same time, the water in which the meat is soaked must be changed from time to time.

How to marinate meat?

The secret to making a hare soft and juicy is to marinate it. There are several most popular marinades for hare.

Sour cream marinade

To prepare such a marinade, take 250 grams per 1 kg of meat. sour cream, 10 bay leaves and 5 pcs. black peppercorns. The meat is immersed in an enamel bowl and sprinkled with a few pinches of salt. Then sour cream and other ingredients are added to the meat. To achieve the best effect, cover the hare with a lid and place a press on top. Afterwards, the container with the product is sent to the refrigerator and kept for 3 to 5 hours.

Onion marinade

To get onion marinade, take 250 g. onions, cut into small pieces or grind. The hare meat is cut into small pieces, placed in a bowl and onions are added. A few pinches of salt and sugar, 5-7 bay leaves, a pinch of black peppercorns and 3 tablespoons of sunflower or olive oil, as well as chopped garlic are also sent there. All ingredients are thoroughly mixed and marinated for 7-8 hours.

Marinade with white wine

Marinade with white wine is prepared as follows: 0.5 liters of semi-sweet white wine is mixed with 0.5 teaspoon of salt, 3 crushed allspice peas and several cloves. The hare meat is cut into pieces and placed in a bowl. Then take half a lemon and cut it into rings along with the peel. Add lemon and herbs to taste to the container with meat. The meat should be marinated for 2-4 hours. Do not cook longer, as the meat may become bitter.

In milk

So, how to soak hare meat? It is worth noting that milk allows you to make meat more tender and soft. In addition, it gives the hare a slight sweetish taste, which will certainly affect the taste characteristics of the finished dish. You cannot achieve such sweetness by using sour milk, whey or kefir.

Many novice housewives who decide to cook game dishes are interested in how long to soak the hare in milk before cooking. The process may take from 12 to 24 hours. You can immediately add spices to the milk. This way the meat will marinate immediately. Once the soaking is complete, you can use the remaining milk to prepare the dish. It makes a wonderful sauce.

How to cook a rabbit in the oven in sour cream so that the meat is soft and juicy

Now I will tell you our family recipe, it has been tested by time and years, few people know about it, but the meat turns out extraordinary. My mom cooks this way, I cooked it today, and I filmed everything on my camera. I am pleased to share with you the photo and step-by-step recipe.

This is oven-baked meat with beans, in a creamy sauce, resulting in incredibly tender and juicy meat, and a side dish of beans and vegetables. To be honest, my mother calls this dish rabbit with beans and vegetables in the oven. She prepares it for family gatherings, and when the whole family gathers at one table.

I specially took a lot of photos for you and I will describe everything in detail and step by step, so that everyone can prepare this wonderful dish, for a holiday, or for dinner on an ordinary weekday.

Ingredients:

• Rabbit - 2.2 kg.
• Beans 1 cup (200 gr.)
• Carrots - 3 pcs.
• Onion - 2 pcs.
• Salt, pepper, other spices as desired
• 3 - 4 tbsp. spoons of homemade sour cream
• Vegetable oil for frying

In the evening, fill the beans with plain water so that they are completely covered, and even more. This is how much I got out of one glass. Also, cut the meat into pieces and peel the vegetables.

Now the most important thing is to fill the pieces with cold water. I leave it for 2-4 hours, you can change the water once. As you can see, the water turns red, you definitely need to soak it.

If you want, you can add a spoon or two of 9% vinegar. Then, just rinse the pieces with running water, and there will be no smell.

Now, we need to fry the vegetables, I take onions and carrots, maybe celery. I chop the onions and carrots coarsely, fry them, but not until golden brown.

I place the vegetables in a heated frying pan, pour in vegetable oil, first the onions, fried, then the carrots.

Then I remove the meat from the water, rinse it, and dry it on a paper towel. Salt, pepper, you can add spices.

Oregano, basil, rosemary, peppercorns, bay leaf, thyme.

I pour a little vegetable oil into a frying pan, fry the pieces on both sides, my goal is not to cook, but to fry on both sides.

Next, I take a glass dish, put the vegetables that I fried on the bottom, pieces of fried meat on top, and then the beans.

I don’t boil the beans, I soak them in water in the evening, and they become several times larger. During the stewing time in the oven, it has time to cook.

I fill everything with water so that it covers everything completely. You can take regular drinking water or boiled hot water, this will speed up the cooking process.

I add peppercorns, allspice and bay leaves, add spices to your taste and discretion.

I put all this beauty in the oven, set it for 20 minutes, temperature 200 degrees, then take it out, take half a glass of broth, and add a couple of spoons of sour cream to it, I have homemade sour cream.

I pour the broth with sour cream into the meat; I do not add any flour or starch. And again I put it in the oven for 40 minutes, at the same temperature.

In the end, you get meat, beans, and vegetables, so satisfying and incredibly tasty. And it all melts in your mouth. I recently cooked for a family dinner and the whole family was delighted. This recipe has been tested over the years; my mother has been preparing it for many years. It's certainly not fast, but it's worth it.

It is very tasty both hot and cold, it is made in a creamy sauce, homemade sour cream does not curdle, and the result is a beautiful, delicate sauce.

Cooking in the field

Sometimes it is not possible to properly condition and prepare the carcass (for example, this is very problematic in field conditions). Then you can use some tricks. The easiest way in this case would be to roast the carcass on a spit over a fire. How to soak a hare with this option and is it necessary to do it at all? To make the meat tasty, it is recommended to place it in the marinade for a couple of hours. To prepare it, you need to take a simple bite and mix it with water. The mixture should taste slightly sour. One carcass will require about three liters of liquid. After soaking, the meat should be rubbed with a mixture of salt and pepper. Instead of a skewer, you can use a strong branch or a pointed stick. Meat should be cooked over smoldering coals. In order for the carcass to cook evenly on all sides, it should be turned over from time to time. It is best to serve the finished dish with grated garlic and chopped herbs.

Save your skin

The fastest and most popular ways to preserve hare skin are dry-salted and wet-salted.

1. The method of dry salting at home is quite simple; in this case, the flesh is generously covered with salt and rubbed in. After which it is aged for 5-7 days. Next, the skin is stretched onto a special spacer and the brine released from the flesh is periodically collected with a dry cloth and sprinkled with salt again. When the skin becomes an even color, all the salt must be removed and hung to dry for two weeks.
2. With the wet-salted method, the skin should be washed well, remembering to change the water frequently, then gently squeeze it out and immerse it in the prepared solution for 7-10 days. During this period, it must be thoroughly mixed in the solution. Next, it is removed from the solution, washed and dried with the fur facing out. To prepare the solution for one skin you will need 7-8 liters of solution.

For 1000 ml of water you should take:

• 15 g 70% vinegar;
• 0.1 kg salt;
• 20 g aluminum alum;
• 1 g crystalline phenol;
• 60 g borax.

The skins should be dried away from heating devices and also protected from insects. To do this, you can use insecticides and a thick mesh.

Marinade recipes

Let's look at them in more detail. Most recipes for cooking hare are based on pre-marinating the carcass. The marinade can be prepared using kvass, vinegar, red wine, lemon juice, kefir or milk.

How to soak a hare? Marinating is used not only to give the dish an exquisite delicate taste, but also to soften the meat.

There are several simple recommendations that will allow you to achieve amazing results in this matter:

• Do not add too many spices to the marinade. This can dull the natural flavor of the meat.
• Do not marinate meat before cooking.
• The marinade must only be brought to a temperature of 90 degrees.
• Meat can only be soaked in a mixture that has already cooled down.
• Avoid using copper and aluminum cookware.
• The marinade should completely cover the meat.

Different types of marinade are used for different methods of cooking meat. Let's look at them in more detail.

The best marinades

There are several ways to marinate a hare:

• Whey is an excellent way to soak and marinate hare. After keeping the meat in this marinade for several hours, it will become very tender, and the specific smell will disappear;
• vinegar. It is recommended to use only wine vinegar in combination with spices. Vinegar and spices are added to the water to taste and the hare is marinated in this solution for at least 12 hours. The only drawback of this method is that the meat becomes much softer, but completely loses its natural flavor. Using this method, the meat must be thoroughly washed immediately before cooking;
• garlic and olive oil. This marinade is considered a classic; it is often used for marinating hare, which is cooked in the oven. One carcass requires a lot of garlic – 2-3 medium heads. This marinade can be made more piquant by adding various finely chopped herbs. The meat is rubbed with the mixture and sent to a cool place for several hours. Garlic will create a contrast of flavors, soften the meat and become an assistant when baking it;
• White wine. One of the best marinades. It quickly removes the specific smell, softens and flavors the meat. The result is a tender and tasty dish with beneficial properties and a pleasant aroma;
• spices. An integral part of this game. They are added at the marinating stage and immediately before cooking. There is a list of spices that give hare a unique taste: ground pepper, onion, salt, bay leaf. Also often used: basil, celery, parsley, dill, garlic, cinnamon, oregano, juniper berries, lemon and cloves.

A well-cooked hare is a wonderful reward for a hunter who has caught such valuable and tasty game.

For frying

What is special about this method? How to soak a wild hare for frying? To prepare the marinade, you need to take three liters of water, three teaspoons of sugar and salt, three glasses of vinegar, herbs and spices. The carcass must be covered with chopped onions and poured with the resulting mixture. Instead of vinegar, you can use white wine. Sauerkraut juice or cucumber pickle will also work. When using these vinegar substitutes, the amount should be doubled. The carcass is left in this marinade overnight. The process of cooking the hare itself will not take much time if the preparatory work is done correctly.

Taste characteristics of wild hare

The tastiest hare is the one that has eaten its fill of mountain food; next in terms of taste are the hares that live in the lowlands (forests, valleys, steppes), and the least tastier are the hares that live in swampy areas.

The best period for shooting wild hare is autumn and winter . Shooting an animal from September to March, you can hope for an excellent taste of the prey, but they are most nourished in early autumn. The taste of a young hare is significantly different from the taste of an old one; the most delicious trophy is no older than one year.

It is quite easy to distinguish a young hare from an old one - a young hare has a thick and short neck, soft ears and front legs that are easily broken. Old individuals are much stronger, they have more muscles and veins, a more elongated silhouette and they are thinner.

For grilling

If you are planning to fry a hare carcass on the grill, then you will need a special marinade to pre-prepare the meat. To prepare it, you need to take equal amounts of soy sauce, vinegar, honey, 2-3 onions, 5 cloves of garlic and half a glass of vegetable oil. The meat can also be seasoned with salt, pepper and red paprika. The hare should be marinated in this composition for 2-3 hours.

How to store meat?

Hare meat should be stored in the refrigerator. To do this, it is packaged in bowls, containers or other containers that are tightly closed with a lid. When fresh, meat has a shelf life of no more than a few days, so it should be consumed within this period.

The rules for storing hare meat in the freezer deserve special attention. Hare meat should be frozen in a tight bag at a temperature of no more than -18 degrees Celsius. If all conditions are met, meat can be frozen for up to 6 months.

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.

How to choose?

Young hare is considered an excellent product for cooking. The carcass of a hare up to 12 months old is best suited for this. © https://ydoo.info/product/myaso-zayca.html You can determine age using the following criteria:

• the carcass of a young hare does not exceed 1 kg;
• the meat has a light pink tint;
• young hares have a short neck, soft ears and thick legs;
• on the front of the ulna you can find a tubercle - if it is soft, then this means a young animal.

In order to choose a high-quality and fresh product, you need to pay attention to:

1. Color. Fresh meat has a white-pink hue. Darkening of the meat to a dark red color indicates the age of the animal exceeding 12 months. The presence of any stains may indicate that the product is not fresh. The only acceptable color change is a marking mark on the meat.
2. Smell. The fresh product has virtually no odor. Any foreign odors - rotten or rotten - indicate a stitched product.
3. Package. When buying meat in a store, you need to pay attention to the integrity of the packaging, which should be clean, dry, without ice or drops of blood inside.

Yogurt marinade

Today, many people monitor their diet and strive to eat only dietary foods. How to soak a hare in this case? You can prepare soft, tender meat with an exquisite taste using yogurt marinade. For one kilogram of meat you should take 100 grams of curdled milk or yogurt. You need to add a teaspoon of vinegar and lemon juice, half a spoon of curry, a pinch of turmeric, salt and cardamom to it. Beat the resulting mixture thoroughly. After this, the meat is poured with the prepared marinade. This option is also suitable for those who need to quickly prepare meat for baking. This marinade allows you to quickly remove the specific smell of meat.

a brief description of

Hare meat is a favorite dish for many. Housewives serve it both on the festive table and add it to the daily diet.

What does it look like?

Hare meat looks like rich white-pinkish or dark red meat. The carcass of a young hare has thick legs, an elongated body and a short neck. The meat is covered with a thin whitish film, which must be removed with a knife before cooking. The meat itself has a dense consistency and practically no fat layer, which is why it is considered a dietary product.

Taste

Hare meat has a bright meaty taste. Some note the original sweetish taste. And if spices and herbs were used during the cooking process, the usual meat flavor is offset by the flavor variety of herbs and spices.

Smell

Cooked hare meat from a fresh product has virtually no odor. The finished dish has a light, pleasant meat aroma, complemented by the smell of spices.

How to distinguish a hare from a rabbit?

It is quite simple to distinguish hare meat from rabbit meat if you remember their main differences:

• the carcass of a rabbit is much smaller than that of a hare;
• the front legs of a hare are larger and longer than those of a rabbit;
• hares have longer ears;
• rabbit meat is dark red and dry, and hare meat is white or white-pink in color;
• The taste of hare meat is particularly tough, while rabbit has a soft and juicy taste.

Benefits and harms

Hare meat contains a large amount of protein, vitamins and useful minerals, but its fat content is minimal - this is what provides a variety of beneficial properties for the body. Eating hare meat can:

• reduce the permeability of vascular walls, normalize heart rate and blood pressure;
• improve digestion processes and liver function;
• stimulate hematopoiesis;
• improve metabolism;
• have an immunostimulating and antioxidant effect.

Hare meat can cause harm to humans if you do not know the contraindications to the use of this product.

Thus, hare meat can cause the onset or exacerbation of gout or arthritis, and in children, neuro-arthritic diathesis may occur. Therefore, if a person has diseases such as gout, arthritis or psoriasis, it is better to avoid eating this meat.

Hare meat is a unique product. Unlike other types of meat, it has an original sweetish taste that goes well with any side dish or vegetable addition. This dietary meat can be consumed by people of all ages, the only thing is that you should not forget about contraindications.