Zuurvlees
Zuurvlees (or Zoervleesj or Zoervleis) is a traditional stew from the province of Limburg, which lies in between Belgium and the Netherlands. All though it is still possible to find the original horse meat stew, the beef version is becoming more popular because of its availability.
Other similar stews of this region include Hachee and Carbonade Flamande.
Ingredients
- 1 kg of horse meat or beef, chunked
- 2 large onions thickly chopped
- 2 or 3 tablespoons of apple butter (appelstroop)
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 cloves whole
- 4 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups white vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 3 slices of Dutch gingerbread (ontbijtkoek)
- Pepper and salt
Preparation
The day before, chop up the meat the day before in to large chunks and put them in a bowl with water, vinegar, the cloves and a pinch of salt.
After the meat has marinated for a day set your stew pot on high heat and remove the meat from the marinade, preserving it for later.
Dry the meat well and add one teaspoon of sugar onto the meat while massaging it in, and add some butter or oil to the pan to start sealing. Do this in batches to prevent the meat from releasing too much liquid, which would cause it to steam instead of sear. When a batch is well sealed take it out and put it back into the marinade.
Next add the onions and lower the heat to prevent them from burning, add another teaspoon of brown sugar to the onions to help caramelize them, this process can take a while, but be patient and stir frequently until the onions are golden brown.
Add the marinade with the meat to the onions and the apple butter, the bay leaves and the remaining teaspoons of sugar, and cover it up to boil.
When it starts a rolling boil lower the heat to medium and stir occasionally. Let it cook for another 2 hours.
Once the meat is tender you can add the slices of gingerbread crumbled so they evenly thicken the stew.
This stew will serve 4 stewlovers, it goes very well with thick slice style fries, or apple sauce.