Stewing advice needed

So last night I made lu rou--pork stewed in aromatic broth--as a way to recycle the lovely aromatic marinade I had used for grilled chicken wings. I enhanced the marinade with a commercial spice packet intended specifically for lu--it has cinnamon, a small dried chile, fennel, dried ginger, and hawthorn berries. I also added some dark soy sauce and enough unsalted chicken broth so that the meat was covered. I simmered all this for 1-1/4 hours.

It came out delicious, except for one thing: the meat, although very tender and flavorful, was dry. So I'm seeking advice from those experienced with meat stews on where I might have gone wrong.

The recipes for lu call for using a fatty cut of pork; leg meat is recommended. I chose Boston butt, which is my go-to cut for Carolina-style pulled pork barbecue. When barbecued it comes out tender, flavorful, and, while being pulled apart by hand, a bit greasy. So I cut the Boston butt into 1-inch cubes.

I put everything into a pot, brought it to a boil, and then lowered that to a simmer.

I did have a heat control problem at one point--the stuff had returned to a rolling boil.

So thinking about what may have gone wrong here:

o wrong cut of meat?

o should have brought the liquid to a boil by itself, before adding the meat?

o should have browned the meat first?

o dried out due to that rolling boil midway?

o didn't cook it long enough?

Advice appreciated.

-Paul W.

Was the meat cubed or just in one chunk? After you reduced the heat partway through, was the meat still covered?
You say the meat was tender and tasty, but dry. That isn't a combination I've experienced, so I'm sort of tossing random darts.

The meat was overcooked. When you boil meat the muscle fibers contract and squeeze out internal water. So the idea is to slow cook at a low temperature, giving enough time for the connective tissue to break down into a silky texture.

I usually sear the surface lightly to ramp up the taste. Your choice.

o wrong cut of meat?
o should have brought the liquid to a boil by itself, before adding the meat?
o should have browned the meat first?
o dried out due to that rolling boil midway?
o didn't cook it long enough?

My instinctive reaction, after reading your story, is that the cut of meat was not suitable, not fatty enough. So the long cooking, especially with a high-heat episode, rendered too much fat out of it.

I have also now sat down and read a dozen lu rou recipes. They vary quite a bit but all of them say to cut the meat in smaller pieces (and not just the S Taiwanese ones), all say to brown the meat first, and almost all say to simmer for only a half hour.

Only one insisted that only belly will work, but some of the 'ok to use leg' recipes then said to add lard.

o dried out due to that rolling boil midway?

That's my guess. I always found beef stews dry until I learned to only let it gently simmer. I imagine pork's the same.

Was the meat cubed or just in one chunk? After you reduced the heat partway through, was the meat still covered?

The meat was cubed, in one-inch chunks. It was covered by liquid throughout the cooking process.

I think Larry has the right diagnosis. Next time I will try cutting the meat into smaller chunks (1" isn't very chopstick-friendly), browning the meat first, adding the meat only after the liquid reaches the boil, and cooking at a lower simmer.

Thank you all.

-Paul W.

Was the meat cubed or just in one chunk? After you reduced the heat partway through, was the meat still covered?

The meat was cubed, in one-inch chunks. It was covered by liquid throughout the cooking process.

I think Larry has the right diagnosis. Next time I will try cutting the meat into smaller chunks (1" isn't very chopstick-friendly), browning the meat first, adding the meat only after the liquid reaches the boil, and cooking at a lower simmer.

Thank you all.

-Paul W.

But don't overdo the searing and dry out the meat, particularly if the cubes are small. You'll know if the cubes shrink a lot.

Last night's dinner was leftovers from the lu rou. I reheated some of the chunks of meat, along with some of the lu stewing liquid. Taking a page out of the shredded pork barbecue book, I broke up the meat chunks into shreds and was pleased to see that they absorbed most of the liquid. Served over rice, this was delicious and the meat was a lot moister than it had been before. A lot of low-simmer dishes improve when re-heated, but I think breaking up the chunks corrected most of the dryness problem.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Coming in late, but I agree with Larry about the outcome and your choice of Boston Butt. That's the right cut for this kind of braise. I would, however, recommend strips not squarish chunks. Thinner pieces, easy to muster with chopsticks.