Did you know? Ostrich meat resembles beef but will cook similarly to a breast of chicken if left over-heated. This chart (above) plots each cut from wing to inner thigh; what’s tender and when to exercise restraint. Learn it, and say goodbye to the days of cooking your neck roast like fillet steak. You’ll have no problem avoiding serving up shoe leather disguised as gourmet protein.
Coming from the inner thigh, where muscle does almost no work throughout bird’s life, fan fillet is most tender cut. It contains just two grams of fat per hundred grams with very little connective tissue in the muscle. Compare this to a standard beef sirloin, which contain twelve grams of fat. Because there is no intramuscular fat to insulate it against heat, the fan fillet are quick to cook. Two to three minutes each side on hot cast-iron is enough. Don’t overcook, if you do, the meat will be dry.
How to Cook Ostrich Meat
Ostrich meat remains a dark red colour even once thoroughly cooked; you must use a thermometer to determine doneness. Trusting your eyes won’t help you here.
Some other parts of bird are best cooked differently: the neck muscles and the round muscle is hard-working, full-of-collagen pieces of the bird. For them, a quick sear is not the way; these cuts should of braised slowly over low heat. (The visual guide recommends temperatures around one hundred eighty degrees.) A neck roast won’t turn out great grilled quickly; it’ll be tough. Braised in broth or red wine for several hours, however, it’ll be tender. The collagen break down into gelatin, coating the lean meat fibers with moisture where fat typically would.
Ostrich also benefits from marinating; even more so than beef. Softness of a tough cut increases with acid ingredients such as red wine or citrus juice before cooking. Marinate the inside leg (top loin) for four to twenty-four hours. For the fan fillet, just season with salt and pepper. Why? This is a delicate cut whose natural flavor will be masked by too heavy sauce. Try a light chimichurri or a simple red wine reduction.
It’s also worth noting that lean ostrich spoils faster then fatty beef. Freshly cut should only be kept for 3 days, although vacuum-sealed will keep about one year in the freezer. It needs to defrost slowly in your fridge, never at room temperature! It’ll either thaw unevenly (making for some tough chewing) or encourage bacteria to grow.
Once cooked, slice the fan fillet against grain. That shortens the muscle fiber and result in a softer bite with every piece. When it comes to cooking ostrich, remember its leanness. Whatever dish you choose, whether it’s braising a drumstick off the wing, or searing tenderloin, focus on keeping it moist.
Accompany the dish with big reds such as Shiraz or Cabernet. These wines has enough tannin to pair well with iron taste of the meat. That transforms ostrich from something strange to a solid piece of protein.