What is eremsek, cooking options. Useful properties and restrictions when used. Recipes for dishes with red curd, how to choose it.
Eremsek is a red cottage cheese, a national product of Bashkir and Tatar cuisine. Other names: kyzyl eremsek, eremchek. It is produced in several versions - dried, medium moisture, soft. The color varies from reddish brown to brown, the consistency is from crumbly, from grains of different sizes, to thick, reminiscent of ordinary curd mass. A dry product has a shelf life of up to 2-3 weeks without a refrigerator, a wet product must be eaten in 3 days. The taste is sweetish, with sourness. The difference from ordinary traditional cottage cheese is that baked milk is used as a raw material. Berries are used to improve the taste: cherries, bird cherry, black currant.
How is red curd prepared?
There are many recipes for making red curd. They are passed from grandmother to granddaughter, they are improved by changing the ingredients. You can make eremsek like ordinary cottage cheese, increasing the number of processes, according to a quick recipe, using "store" products, or as they did initially, making their own national sourdough - katyk (fermented milk drink of high fat content).
Red curd recipes:
- Wet eremchek … The strained milk of the last milk yield is mixed in equal amounts with the katyk, put on a small fire to boil very slowly. When the first bubbles appear, the burner is screwed on and boiled for a long time until cottage cheese is formed. Drain part of the whey, add granulated sugar and continue to evaporate the liquid, stirring occasionally. When the mass is compacted, the liquid will evaporate almost completely, and the color of the mass will turn light brown, eggs and ghee are driven in. Cooled, served for tea. If you don't like sweets, then you can do without sugar. From 2 liters of raw materials, 250-400 g of the original product are obtained.
- Dry eremchek … In an oven preheated to 80 ° C, 4 liters of homemade cow's milk are evaporated until the contents of a thick-walled saucepan are halved. Foams are constantly drowned and everything is mixed. Cooled to room temperature, filtered. It turns out about 1.5 liters of baked milk. Mix with katyk (1 l), put on low heat until stratification. The whey is drained, leaving no more than 2 glasses, and the curd mass is boiled down further. Stir occasionally so as not to crush the curd lumps. When the liquid has evaporated completely, the curd is transferred to a hot pan. It is better to use cookware with a non-stick coating, then you do not need oil. If the kitchen utensils are cast iron or metal, then the surface is greased with ghee. Add sugar - 2-3 tbsp. l., brought to the desired condition, until it is possible to obtain a pleasant brownish-reddish shade. Caramelization should be avoided and the curd should remain soft. Dried eremsek is served with tea and used as a filling for baked goods.
- Average humidity … In a saucepan, baked milk is mixed with fermented baked milk or varenets (the drink should be of a characteristic creamy color), dissolution is achieved and the whey is evaporated. To speed up cooking, you can strain a little. When the liquid remains at the very bottom, honey is mixed in and boiled until a dense brownish curd mass is obtained.
- Quick recipe for 4 hours … Milk (1 l) is put on a high fire, a glass of kefir is poured in and 3 tbsp.l. sour cream is fatter. As soon as the contents of the pan are stratified, add 0.5 cups of sugar and mix. Some of the serum can be drained off. The remaining liquid is evaporated, a piece of butter is added 5 minutes before turning off. The color and consistency are chosen according to your own taste.
Since red curd is a popular product among the local population, it began to be made in dairies.
How eremsek is prepared on an industrial scale:
- Pasteurized milk is mixed with cream to obtain a fat content of 20%.
- It is heated in a digester to 90 ° C and fermented with whey, stirring continuously (the amount of whey is 8-10% of the total volume of the feedstock).
- The curd is boiled for 10 minutes, part of the whey is poured and the cheese mass is boiled for no more than 5 hours.
- Sugar is poured into the curd mass, everything is mixed and placed for heat treatment in a pressure chamber until it is possible to obtain a light brown color and get rid of excess moisture.
- Cooled in a boiler to 18-25 ° C.
Further, packaging, re-cooling and distribution to retail outlets are carried out. Interestingly, despite the issuance of a patent for industrial production, food industry awards and recognition of a consumer who is unfamiliar with a home Eremsek, the store option is not popular with the local population. According to reviews, it has a completely different taste.
Composition and calorie content of Eremsec
The nutritional value of red curd depends on the moisture content of the product and the fat content of the feedstock. Bashkir food scientists investigated the properties of the product made at the Yanaul factory.
The calorie content of Eremsek is 156 kcal, of which:
- Protein - 14 g;
- Fat - 9 g;
- Carbohydrates - 4 g.
A home-made product, which in consistency resembles a curd mass, has an energy value of up to 400 kcal. The percentage of fat - 20%, protein - 16, 8-18%, carbohydrates - 40-43%, water - 18%.
The red cottage cheese made at the Alekseevsky state farm (in Bashkortostan) has a caloric content of 220 kcal, of which:
- Protein - 16 g;
- Fat - 9 g;
- Carbohydrates - 16 g.
Vitamin and mineral composition of red cottage cheese is not rich, which is explained by prolonged heat treatment. The following nutrients remain in the composition of Eremsec: ascorbic, nicotinic and folic acid, tocopherol, retinol, a complex of vitamins D and group B, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and iron.
The beneficial properties of eremsek are enhanced at the last stage of preparation, when honey, ghee, and various berries are added to the curd mass. In this case, an easily digestible complex is created, which helps the body to replenish its vitamin and mineral reserves.
Useful properties of eremsek red curd
Since ancient times, dried red cottage cheese helped nomads restore strength during long journeys, and prevented the development of scurvy.
Eremsec benefits
- It normalizes the processes of digestion in the body, creates favorable conditions for increasing the activity of the beneficial flora of the small intestine, and stimulates peristalsis. Wet curd has a laxative effect, dry - fixing.
- It stabilizes the work of the brain and the central nervous system, improves the conduction of nerve impulses.
- Strengthens teeth and bone tissue, prevents the development of osteoporosis.
- Easy to digest. If there is red cottage cheese in the diet, then the likelihood of developing vitamin deficiency and anemia is significantly reduced.
- Helps the liver to cope with intoxication. It is very useful to introduce eremchek into the diet during antibiotic treatment.
- It has a mild diuretic effect, eliminates puffiness and unhealthy puffiness of the face.
- Stimulates the production of bile and digestive enzymes.
- Prevents the development of age-related changes.
The healing qualities of homemade eremsek are enhanced by additional ingredients. Wet curd mass with honey helps to cope with coughs in case of complications of acute respiratory viral infections and whooping cough, with berries - it strengthens the intestines and replenishes the body's vitamin and mineral reserves.
Red cottage cheese in any variant can be introduced into the diet of pregnant women, lactating women and young children. Bodybuilders use eremchek to build muscle mass.
Contraindications and harm eremsek
When learning about a new taste, you should consider the risk of developing an allergic reaction with intolerance to milk protein and additional ingredients of the product.
Eremsec can cause harm in diabetes mellitus, celiac disease (intolerance to milk protein), diseases of the digestive tract, chronic pancreatitis. It should be borne in mind that when using a fat-free product, the absorption of calcium decreases, and too fatty - hepatic colic and acute diarrhea appear.
A fermented milk product of this type should not be introduced into the diet with a tendency to form a fat layer.
It is recommended to limit the consumption of red curd to 200 g per day. If you increase the amount eaten, you can provoke a violation of the acid-base and water-electrolyte balance of the body.
Contraindications, with the exception of diabetes mellitus and celiac disease, are not absolute. If you avoid abuse and limit yourself to small portions, adverse effects on the body are excluded.
Eremsek recipes
Red cottage cheese is not only eaten as an independent dish, but also used as an ingredient in desserts, baked goods and flour products.
Delicious recipes with eremsek:
- Casserole … Knead a doughy mass of 300 g of eremchek, 2 chicken eggs, sugar and semolina - 2 tbsp. l., vanillin - a pinch. Achieve a uniform consistency. Cake molds are greased with vegetable oil, curd mass is spread, compacted. Bake at 200 ° C for up to 20 minutes. Allow to cool in molds, serve with sour cream or berry sauce.
- Gubadia … Milk, 80 ml, warm up, add 2 tbsp. l. dry yeast, a little sugar and let stand to activate the fungi. Then add flour and sugar - 30 g, add an egg and water, knead a soft dough that does not stick to your hands. The amount of water and flour is determined empirically. While the dough is being kneaded, boil the rice, about half a glass, and 2-3 eggs. They give the batch a rest, wrapped in cellophane wrap, and are busy with the filling. Mix boiled rice with soaked raisins (3 tablespoons) and chopped eggs. The mold is greased with sunflower oil, half of the dough is rolled into a layer, laid out in prepared dishes and the sides are formed. The first layer is a mixture of rice with eggs and raisins, the second is 100 g of eremsek. Some housewives prefer to lay out all the ingredients of the filling in layers: rice, eggs, raisins, red curd. Close the filling with a layer of dough, pinch. A hole is formed in the middle of the cake. Prick the dough with a fork, brush with a beaten egg, bake until golden brown at 180 ° C. There is another version of the filling: boiled rice, soaked dried fruits - prunes, raisins and dried apricots (by handful), boiled eggs, eremsek. It is customary to sprinkle a sweet cake with crumbs. To make it, mix a piece of butter, sugar and flour, rub with your fingers. Unleavened dough is often used as the basis for sweet gubadia. In sifted flour, 2 glasses, add frozen grated margarine - a pack, grind to the consistency of individual grains with your hands. Pour the crumb into kefir (1, 5 cups), drive in 2 eggs, add some salt. As a baking powder, use soda slaked with vinegar - 1 tsp.
- Vareniki … The dough is kneaded in boiling water, pouring sifted flour in a thin stream, a little salt and pour in 1 tbsp. l. sunflower oil. Red curd is combined with pitted cherries and mixed - the filling should be homogeneous. Roll out the dough in a thin layer, cut out a mug with a glass or a thin-walled glass, lay out the filling and carefully seal the edges. Dip in salted water and cook until tender. You can do without berries.
You can make the same desserts from red cottage cheese as from ordinary ones. You just need to take into account the sweetness of the original product and adjust the amount of sugar.
Interesting facts about red curd
In ancient times, the Slavs were forbidden to eat cottage cheese in the summer. This rule appeared due to the fact that the product is perishable, and there were no refrigerators. Eremchek was an exception. The nomads took this product with them already during the raids.
Goat and even sheep's milk can be used as a raw material. In this case, sweeteners are usually dispensed with, which means that diabetes mellitus is not a contraindication to use.
Vegans often make the product from pea (chickpea) milk and offer it as a healthy diet. Such eremsek is not an analogue of the original product either in taste or in properties.
When purchasing red curd, you need to pay attention to the consistency. If the liquid is not completely evaporated, the consumer is offered the usual curd mass, but dark in color. Dry eremchek is not crumbly, but consists of small homogeneous lumps. "Rubbery" taste is not allowed, pleasant softness should be felt when chewing.
It is very easy to return a dried eremsek to a soft consistency. To do this, it is enough to dilute it with milk or katyk.
Watch a video about red curd:
It will take at least a day to prepare a real eremchek. Therefore, if you want to please guests with a new taste, you should take care of this in advance.
