Beef tendon is primarily composed of collagen, a connective tissue that helps connect muscle to the bone. It is rare to find beef tendon in the North American diet; however, Asian cuisines make frequent use of it in soup, stew or broths. So what kind of nutrition does beef tendon provide and how can it be cooked?

Nutrition of Beef Tendon

The main ingredients of the beef tendon are hydrolyzed collagen and elastin. These connective tissues play an important role in bone health. Studies have shown that a diet rich in hydrolyzed collagen can help improve overall bone density. Including hydrolyzed collagen in diet a month before surgery helps prevent bone mineral density loss. 

Nutrition Facts of Beef Tendon

Nutritious Beef Tendon Recipes

1. Beef Tendon Soup

Ingredients

• 1 pound beef tendons
• Water

Directions

• The first step is to bring a pot of water to a boil. Blanch the tendons in this water for around 3-4 minutes and then drain off the water. Make sure that you remove the residue from the pot and rinse the tendons.
• Slice each tendon into pieces of 1 inch wide.
• Place these sliced tendons into the pot and cover them with filtered water till 3/4th of them are submerged in water.
• Put the pot on heat and bring the water to a boil, and then immediately reduce the heat so that it just keeps simmering. Strong boil may cause more residue to form.
• Then, cover the pot and allow it to simmer for 7 hours. The pot being used must have a cover that fits tightly so that the water does not evaporate. Keep checking the pot from time to time and add more water if necessary. Skim off any new scum that forms.
• After seven hours, the tendons will be ready to be used in soup. You can put some of the broth in the soup to add flavor. The leftover broth is full of beef tendon nutrition and can be stored for further use.

2. Beef Tendon Curry

Ingredients

• 1 kg beef tendon
• 2 medium carrots
• 3 medium potatoes
• 3 onions
• 1 ginger
• 1 dash of the green part of Japanese leeks
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 1/2 boxes commercial curry roux
• Water

Directions

• The first step is to parboil the beef with ginger. This will remove any gamey smell or any excess fat.
• The vegetables should be cut up into small pieces while the meat is parboiling. 
• Put all the vegetable trimmings, the green parts of the leek and the boiled beef tendon into a pressure cooker. Add 2.5 liters of water and set the cooker on heat.
• Let the cooker come to a boil and then cook the ingredients for 15 minutes under pressure.
• After 15 minutes, remove the beef tendon and cut it into pieces. Strain the stock and remove any fat that has risen to the surface.
• Sauté the carrots and potatoes together. Add the onions after a while and cook them until they become translucent.
• The sautéed vegetables should now be added to a blender with some stock to help it become a smooth paste.
• Remove the vegetable puree from the blender and add it to the rest of the stock in a pan.
• Bring the stock and puree mix to a boil before adding the beef tendon pieces. Then add the curry roux to the pan and simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes.
• Curry full of beef tendon nutrition is now ready to be eaten! The curry generally tastes even better the day after, since all the flavors have blended together. 

3. Beef Tendon and Brisket Stew

Ingredients

• 900 g of beef brisket
• 500 g of beef tendon
• 2-3 pieces of red fermented bean curd
• 1 tbsp. ground bean sauce
• 4 cups water
• 4 pieces ginger
• 20 g rock sugar
• 1 carrot
• 2 tsp. light soy sauce
• 2 tsp. corn flour
• 2 tsp. oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp. water
• Salt

Directions

• The first step is to blanch the beef brisket and tendon in boiling water for about 3 minutes. This will help remove the blood and other impurities from the meat. Then drain out the water and rinse the meat thoroughly.
• Use a heavy-based pot for this next step. Add some oil and put the pot on medium heat.
• Sauté the ginger, ground bean sauce, and the red bean curd. Then stir fry brisket and tendon for about 5 minutes.
• Add some water and rock sugar, and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat after it has reached a boil and allow the ingredients to simmer for about 3 hours. More water can be added to keep all the ingredients submerged in water.
• Put carrot in the pot and cook 20 minutes. Add sauce and cook for a while.

Note: The cooking time taken to prepare this dish can be cut in half if you use a pressure cooker. If you want to get all the beef tendon nutrition, you should make sure that you always put the beef tendon totally in water during the cooking process.