You can cut pork paper-thin and it will still cook up a bit
tough. There are good reasons for tenderizing cutlets by pounding. It makes for
a tenderer cutlet; the pounding breaks up the connective tissues. Tenderized
meat requires shorter cooking time and a uniform thickness ensures that each
piece of meat can cook at the same rate.
You will need a meat mallet or tenderizer. Not to be
confused with the chemical powder sold as “meat tenderizer”. The meat mallet
comes in different shapes, some are stubby, and some come with a long handle. I
prefer the long handled tenderizer; it gives leverage so I don’t have to use
force pounding the meat. If you don’t have a tenderizer, wash a hammer with soapy
water and wipe it dry. You will place the meat between sheets of plastic
anyway, as you do not want either the mallet or the hammer to touch the meat.
The other reason is you don’t want raw meat particles flying around and
attaching to various surfaces in your kitchen. Using a rolling pin to tenderize
cutlets is a joke.
You will also need a heavy, wooden cutting board. It will distribute
the pressure from pounding evenly, protecting the surface underneath. Never use
a plastic cutting board on its own; it will fall apart and worse you will
damage your countertop. Don’t pound the meat on a rickety table either, the
noise and the movement will be aggravating. A glass table or a tiled surface is
much too fragile to pound meat on. Make sure you place your wooden cutting
board on a stable, level surface.
CUTLET PREPARATION AND BUTTERFLYING PORK
Cutlet Preparation:
- Place a plastic cutting sheet on the wood cutting board.
- Arrange as many slices your cutting board accommodates, keeping in mind the meat will spread as it flattens out.
- Cover the meat with heavy plastic wrap to avoid splatters.
- Next, pound the meat with the coarse, ridged side of the mallet. Pound it to the desired thickness.
- Turn the meat over and put back the same plastic wrap. Pound the other side as before.
- Discard the plastic wrap.
- For the following batch of cutlets use fresh sheets of plastic wrap.
- To butterfly a boneless pork chop or vertical slice of pork loin, cut it almost in half through one side, stopping about 1/4 inch from the edge.
- Open the chop as you would open a book.
- Place the chop between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound it gently with the flat side of a meat mallet to a uniform 1/4 inch thickness.
