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Biltong spice recipe ingredients: toasted coriander seeds, black pepper, coarse salt and brown vinegar beside a strip of raw beef

Biltong spice mix and cure

Our working cure for 2 kg of beef: coarse salt, toasted and cracked coriander, black pepper, a little brown sugar and brown vinegar. Rubbed in and left overnight before drying.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings: 2 kg of beef
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: South African
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 2 kg beef topside sliced along the grain into strips about 2 cm thick
  • 40 g coarse salt about 2 to 2½ tablespoons of coarse sea salt. Weigh it if you can
  • 30 g whole coriander seeds about 4 tablespoons, toasted in a dry pan, then cracked
  • 6 g whole black peppercorns about 2 teaspoons, coarsely ground
  • 2 tsp brown sugar optional, to round off the edges
  • 120 to 200 ml brown vinegar also sold as malt vinegar. Apple cider vinegar also works

Method
 

  1. Toast the coriander seeds in a dry pan over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes, until they smell warm and citrusy.
  2. Crack the toasted seeds with a mortar and pestle until they are the size of coarse sand, leaving a few larger bits in.
  3. Coarsely grind the peppercorns, then mix them in a bowl with the salt, coriander and sugar.
  4. Rub the mix into every face of every beef strip, then lay the strips in a non-metallic dish.
  5. Splash the vinegar over the strips, cover the dish and cure in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours, turning the strips once.
  6. Pat the strips dry, hang them with space between each one in a drying box, and dry until they have lost about half their weight.

Notes

Quantities are our own working version, per kilogram of beef: 20 g salt, 15 g coriander, 3 g pepper, 60 to 100 ml vinegar. The card is for 2 kg. Cook time is zero because the meat is cured and air dried, not cooked. Allow 12 to 24 hours in the fridge, then several days of drying.