Hutchinson Beef Tongue with Raisin Sauce
Submitted by Viking
Old-fashioned beef tongue simmered tender, sliced thin, and served with a sweet-tart raisin sauce. Classic nose-to-tail dish from the Pennsylvania Dutch and German-American kitchen tradition.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
COOK
3 hrsREADY
3Beef tongue doesn’t get the love it deserves on modern American tables, but in Pennsylvania Dutch and Jewish-American kitchens it’s still a respected Sunday cut. The meat itself is incredibly tender once it’s simmered low and slow, with a beefier flavor than any other cut of cow, and the raisin sauce is the classic sweet-tart accompaniment.
The technique is dead simple: drop the whole tongue in a pot with onion, peppercorns, thyme, parsley sprigs, celery leaves, salt, and pepper, cover with boiling water, and simmer covered for three hours. The long bath turns the muscle melt-in-your-mouth tender and creates a deeply flavored stock at the same time.
The peel is critical. After cooking, the thick outer skin pulls off easily while the tongue is still warm; let it cool and the skin clings on stubbornly. Trim the roots from the back end and slice the tongue thin against the grain.
The raisin sauce builds on the cooking stock: brown sugar, cornstarch, vinegar, raisins, lemon, and butter. Sweet, tart, lemony, and studded with plump fruit.
Chef Tips
- Buy from a butcher who can vouch for the source; tongue is offal and freshness matters more here than for muscle cuts
- Trim any visible glands or fat from the underside before cooking; they make the stock cloudy
- The cooled cooked tongue keeps in its stock for up to 3 days in the fridge if you want to slice it later
- For a smoother sauce, plump the raisins in hot water for 10 minutes before adding them to the sauce
Variations
- Make a German-style currant sauce in place of raisin: substitute red currants and a splash of red wine
- Serve with horseradish cream and rye bread for a deli-style platter instead of the raisin sauce
- Use the leftover poaching stock as a base for soup or risotto; it’s a rich free byproduct
Ingredients
Directions
Place all ingredients into a kettle; add just enough boiling water to cover tongue.
Cover and simmer about 3 hours, or until tongue is tender.
Drain; reserve stock.
Remove skin and roots from tongue.
Serve with Raisin Sauce.
Directions of raisin sauce: Mix brown sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan; stir in beef broth and vinegar gradually; bring to boiling, stirring constantly.
Add raisins, lemon and butter.
Cook and stir until raisins are plump and sauce is thickened.
Comments




The raisin sauce was so intensely sour and sweet it completely masked the flavour of the meat. And that was after diluting it with an extra cup of stock, and only half the sugar. If you dislike the flavour of beef tongue but love extreme sweet & sour then this is the recipe for you.
3 tbsp. butter
½ cup raisins,
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 tsp sugar
3 tbsp flour
½ cup port wine
2 1/2 cup broth from the tongue
½ tsp vinegar
salt & pepper