Salt & Vinegar Beef Tendon Chips Recipe

4 from 1 ratings

This crispy chip made with beef tendons, is from the meat-centric restaurant The Purple Pig in Chicago. Chef Jimmy Bannos Jr. shares the recipe with us.

Servings

servings

Ingredients

5 pound beef tendon, trimmed of any excess fat
2 stalks celery, chopped into large pieces
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into large pieces
3 yellow onion, chopped into large pieces
whole parsley leaves
vinegar powder
salt
water, to cover

Directions

Put all ingredients together in a large stockpot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and let simmer 4-5 hours, or until the tendon is meltingly tender. Strain well, removing all vegetables so all you are left with is cooked tendons.
Line a container with plastic wrap and allow to overhang over the edges. Put another piece of plastic right on top of tendon. Place the same sized container over the tendon and place some type of weight into the empty container, then place in the fridge. What this step does is press the tendon and cool them at the same time. The end result is one solid gelatinous block of tendon. This will take up to 8 hours and can be pressed overnight.
When ready, cut the large piece of tendon into smaller pieces. Now it is time to slice the tendon; handcutting can work but an electric slicer is much more accurate and consistent. You want to slice the tendon about 1/8'' thick.
Pan-spray dehydrator trays and place sliced tendon on them. Dehydrate at the fullest drying level until dry and very crisp.
Drop chips in 350 degree oil and watch them puff up and expand. From here you let them drain and toss them in a bowl with a paper towel to remove any excess oil.
Drop some whole parsley leaves into the oil for about 10 seconds and repeat process with the bowl and towel to remove oil.
Remove paper towel from bowl and shake in plenty of vinegar powder and salt while tossing tendons to ensure you get an even coat. Put into a serving bowl.
Top with fried parsley leaves and enjoy!