chorizo sausages

mrtayto1

Hi, I hope someone can give me some advise. I made a fish dish which included a potato and chorizo salad. My problem is that my chorizo was very tough and chewy when cooked. Is it suppose to b like this or did I cook it wrong. Hope someone can help. Thanks!!!!!

Spook_ie

When we cook with Chorizo, we buy it from Marks & Spencer - it definately is a meatier sausage than most (85% meat) and consequently it certainly has much more of a 'bite' to it, but I certainly wouldnt call it tough.......where do you buy your chorizo from ???

mrtayto1

Lidl. I was wondering if I had cut them too thick. Should they be really thin or do you think that make any difference. We loved the taste and they gave a lovely flavour to the potatoes . Maybe i should buy them somewhere else and try again.

dyer

How thick they are really is a matter of preference, perhaps you didn't remove the skin which made it a bit tougher? It's dry cured meat so it's always gonna have a bite to it.

CJhaughey

If I use Chorizo I dice mine small, theres nothing worse than a big ignorant lump of Chorizo staring up at you in a dish.
FWIW I like Aldi Chorizo better than the Lidl one.
Aldi Chorizo is actually Spanish not German like the Lidl one.
Plus there is two types a spicy and a mild.

vibe666

ditto to what CJ said, although one of the nicest ones i've had in ireland is the tesco finest, but the aldi one is definitely better than the lidl one.

another thing is to not overcook it or let it burn in the pan as i find it gets quite a bitter or somretimes soapy taste, depending on where you've bought it.

i tend to cook it on a very low heat to render out the fat and then take it out of the pan to rest and cook everything else with it's juices before adding it back to the dish right at the end.

Minder

The ready to eat, cured chorizo is best not cooked. There is a raw chorizo that must be cooked but it's not widely sold outside Spain - you might find it if you can find a Spanish deli.

laros

I much prefer the raw chorizo. I brought some back from madrid the last time i visited and used the last few from the freezer last week, the dried ones just don't compare.I have never seen them in the Republic. Asda in the north do a "Cooking" chorizo which is closer to what you want.

duploelabs

+1 to the raw chorizo. It's cured with a view to being eaten after it's been cooked whereas most of the chorizo sold is ready to eat. It's recognisable by being much squishier than the ready-to-eat type

huskerdu

I have cooked with the Chorizo from Lidl and it does go hard quite quickly. Its designed to be eaten as it is, not cooked. As has been said, raw chorizo or a softer chorizo is better for cooking.

Having said that, I have used it quite a few times, when I have had no other chorizo in the house. Fry it quite gently and its OK.

But, if you like using chorizo, it is worth looking for a better quality one for cooking.

Marcusm

You need to establish whether the recipe calls for a fresh chorizo sausage or a dried one. The former must be cooked before eating and is a highly seasoned equivalent of a standard banger. The latter is a sausage preserved by drying and which can be eaten without cooking. Where it is cooked, it can be included in a stew or casserole (where it will soften somewhat as it absorbs moisture) or it can be quick fried (such as with a pasta sauce) where it will generally be crispier.

hardCopy

This explains a lot. I had barbecued Chorizo in Argentine years ago which was quite hot and strongly seasoned. I then recently couldn't find pepperoni for a homemade pizza so picked up some sliced chorizo in Tesco, this turned out to be a poor substitute with no kick to it at all and was more like a salty luncheon roll.

mrtayto1

thank you all so much for your advise.

CheltenhamJ

presumably it is better to chop and use the whole sausages rather than the pre sliced (thin) chorizo ?? Or is there a difference

huskerdu

CheltenhamJ wrote: »

presumably it is better to chop and use the whole sausages rather than the pre sliced (thin) chorizo ?? Or is there a difference

I presume you mean the chorizo that you buy sliced thin enough to make sandwiches with.
It would be too thin to fry. It would burn in seconds.

vibe666

agreed, totally different and better suited to sarnies or pizza.

mrtayto1

thanks again for all your advise. i gave that recipe another go and it was much better.

huskerdu

mrtayto1 wrote: »

thanks again for all your advise. i gave that recipe another go and it was much better.

Did you buy better chorizo or use the Lidl one and fry it less.

If you did buy different chorizo, what did you buy ?