Kholodets is a savory Ukrainian meat aspic made by slow-simmering pork legs and chicken drumsticks for 6 hours with vegetables and aromatics, then straining and setting the gelatin-rich broth with shredded meat until firm. It's traditionally served cold with sharp horseradish sauce.
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Make sure you soak the pork legs in cold wate (3 hours to overnight - it's also a good way to thaw the pork)
In a large pot, add pork legs, and chicken drum sticks. Add enough water to cover all of the meat. Set over high heat, cover and bring to a boil. As soon as it starts boiling, remove from heat and drain off the water. Rinse the meat, refill with fresh water (enough water to cover all of the meat, plus an extra 1/2-inch over the meat); Don't add too much water or it won't be "gelatiney" enough later. Cover and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat to a light boil/simmer and set a timer for 5 hours.
After cooking for 5 hours, Add 1 large carrot, 2 medium onions (both ends removed), 1 celery stick, 2 bay leaves, 5-8 peppercorns and 2 tsp salt into the pot and continue boiling on low heat 1 more hour. It should look like a nice chicken broth. Now it's important that you do not discard the broth and do not add more water to the pot!
Remove the drumsticks and carrot from the broth and let them cool. Discard pork legs, onion and bay leaves. Use a fine mesh sieve with 3 bounty paper towels over the sieve and filter the broth through the paper towels. You will be left with a clean broth.
Peel and press 4 garlic cloves into the broth and do a taste test to see if more salt is needed.
Once the meat has cooled, use a fork to separate meat from the bones. Keep the good meat; discard the bones. Thinly slice the carrot. You can make one big holodets in a rectangular pyrex dish or you can make smaller serving bowls.
Start by placing carrots on the bottom and top with some dill if you wish. Next add the meat in an even layer and pour broth over the meat; enough to cover the meat and a little extra over the top. Refrigerate 3 hours to overnight, or until firm. Serve with red horseradish/hren (recipe on NatashasKitchen.com) or Russian mustard. Once it's set, set the bowl in hot water for a few seconds, then use a slim spatula to release the gelatin from the dish. Or you can just serve it out of the dish and save yourself a step.
Store aspic in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3–5 days, or freeze up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before serving.
large pot (at least 8–10 quart capacity) · fine mesh sieve · rectangular pyrex dish or serving bowls · paper towels
Soaking in cold water for 3 hours to overnight removes impurities and also thaws the meat if frozen, ensuring clean broth and proper gelatin extraction.
After refrigerating 3 hours to overnight, the aspic should be firm throughout. To serve, set the bowl in hot water for a few seconds to loosen before turning out.
No. Do not add more water after the initial boil and rinse. The amount of broth determines how gelatinous the final aspic will be.
Gelatin extraction depends on the ratio of meat and bones to water. If it doesn't set after overnight refrigeration, you used too much water or didn't simmer long enough.
Yes. Aspic keeps refrigerated in an airtight container for 3–5 days, or frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before serving.
