Tripe, cheek and tongue ... oh my

[MattTheGR8]

So strolling through Sam's Club after work today I came across some beef cuts I've never seen before. They had honeycomb tripe, cheek, tongue and oxtail.

I needed the interwebs to tell me that tripe is a stomach lining. It doesn't sound appetizing, but honestly shouldn't be that different from the natural casings I stuff sausage into regularly.

Oxtail I've cooked before, and tongue I've tasted.

The cheek was a new one for me too. It actually sounds somewhat intriguing. The cut looks pretty fatty, and I would expect a cheek to be a tough "working" muscle. However, with a long braise it might have potential.

Has anyone else seen these at a warehouse club? Cuts like these at an ethnic grocery store wouldn't surprise me, but the clubs typically stick to high volume products they can move quickly. Here at my suburban Sam's I suspect that tripe will be in the case a while.

[barelfly]

All good things for a wonderful bowl of Pho!!!!!

[Stuey1515]

I love smoking beef cheeks to around the stall, then fine dice them into a tomato ragout, slow cooked until falling apart. Sensational sauce with your fave pasta.
If I go to the trouble of firing up the offset, I'll often throw some cheeks on during the cook as well and freeze them for later use

[texastweeter]

Yep cooked often. Cheek makes great barbacoa tacos, tail I use in basically osso bucco, and Sunday gravy, tripe is for tripas guasado tacos, and menudo.

[Spinaker]

Drool

[SheilaAnn]

Tripe is used in menudo a lot (especially here in southern CA)
oxtails is used for a perfect braise. Look up Jamaican recipes. My grandmother loved it when I made oxtail soup for her (polish and Lithuanian).
beef cheeks. Loves me some cheekys! Treat it to low and slow like a pot roast or barbacoa like texastweeter stated above. You will not be disappointed.

[texastweeter]

Jamaican oxtails over rice...YUM

[barelfly]

Menudo was one of the specialties at my grandparent’s restaurant. But not something I really ever got into. Now that I’ve had it with Pho so often, I’ll have to ask Oma how they made menudo.

[surfdog]

Not really a fan of “eating” tripe…but there’s no denying that it brings something special to the party. Menudo wouldn’t be the same without it…and it’s easy enough to scoop around. ;-)

[Bkhuna]

All those are essential for Mexican cooking. The missus and I have a big, beautiful bowl of menudo at least twice a month. Beef cheeks and tongue are two of my favorite meats for tacos. Oxtails are used in our home to make udon noodles in an oxtail soup ( https://www.justonecookbook.com/oxtail-udon/ ).

[Bkhuna]

The best way to judge a taqueria is by the tongue. Lengua should be soft and tender with a silky smoothness. Better than any pot roast on the planet. It's our favorite taco meat.

[Zman23]

I lived in El Paso for 3 years. On occasion, someone would bring in beef cheek barbacoa. It was amazing. Topped it with raw onion and cilantro. I guess the "real" way to do it is to cook the whole cow head in an underground pit.

[barelfly]

Yes to beef cheek barbacoa!!!!!

[texastweeter]

And to mix in the brains

[Mosca]

I don’t generally use those; none of them are common here in NEPA. Cheek and tail are fine, tongue is okay but I wouldn’t go looking for it, and I’m not a fan of tripe, mostly because just about anything is more appealing. It’s not inedible, but there are so many other things I’d rather eat. Same reason I don’t eat canned tuna, or order tuna fish subs; it’s fine, but why eat that when I could have a nice Italian sub?

[Oak Smoke]

Well said! I’ve had all the above. The cheek is probably the best of the three to me. I just don’t care to go to all the trouble of preparing them well. I’ve had oxtail and barley soup that was good, cheek and tongue tacos that were good. They were all cooked by someone with a passion for cooking them. I don’t have that passion. When I want a challenge with a good ending I’ll smoke a select brisket. To each his own, right.

[texastweeter]

Try some ventresca canned tuna packed in olive oil and I bet it changes your mind on tuna.

[gcdmd]

All that's missing there are some pig trotters for the best menudo.

[texastweeter]

Love me some trotters too! Candied cocks comb is great with rice. ( Panhead John there's a slow pitch for you...)

[shify]

I've seen those cuts often at the Sam's Club here in NY.

I'm always temped to grab the tongue and try to make a pastrami out of it but then chicken out as I have zero idea how to prep a tongue (based on my limited research apparently you need to boil and peel it before curing). Similarly with beef cheeks, my concern is that it needs to be trimmed pretty heavily and not sure I have the desire to tackle that. I should grab some oxtails though - so good and so many uses -- I'd probably do a Jamaican oxtail stew as my first cook if and when I ever get them

Tripe - hard pass. I know it is used often in mexican and italian cooking but not a fan and have zero desire to try to change my mind!

[PGH_RAM]

Has anyone else seen these at a warehouse club? Cuts like these at an ethnic grocery store wouldn't surprise me, but the clubs typically stick to high volume products they can move quickly. Here at my suburban Sam's I suspect that tripe will be in the case a while.

My local Costco recently started carrying oxtail, but I've not seen cheeks, tongue, or tripe there. I'd love it if they carried that stuff!

[texastweeter]

My man, another adventure eater

[MattTheGR8]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Clearly I don't know much about Mexican cooking. With these ingredients available locally, I may have to expand my cooking horizons a bit.

[bardsleyque]

I had tripe once in menudo. I've heard it's a good hangover cure, apparently I wasn't hungover...

[MattTheGR8]

Update: I went back to Sam's and bought a package of the cheek. Part of it I made into barbacoa in the crock pot, the rest was cooked sous vide then seared in a skillet.

The barbacoa was quite tasty. The meat shredded easily into short fibers and the seasonings complemented the meat nicely.

The sous vide cheek was disappointing. 48 hrs at 131 still left the gristle intact, so I had some trimming at the end. Worse, there was an off flavor that the wife and I didn't appreciate.

If they have cheek meat the next time I go for brisket, I may grab another package and smoke them together.

barbacoa

Sous vide

[klflowers]

I make oxtails all the time. Smoked then braised Ala Troutman osso bucco method. Cheek is excellent. I don't see it much so I don't cook it much. Recently had tongue in tacos in TX. It was unexpected but pretty good. I won't be fooling with it though. Tripe now, we'll my grandmother used to make it. I love her still though she has been gone since I was 17. But I'm not doing tripe. Nope, nada, can't do it