We decided that for our first foray into beaver cheeks, it would be appropriate to emulate our favorite tacos. This beaver cheek recipe is full of spices, but doesn’t overwhelm the flavor of the meat itself. You still get that slight earthiness and deep richness from the beaver meat, but you also get a bit of heat from the peppers and smokey notes from the cumin.
Cheek meat is dense, full of connective tissue, and rich in flavor, much like shanks. It takes a bit of effort and time to make them tender, but once the chewy stuff breaks down, you are rewarded with arguably one of the most flavorful cuts off of any mammal. Unlike beef cheeks, which are pretty big, beaver cheeks are small. You need quite a few of them to make enough of any dish for two people. We’ve been stashing away beaver cheeks since last season, and we finally felt that we had enough for a few meals.
We seared and braised the cheeks in stock with a puree of toasted dried peppers, onion, garlic, and spices. They turned out amazing- not the same as the tacos from Flavio’s, but they had the same spirit. Tender, flavorful meat, with a high concentration of that sticky richness that you only get from tough cuts.
The one major difference between the beef and beaver cheeks is the lack of fat in the beaver cheeks. We decided to toss the shredded meat in some duck fat to add some richness, which worked wonderfully. We topped these tacos off with some diced onion and cilantro and promptly devoured them.
Getting enough cheeks from any game animal to make a meal will take some time. Like tongues, we recommend stashing them in the freezer over the course of the season until you have enough to make a big portion of something. They’re a bit of a pain to cut from the skull, but they’re definitely worth it. If you’re not trapping beaver, you could also start saving your deer cheeks- this recipe would work perfectly with them.
Note- there is a layer of silver skin on the skin side of the cheeks that looks like you should trim it off. Don’t do that- leave it on, the braise will tenderize it, and as it cooks down, it will add a really nice richness to the broth.
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