The Nasty Bits: Crisp Fried Pig's Ears
"Stewing the pig's ears affords a precious by-product: a pot of flavorful stock."
The Fergus Henderson meal I shared with my Serious Eats comrades on Friday night had me hankering for more pig. That evening I left the restaurant carrying a giant foil package with the half pig's head we ordered, skull and all. Still, there was one part I wished we'd had in a pair: the ears. Roasted with the rest of the head, the tip of the ear was as hardy as a dog treat; the inner canal offered more chewable cartilage. I'd gnawed contentedly on that singular ear, but it left me craving my favorite preparation for pig's ears: deep-fried, crisp and irresistible.
I use pig's ears like some cooks treat pancetta. Slivers of fried pig ears are the perfect garnish to a bowl of freshly made pasta or dry spaghetti; plopped over poached egg, ears are an unbeatable topping for frisée aux lardon–style salad. Crisp, slightly chewy, and delicately crunchy with a layer of cartilage, this is one nasty bit that has it all.
Prior to frying, the ears must be stewed with aromatics. Like all the best parts of the pig—the trotters, the tails, and so forth—stewing the pig's ears affords a precious by-product in the process. A pot of flavorful stock, so rich and gelatinous that it could be reduced into a demi-glace, comes free with your well-stewed pig's ears. Use a mirepoix for a French-style stock. For an Asian-inspired stock, add some soy sauce and rice wine, and toss in a couple of star anise and cinnamon sticks.
Pig's ears are perhaps the ultimate complement to a nutty Belgian beer. Infinitely more satisfying than nuts or pretzels, pig's ears should be a staple bar food. When fried, the skin of the ears is crisp, retaining just a little bit of chewiness. The thin layers of fat and flesh give the effect of meatiness without having much of the actual meat at all.
If you've actually managed to save any of the ears after frying, use the slivers as a topping for pasta or salad. Like pancetta, the fried ears will soften only slightly after being dressed in sauce or salad dressing, all the while absorbing the additional flavors of the liquid.
Finally, a warning gathered from much personal (and painful) experience. Like fried pig tails, the ears will have absorbed quite a bit of liquid while simmering. In order to prevent the water from reacting violently with hot oil, coat the slivers of ears in flour before frying.
Crisp Fried Pig's Ears
Ingredients
2 pig's ears
1 onion, peeled and washed
2 carrots, chopped coarse
2 stems of celery, chopped
1 cup dry white wine or vermouth
A bouquet garni (thyme, parsley, marjoram, etc)
Salt to taste, about 1 teaspoon
1/4 cup cornstarch and flour, equal parts of
1 quart of oil, for frying
Procedure
1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the ears and let boil for 2 or 3 minutes to get rid of some of the impurities. Remove the ears from the pot and set aside.
2. In a medium-size pot, arrange the ears along with the rest of the ingredients. Add enough water to cover the ears. Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer gently, uncovered, for 2 hours. The ears should be very supple and easily pierced through with forks or chopsticks.
3. Remove the ears from the broth and let cool. Reserve the stock for another use.
4. When cooled, cut the ears into ¼ inch slivers. Toss with the cornstarch and flour, until the ears are lightly and uniformly covered.
5. In the meantime, bring the oil to 350 F in a wok or frying pot.
6. Gently slip into the hot oil and fry for 2 to 3 minutes, until the ears are golden brown and crispy. Very carefully stir the ears around in the pot, so that the slivers won't stick to one another. Remove the ears from the oil with a slotted spoon, and serve immediately.
About the author: Chichi Wang took her degree in philosophy, but decided that writing about food would be much more fun than writing about Plato. She firmly believes in all things offal, the importance of reading great books, and the necessity of three-hour meals. If she were ever to get a tattoo, it would say "Fat is flavor." Visit her blog, My Chalkboard Fridge.
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38 Comments:
The serious eater trends are beginning to get a bit obnoxious. A few years ago, everything had to have bacon in it. Then, nothing without a fried egg on top was considered good enough. Now, if you don't love your offal/nasty bits (and even better, getting it from a food truck), you're ignorant or missing out.
To each their own, but I've tried and don't like pigs ears. Or chicken feet, beef heart, kidneys, or even blood sausage. By all means try it, not once but twice, but you only get to consume so many calories each day and you might as well enjoy all of them. I'm happy there are people out there who enjoy these items, but let's not get carried away with food trends. I'm by no means a health nut either, but perhaps we could champion something other than fatty animal products for a while?
schmonsequences at 11:56AM on 10/20/09
Ah, the internet...
SqueezeBottle at 12:24PM on 10/20/09
Hear Hear. I'm sure there were plenty of readers (myself included) who looked at that pig's head are were a little grossed out by it. We shouldn't be made to feel like lesser foodies or that there's something wrong with us because of that.
DanielJ at 12:27PM on 10/20/09
I have to say, I'm a bit mystified by the above comment. ChiChi seems to be genuine in her wish to teach people how to cook bits that have fallen off the radar as a result of the ways animals are processed in most parts of the country. Is it a trend now? Sure...but so are many others. You'll notice the recipes bookending this one are for a vegetarian soup and a 'meat lite' recipe. Not exactly 'championing fatty animal products'.
I'm sorry you don't like this particular trend, or any of the food but I don't really think that the author has ever, in the course of this series tried to encourage poor portion control. She's not suggesting we do nothing but glut on pig fat. She's showing less than a few ounces of meat product on a salad ffs.
I think she's doing fantastically well to provide information about cooking cuts of meat that are not well known/readily available to the majority of 'mainstream' North America. I don't really see any value judgment for those who aren't interested or who have already decided they don't care for these cuts.
ChiChi--for what it's worth, even if I don't decide to fry the ears, I am thrilled to know that two little (inexpensive!) ears can provide me with a whole large pot of stock!
BananaMonkey at 12:31PM on 10/20/09
I would like to say that I am sometimes lactose intolerant, and so your recipes that promote milk products make me feel like a bad foodie, and a little nauseous. You should stop making me feel grossed out and stop promoting the dairy agenda.
sigh...
BananaMonkey at 12:37PM on 10/20/09
@BananaMonkey: You must have been dying during the raw-milk trend of late 2007/early 2008. ;)
Adam Kuban at 12:41PM on 10/20/09
You're still not forgiven Kuban...
BananaMonkey at 12:43PM on 10/20/09
"perhaps we could champion something other than fatty animal products for a while?"
consequences, schmonsequences...
Great post, Chichi. I just made braised pig ears over egg noodles the other night. Fantastic.
cooksultant at 12:49PM on 10/20/09
I'm not trying to squash anyone's good intentions. I just wonder how many people are going to be eating duck tongues, pig ears, cow heads, chicken feet, etc... in five years. Seems like another food fad. I'm just saying.
But you make a good point Banana, just because I don't appreciate the content doesn't mean other people feel the same. Duly noted.
schmonsequences at 12:53PM on 10/20/09
I don't care much for pig's ears myself, but I really enjoy Chichi's Nasty Bits posts. They are entertaining, informative, and downright fun. And they don't make me feel like any less of a foodie. And offal in particular and trends in general are by no means the only things we champion here at Serious Eats.
Ed Levine at 12:53PM on 10/20/09
Oh come on, Ed. Everyone here is on to your insidious pro-offal, pro-Asian agenda.
SqueezeBottle at 1:00PM on 10/20/09
I agree @squeezebottle--Smacks of socialism to me....and I'm Canadian...I should know.
BananaMonkey at 1:16PM on 10/20/09
Here in the (US) South, they say the only part of the pig that isn't eaten is the oink. I've tried crispy ear bits, and they're fine--nothing I would seek out again. But Chichi, you have gained my respect with the "half a pig's head, skull and all." That's high adventure for anyone, anywhere.
Good comments here, though, relating to the trendiness of offal and other "nasty bits." People, there is a reason why pork and ham and beefsteak became the cuts of choice as people escaped poverty and became affluent enough to eat them: those cuts taste better. None of the food journalism that has come out of this offal / "whole animal" trend has yet convinced me that there is some little bit of meat or tendon or organ or whatever that is so much more delicious than, say, a steak, that it is worth all the trouble.
Lorenzo at 1:17PM on 10/20/09
@ schmonsequences
@ DanielJ
it seems as though you have more of a problem with yourselves and trying to prove to be some sort of "greater foodie", than having a problem with the content of these posts.
I don't like the Style section in the NY Times, but I'm not going to whine about how it shouldn't be published because I don't get the appeal. I don't see why this is any different.
I don't cook much offal myself, but I find it very interesting to read about, and as a result, I think I would find myself more likely to try out some of these recipes.
Food fads are just like all other fads - they come and go, but it doesn't mean that they aren't good and aren't worth paying attention do. Pork belly is a fad, but it doesn't meant that its not delicous. If you're going to hate things just because they are popular, you're going to live a sad (and hungry) life.
Hans_Moleman at 1:23PM on 10/20/09
How is eating offal a fad if many cultures have been doing it for centuries? Good work, Chichi! How 'bout some intestines next? :)
Gastro888 at 1:28PM on 10/20/09
I beg to differ. I think that many of these cuts are the most delicious. I come from a region that has been long impoverished, and we simply do not look at meat in the same way. Different value is placed on different cuts of meat in different places. Note the recent US/China trade issue that was thought to be no problem for the US b/c they knew China would not risk jeopardizing a steady supply of US chicken feet.
Further, I don't think that because I can afford more 'affluent' cuts that I should/will eat them to exclusion. My family came to North America in 1979, and would have LOVED to have access to these less common cuts when we first arrived. Not having access means that there is no choice. I am thrilled to see that with diversity of people comes diversity of tastes. I know that I will eat oxtails and chicken gizzards and pig tails even if I could afford prime rib every day. I truly hope that it is not a 'trend' bound to be forgotten. I think it comes from a different places than other trends like food trucks. This is, in many ways about cultural diversity being reflected in the ways that animals are regarded and prepared at high and 'low' levels of cuisine.. That doesn't mean everyone has to do it, like it or eat it, and it may well mean that 'fine' dining reverts to a beef tenderloin and chicken breast only boring (IMO) menu standards. What I hope will not be a flash in the pan trend, is the increasing availability of these cuts of meat.
I enjoy a steak, absolutely, better still if it's been aged 30 days blah blah blah...but my favourite foods are more often than not, those that use lesser cuts/offal. It's a matter of taste, and that's fine, but I for one would much prefer ANYTHING part of the chicken other than the breast, and while some cuts take longer to cook, I think that the rewards are well worth it.
BananaMonkey at 1:33PM on 10/20/09
@Gastro: agreed!! Let's do intestines next. I think I had a heart attack when at the ripe age of 18 I discovered my favorite soup (via gram's rustic vietnamese cookery) was chock full of intestines. Of course I am still eating it ;o)
Bring on the offal! I love this series! It's nice to know that the "weird" food I ate growing up isn't so weird afterall.
chlamers at 1:36PM on 10/20/09
Hi guys,
I’m really happy to see the discussion that has arisen over what was certainly not intended to be an incendiary post. Now, I do have a couple of points I’d like to touch on:
“I just wonder how many people are going to be eating duck tongues, pig ears, cow heads, chicken feet, etc... in five years. Seems like another food fad.”
-People have been eating offal for centuries, so I have confidence that the practice will remain intact for a long time. In all my studies of cookbooks and recipes, I’ve never come across a cuisine that’s not figured out a way to use the whole beast. This practice may have arisen for economical reasons, but the methods and dishes developed for offal will remain - quite simply, because these parts are delicious.
And this brings me to my second point:
“None of the food journalism that has come out of this offal / "whole animal" trend has yet convinced me that there is some little bit of meat or tendon or organ or whatever that is so much more delicious than, say, a steak, that it is worth all the trouble.”
When I talk to chef and butchers, I’m always given the same answer – Sure, they’re serving steaks on their menu, but what do they want to serve? Sweetbreads. And what do they like to eat after hours? Trotters….
The bottom line is, offal really IS delicious – I like steak just as much as the next meat lover, but at some point, my tastebuds want something a little more diverse and interesting. It’s the variety of tastes and textures in offal that keep me constantly interested, constantly inquisitive, and, as always, hungry for more.
Chichi Wang at 1:47PM on 10/20/09
Chichi,
Keep up the good work! I was in a chain market here in Raleigh one night and they had chicken feet! I was amazed! Didn't buy them, but I know that I can find a recipe for them because of your Nasty Bits articles.
I love liver, kidneys, heart, tongue and other strange parts of the animal that I learned from eating them as a child. I don't think of eating them as a trend. We don't utilize the whole animal like our ancestors and even those in other countries.
Again, Chichi, you are doing a fantastic job with a touchy subject.
queenbleu at 2:14PM on 10/20/09
In my family, we have a long tradition of making an Ohio/Pennsylvania breakfast food called Scrapple. You can probably guess from the name that it's a combination of everything that can't go somewhere else (usually head boiled in water along with the bones, etc). It's not for the faint of heart, but I've loved it all my life. I think that might be the key to trend vs. lifestyle. Those of use that grew up eating these cuts don't think of it as a trend at all, it's just common sense.
Even if the whole offal thing is a foodie trend right now, I can't think of it as anything but a positive move forward. Hopefully more of the difficult to find cuts of meat will start to be available, more of the whole animal will be used with less waste, and all of us can experience new cuts of meat we hadn't tried before!
For the record, I'll take a pig cheek over a chop any day :)
Mandyhello at 2:38PM on 10/20/09
Another great post as usual. I'm a huge fan of the "Nasty Bits" posts, though as others have noted, i'll probably not try to make these at home any time soon, it's informative, different and fun. I mean, how many times can you watch someone demo'ing how to make a cupcake or macaron. ((Yawn))
I also disagree that offal is a 'trend' - it's more of a re-discovery of what we lost as a culture, or never had to begin with (ie. real Asian food). I don't remember exactly when skirt steaks came back in vogue (late 90's maybe?), but they've stuck on all menu's. I think offal will continue to do the same.
Mandyhello - Agreed with the pig cheek over chop!
exflexitarian at 3:01PM on 10/20/09
“None of the food journalism that has come out of this offal / "whole animal" trend has yet convinced me that there is some little bit of meat or tendon or organ or whatever that is so much more delicious than, say, a steak, that it is worth all the trouble.”
This just struck me as a somewhat strange thing to say... The way I see it, a steak and a tendon/organ/etc. have pretty different flavors and uses so I'm not quite sure you can make the comparison. It would be like saying "paprika tastes better than cinnamon, so I don't use cinnamon."
Also, can't believe no one's brought this up yet, but as a matter of respect and practicality, we sorta have an obligation to eat the "nasty bits." Farming livestock is a huge drain on the environment and taking a creature's life isn't insignificant; using the whole animal makes it worth it (to some degree, anyway).
ArtSpats at 4:56PM on 10/20/09
Eating an entire animal to minimize waste is eco-friendly, respectful to the animals, and is a traditional practice in so many different countries. Americans should stop whining ;-)
BTW there is a great Okinawan dish called mimigah (pig's ears). I tried only once but I liked it!
hmw0029 at 5:22PM on 10/20/09
I know this could be debated endlessly, and it is kind of interesting that Chichi has been writing "The Nasty Bits" for a while yet this is the first article that has provoked probing comments as far as I know, but to keep my comments short, I don't think the paprika-is-to-cinnamon as steak-is-to-offal analogy is apt. I mean, you have two spices that are equally available and equally easy to use. Purchasing and preparing a steak and purchasing and preparing a pig's head (or ear, as in the present article) are vastly different. Eating offal takes a little effort--from finding it in the market or a restaurant, to knowing how to cook it and how to gnaw away at it, to developing a taste for it. My guess is that unless eating chicken feet, pig ears or whatever, is part of a person's family's cultural memory, the person is not going to bother with it beyond the foodie fascination stage. Learning about offal and the "lesser cuts" may be a nice re-discovery of surprisingly tasty foods that were once popular because that's all people could afford, but they will never be as popular again as the cuts that we can now afford, are widely available, easy to eat, and pretty darn tasty. I predict that the current intense interest in offal among foodies will pass.
It can be argued of course, what constitutes "nasty bits" in the first place? I mean, chicken livers, beef liver, pork liver, and tongue are downright pedestrian, and even brains, kidneys, skin (fried pork skins) and intestines ("chitlings" here in the South) have long been reasonably integrated into mainstream North American food. One might ask where is the line between mainstream and nasty?
Lorenzo at 5:34PM on 10/20/09
“I just wonder how many people are going to be eating duck tongues, pig ears, cow heads, chicken feet, etc... in five years. Seems like another food fad."
I don't know the specific number of people that will eat these things, but I think in general the answer will be the rest of the world, just like they have since the first man killed and ate the first animal.
@schmon you are not a lesser 'foodie'(by the way I hate that term with a passion) because you don't enjoy offal, but you are obscenely ignorant if you believe eating 'non-traditional' parts of an animal is just a trend. that's just a terrible elitist way of thinking.
vinnyger at 5:40PM on 10/20/09
@schmonsequences I think you may be doing it wrong.
It makes me chuckle hearing someone thinks eating offal is some new elitist foodie trend. I can totally understand how some people have no interest or desire to prepare or eat "less desirable" parts of animals and I guess I just always figured they pass right over the column called "nasty bits" and on to something that interested more. It's the internet though, so go figure.
Burger365 at 5:42PM on 10/20/09
One might ask where is the line between mainstream and nasty?
****************
Any cut of meat that's served by the Darden Restaurant Group, Cheesecake Factory, etc could be considered mainstream. At least that's what 99% of American's are (unfortunately) exposed to on a day-to-day basis.
exflexitarian at 5:47PM on 10/20/09
Fried pig ears are great! We recently tried breading and baking the ears and they also came out really nice and crispy!
foodtease at 6:16PM on 10/20/09
The travesties and injustices perpetrated by the writers of a free website shall not go unsomethinged. In between recipes for an omelet, squash soup, kimchi and spaghetti, this one was worth bitching about?
I'm glad we've got a stream of recipes like this coming. Far better for a link to this get passed around and folks learn about something new than to wait years and years till a crappy chain restaurant manages to appropriate it.
nerditry at 7:24PM on 10/20/09
Honestly, the comments denouncing this column just make me go: what the hell? It's just a person, who knows how to enjoy and cook offal, teaching you how to enjoy and cook offal. Do you guys get this angry about eggplants or pastries?
@DanielJ - ever heard of that saying that no one can make you feel like a lesser man but yourself?
hungryhungryhippo at 12:32AM on 10/21/09
I don't care what anyone else thinks. I just want some.
Offalwinfrey at 1:16AM on 10/21/09
I don't get the negative comments. But, then I don't get the people who get upset when I make negative comments about Sandra Lee (no one here, btw. Just an internet observation).
I really like this column because even if the recipe is something I wouldn't make (mostly just because it's more difficult to procure items and BF will only eat offal that he can easily identify as "muscle" - tongue, heart, etc.), it still lets me think about food preparation and technique. I purchased a whole oxtail the other day to braise and I thought about this column. I keep hoping the store in question gets in some duck feet and/or tongues. I'm pretty sure I can get BF to try the tongues. The feet might have to wait until my mom visits.
Amandarama at 7:55AM on 10/21/09
Long ago, my mom bought some for our dad during on weekly shopping trips to buy Chinese roasted pork. On the drive home, I was trying to sneak a piece of the crispy skin and accidentally grabbed a sliver of barbequed pig ear instead. My mouth was never happier than that moment I discovered the awesome-ness that is pig ear!
Centelleo at 1:11PM on 10/21/09
this banter is cracking me up. i kind of agree w/ both sides - this offal craze is annoying (only b/c i hate 'crazes' and anything resembling 'foodie trendy' - gag me) and also necessary. every single one of our ancestors used offal often in their dishes and, for some reason, we all kind of stopped. Americans just don't eat much offal unless it was passed down from their heritage. I grew up hearing the word "pigs feet" often - but I'm Italian and that was a main ingredient in my grandma's sunday gravy. Had I ever eaten duck tounge before last year, no. Had I ever realized how amazing veal liver is for dinner until 5 years ago? Nope. How about how to clean a kidney? Not since eating it in France for the first time 6 years ago. Once I was exposed to and convinced of how great these lesser cuts could be (usually b/c i trust restaurants when traveling), I started using them in my dishes more and more. I no longer fear things I didn't grow up with - I embrace them. I think that's the point of all this (kinda - but, let's be honest, the name of this blog is SERIOUS Eats - they want a bit of shock factor) - to trust them on how delicious something could be.
oh, and w/ these crispy pig ears, they are really good. i made these from fergus' book. first ate pigs ears a la plancha style in Madrid. but you really do have to go easy on eating them b/c they are very rich. paired w/ the salad is a great thing to do.
weareneverfull at 5:04PM on 10/21/09
I, for one, hope that offal is indeed becoming a trend. Apparently, identifying and condemning any new trend is also becoming a trend; it used to be that such positive trends were called "progress."
Having tasted offal prepared the right way according to recipes from many cultures, I must say that the textures and concentrated flavor of the nasty bits adds a whole new dimension to the enjoyment of meat.
In this land of gastronomic plenty, limiting oneself to a few muscle groups is just plain shortsighted (and, as noted above, wasteful). I'm not saying chicken breasts and pork chops are bad, but they're not offal either.
pookay at 6:38PM on 10/21/09
with you all the way, chichi.
the only editorializing going on here is naming the column "The Nasty Bits" so as to ward off close-minded people and make it sound "good" to be "bad"; otherwise, there is no trend going on here, just a newfound (and hopefully long-lasting) respect for the food and animals that we consume.
some of the earliest comments on this thread are laughable and Lorenzo's comments about offal being a trend as opposed to eating primal cuts just means that he's fallen for the very long, mainstream and profitable trend of trimmed chicken breasts, pork tenderloins, and steaks being the only acceptable protein, easily purchased in vacuum-sealed packs at costco.
avisualperson at 9:42PM on 10/21/09
For sustainably raised Large Black pigs ears check out Moon In The Pond Farm. (for pick up at the farm only)
farmer dom at 10:55PM on 10/21/09
Scape a bit of dirt from a pig's knuckle and throw that in too will ya. Jeez!
constantlysara at 7:07PM on 10/23/09