PIG'S EAR

I am a pure genuine class A carnivore. I will eat every single food. Even those which I never heard of it. I like it then I will like it and if not then leave it. No harm done.

In the ancient times, Pig Head was used for ancestor worship and as a sacrifice to the heaven. According to the folk legend, the 2nd day of the second lunar month is the day for the Dragon King who is in charge of clouds and rains to raise its head. On that special day, every household in the North of China would boil the pig head. It is a traditional called the "Dragon Head-raising Day". Chinese people pray for a good beginning of the year and favourable weather on that day. As the Dragon King is considered to be in charge of raining, people especially farmers would sacrifice the best offering - Pig head to the Dragon King. After the day, there will be more and more rain so that day is also called "Spring Dragon Day". Every year when this day comes, Chinese people will carry lanterns in the morning to fetch water from the wells and rivers. They will light the candles, burn incense and play tribute to the Dragon King, which is called "Welcome the Field Dragon".  Therefore, eating pig head on the second day of the second lunar month is a tradition passed down from ancient times and also a symbol of good luck. 

Almost all parts of the pig are used for food. The pig is a symbol of virility, and so pork is used as a strengthening for pregnant and new mothers. For an interesting, try pig's ear. Pig's ear, as food for human consumption is literally the cooked ear of pig. It can be first boiled or stewed, and then sliced thinly served with soy sauce or vinegar. The texture of pig's ear is unusual. When cooked, the outer texture is firm but gelatinous and the center cartilage is crunchy. It can be eaten warm and cold.

My experience with the idea of pig's ear started with my kitchen staff where he get this very extremely cheap and large pig head for only £1.50 and my goodness it is one big hell of dead head ! We had almost every single part of the head. Pig's ear was one of the memorable. 

My chef braised it for hours with soy sauce, cinnamon stick and rice wine. After tossing it with starch, chopped garlic and frying, slice gingers, fresh red chillies, spring onions, slice cucumbers, oyster sauce and sesame oil were added in. Pure protein, they have a pleasant crunch after the braising and frying part. Chinese China really know about and cherish the texture in cuisine. In some point, texture can be more important then taste. In my personal view, delicacies really don't taste at all that amazing but the experience of eating them due to the mouth feeling are unparalleled. Pig's ear by no means is considered a delicacy, but by all means it is definitely fun to eat. The contrasting gelatinous and cracking textures, both seductively playing off one another, is a masterpiece.