pig’s ear ragout served on toast

first came across this dish (this preparation) at the fabulous lunch at dinner by heston bluemnthal in london on 15.5.2015.

ragout of pig’s ear @ dinner by heston blumenthal

& it was an outstanding dish. the pigs ear gelatinous texture was exquisite & the sauce & flavours in this preparation was simply special. 🙂

it was robust but very tasty & also not satiating as expected. 🙂

pig’s ear of course is a fairly common chinese & teochew dish, and i have done braised pig’s ears couple times eg a very good kueh chap lunch for my friends on 4.8.2014.

pig’s ear ragout served on toast

i did not have heston blumenthal’s recipe, so i basically used my kueh chap braised pig’s ears recipe & added 1 cup of red wine. ^^

pig’s ear ragout served on toast

my dish looks nothing like the very fine dining dish at dinner by heston blumenthal of course.

still, it was a very tasty dish & excellent as a tapas or served as a appetizer platter for a course dinner, which i did recently at a very enjoyable 12pax 12-course homecooked dinner for my friends on 5.8.2015.

i varied my usual kueh chap braising sauce recipe & added 1 cup of red wine. i used the slow crockpot roast method (starting from cold on low heat) for the 1/2head+ear i bought from sheng shiong, and texture was perfect in about 6 hrs.

for the pig’s ear ragout, i took out the ear & minced/chopped it, took out some sauce & heat the minced pig’s ear & reduced the sauce.

flavour was excellent & the gelatinous texture was just wonderful!

i do not really see this dish though as a full appetizer dish though for my dinners, so it is not worthwhile to be more elaborate. instead i was already making the head cheese terrine with the same preparation, and the pig’s ear ragout was part of the appetizer platter & i used ordinary plain bread toasted in a desktop oven & cut into tiny 6cmx6cm pieces so diners can scoop just small amount of pig’s ears ragout & try a very small tasting portion. my friends though ended up making more toasted bread for themselves & finished up the ragout.

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

• 500g pig head meat
• 100g pig ear

braising sauce

• 2 – 3 tbsp dark sauce
• 4 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp zhengjiang black vinegar
• 1 tbsp heap sugar
• 1 cinnamon bark
• 2 star anise
• 1 bulb peeled garlic
• 3cm sliced ginger
• 1 tsp 5-pice powder
• water to cover meat

Directions:

1. mix the braising sauce.
2.  scalding the pig head after cleaning (use a large kitchen knife to scrap off hair from the belly & face) to remove the scums. place pig head & ear in the crockpot, add the braising sauce to cover the meat completely, then turn on low & braise for about 6hrs. you can also use a meat thermometer. set it at 83degC. the mild low temperature braising results in a gentler, moist & tender meat.
3. take out the pig’s ear & minced/chopped it, take out some sauce & heat the minced pig’s ear & reduced the sauce.
4. put the pig’s ear ragout in a ramekin. when serving, cover with kitchen towel & heat for 30s in microwave.
5. toast 2 white bread in a toaster, cut away the ends & cut each slice into 4 pieces. serve the ragout on the bread.

thai yellow curry grilled chicken thighs

i was motivated to try this thai dry yellow curry grilled chicken after my son introduced me to the excellent busaba grilled chicken green curry fried rice.

it was so lemak, intense & flavourful.

dancing chef thai red & yellow readymix curries

i went to look for thai readymix curries & bought the “dancing chef” at sheng shiong.

son was back for summer break & asked why i used yellow instead of green curry.

i tried green but it was more suited for the usual thai green curry chicken, the soupy dish. red curry was spicy & excellent. i used it for my thai red curry sotong, more of a drinkable gravy.

i find the yellow curry most suited for dry curry, like a sauce dip. it was excellent with the grilled chicken especially with sweet yellow onions, very intense, sweet & lemak.

thai yellow curry grilled chicken thighs

for the grilled chicken, i cut & deboned chicken thighs. i seasoned with fish sauce & white pepper. then i placed the chicken skin down on a non-stick pan with just a little butter on medium heat (more fat will render out of the chicken). then i covered & turned heat down. it would take a while to cook the chicken, turned over when brown (maybe about 5 mins on each side).

thai yellow curry chicken (on 25.7.2015)

for my daughter’s recent party for 30pax+, i made 6 thighs & they disappeared in no time.^^

thai yellow curry chicken (on 25.7.2015)

for the curry, i cut 1/2 large onions, fried in the pan with just bit of chicken oil & added 2 tsp thai yellow curry powder & 3 tbsp coconut milk. i added 3 tbsp chicken stock & reduced.

i must say this is such a wonderful dish, very flavourful curry especially with the onions & tasty chicken.

c.h.e.f andy