How to cook Pig Ears in the Pressure Cooker? (one Classic Recipe)

In this brief guide, we will answer the question, ‘ How to cook pig ears in the Pressure Cooker?’. This southern treat is cooked in the pressure cooker as the tough cartilages take time to become soft enough to eat. The time required to cook pig ears in the pressure cooker is from 30 minutes to 60, depending on the follow-up cooking technique you intend to use. 

How to cook Pig Ears in the Pressure Cooker?

Pig ears are a part of Chinese cuisine as a dish called Pig ear Terraine. Pig ears are also a part of other cuisines, including Bulgarian, Filipino, Japanese, Spanish, Thai, and Vietnamese.

Before you start to cook, be sure to clean the ears thoroughly to get rid of dirt, blood, and debris. Let them sit in cold water for a few minutes. After they are soaked, clean, and dried

You can separate the cartilage part from the meaty part of the ear.

Pig ears have an outer part that is gelatinous, while the center part is the crunchy cartilage. If you like, you can slice the soft part from the hard part and cook them separately.

Pig ears are eaten as a snack or a meal. They are sometimes fermented or pickled. Pig ears are enjoyed on their own or with bread, salad, or rice paper.

Recipe 1

First Blanche the pig ears in a pot of boiling water to get rid of scum from the ears. Throw away the water and then proceed to cook.

To boil pigs in the cooker, cook it together with a broth. The broth can be of any origin; pork, vegetable, beef, or chicken.

The cartilage can take a while to cook thoroughly. Add vegetables of your choice such as celery, jalapenos, garlic, and onions. Add some salt, peppercorns, pepper flakes, cumin seeds, mustard seeds.

Let them cook in the pressure cooker for 40-60 minutes. When you remove them from the pressure cooker, they will have become soft and gummy.

After being cooked, you can make them into a sandwich with some sauce or proceed to fry them.

Frying Technique

To fry them, you can follow the recipe below:

To coat your pig ears, add flour, kosher salt chili powder, and cumin.

After the oil has been heated in a pan, fry your coated pig ears until they turn golden brown.

Other FAQs about Pork which you may be interested in.

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How to make Pig Ear Terraine?

To cook Pig Ear Terraine, you need a pressure cooker that can cook to a pressure of 15 PSI (Pounds per square inch). 

Ingredients needed are light soy sauce, Chinkiang black vinegar, Sichuan peppercorns, and Shao Xing rice wine.

After the pig ears have been rinsed and cleaned, put them in the pressure cooker along with with3 cups of broth, 1/2 cup rice wine, 2 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. 

You need now make a pouch using a cheesecloth. In a cheesecloth, put star anise, ginger, 6 cloves of garlic, half onion. 

Fill the cooker with liquid, put the pouch in, and place pig ears on top. When you seal the pressure cooker, adjust the pressure to 15 PSI. The 4 pounds of pig ears will take an hour to cook completely. After they have cooked, turn the pot off and release the pressure of the cooker naturally. 

Remove the pig ears from the pressure cooker after the steam has been released and put the ears aside. Strain the liquid from the pot; throw away the pouch. 

Add some black vinegar to the prepared liquid and place your pan over high heat. Let it cook until the fluid has reduced to 2 cups. The liquid will have thickened and, the surface will be covered with tiny bubbles. 

Prepare the Terrine Mold

To prepare the terrine mold, pat some water along the surface of the terrine mold. You have to cut the pig ears into pieces. Cover the terrine mold with plastic wrap. Put the pieces of pig ears at the bottom and cover them with the reduced liquid. Layer the pig ear and the liquid, to the top of the mold. Proceed to cover with a plastic mold. 

Place the mold in the fridge overnight. Slice the terrine and serve it to your liking, preferably with a dipping sauce.

You can cook pig ears in the pressure cooker for 30 minutes if you intend to deep fry later. If you intend to use another method to cook pig ears later, such as grilling or broiling, then you should cook it in the pressure cooker for longer.  

In this brief guide, we answered the question, ‘ How to cook pig ears in the Pressure Cooker?’. This southern treat is cooked in the pressure cooker as the tough cartilages take time to become soft enough to eat. We also discussed the classic pig ear terraine recipe.

Citation

https://www.latimes.com/recipe/pig-ear-terrine

https://wecookbooks.com/home/f/pig-ears-two-ways

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig%27s_ear_(food)#:~:text=It%20can%20be%20first%20boiled,be%20eaten%20warm%20or%20cold.

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