Pig's Ear and Split Pea Soup

In my ongoing journey to explore the possibilities of cooking with the unreasonably unmentionables I have provided here today a soup I rather enjoyed devising. Having recently read the inspiringly written no-nonsense work Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery by Jane Grigson, this soup is a play on the more traditional split pea and ham soup. Instead of ham I have crafted this soup with pig's ear, giving it a lot more crunch and a more subtle pork flavour to warm ye' winter bones. 

Ingredients:

1 carrot

3 stalks celery

½ tbsp minced garlic

1 large onion, cut thinly

1.5 cups split peas

1 pig’s ear

3. tbsp chilli oil*

3 tbsp. olive oil

3 cups cold water

cilantro, salt, and pepper to preference

*chilli oil can be obtained from many grocery and specialty stores, or it can be improvised at home by adding olive oil to chili flakes in a jar, agitating, and allowing this mixture to stand overnight to develop in heat.

The Method:

1.) Using a razor or sharp knife remove any remaining hairs from the pig’s ear. The hairs may also be singed with a lighter and then scrapped off with a razor/knife. Wash any blood clots, abnormalities, and waxy substance off the ears, cleaning thoroughly.

2.) Place the cleaned ear in a medium pot with salted water high enough to cover the ear. Simmer for 1.5-2 hours, until the ear is tender but the skin is not pulling away from the cartilage.

3.) Place the ear on a flat tray and cover with tinfoil. Place a cutting board on top of the wrapped ear and place a weight on top of the board and let stand for 30 mins. or longer. This will flatten the ear, making it more manageable to prepare. 

4.) While the ear is resting place 3 cups of water in a medium soup pot, adding salt to preference. In this pot place the diced carrot, celery, and split peas. In a frying pan, fry the garlic and onion in olive oil until the onion is soft and translucent (~3 mins). Add the fried onion and garlic to the soup pot. Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce to a slow simmer and simmer for ~1.5 hrs, or until the split peas are tender.

5.) Towards to 1.5 hrs mark, remove the pig’s ear and dice finely. Fry the diced pig ear pieces in chilli oil for ~1 mins, watching that the gelatinous skin does not stick to the frying pan. Once fried add the diced ear to the soup to cook for the last 5-10 minutes before serving.

6.) Once the soup is cooked you can add diced cilantro to preference to give the dish its finishing touch. It is your choice as to when the cilantro is added. If you like the crisp feel of fresh cilantro add it at the very end as more of a garnish. If you prefer the cilantro flavor to subtly permeate the soup but remain a background in terms of taste and texture, you can add it early and allow it to simmer in the pot with the soup.

7.) Once the soup is done serve immediately with saltine crackers and black pepper to preference.

Variations:

If you prefer a soup with finer consistency this soup can also be blended before the addition of the pig’s ear. Simply follow the steps and at the end of Step 4 blend the soup, either with an immersion blender or by transferring the soup in workable batches to a standard blender. You can blend the soup entirely or you can blend a portion of the soup and then add the blended portion to the remaining soup to create a chunky pureed soup to which the fried pig’s ear can then be added. 

Commentary:

This pig’s ear soup is great on a winter’s day. The addition of the diced and chilli oil fried pig’s ear provides a more subtle pork taste to the dish while also adding a textural element in the crunch of the cartilage. By slicing the ear thin and frying it in chilli oil you allow for the addition of a layer of heat but not so much as to be overwhelming, warming the body but not burning the mouth.