Here is a classic Vietnamese version of Pig ears and snout. I love this one.
Gio Thu (Vietnamese Headcheese)
4 Pig Ears
2 Pig Tongues
2 Snouts or Cheeks or both
2 1/2 tbsps Fish Sauce
2 1/2 tbsps Sugar
1 tbsp Salt
1 tsp ground pepper
2 tbsps roasted whole Peppercorns (tiêu hột)
1 cup shredded or whole Black Fungus (nấm mèo) soaked for about 20 minutes or until soft and drained
Cooking Oil
6 Cloves Garlic, minced (make about 2 1/2 tbsps minced garlic)
2 Shallots, minced
1 medium Onion, for boiling meat
1 tbsp Salt, for boilling meat
2 tbsp Sugar, for boiling meat
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2 tablespoos of Salt, for cleaning the meat
1 cup Vinegar, for cleaning the meat
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2 empty medium size round tin cans (empty fruit cans) and plastic sandwich bags
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Preparing Meat
Clean the pig ears, tongue, snout with water, salt and vinegar thorougly. Rinsed. scrub it good.
Boil meat in a large pot with onion, sugar and salt for about 45 minutes or until you can poke a choptick through the pig ears, tongue and snout . Drain and rinse cold water until cool. This will prevent the skin of the pork from turning color.
Cut the pig ears thinly.
Discard the thin white layer on top of the tongue by using the slicer to slice it. Cut tongue thinly.
Certain part of the snout might still has hair, so be sure to shave it clean. Cut snout thinly.
Mix the meat in a bowl with ground pepper, whole peppercorns, sugar, salt, fish sauce and fungus.
In a large pan, heat a couple tablespoons of cooking oil and saute the shallots and garlic until it becomes fragrant. Add the meat mixture and saute until you notice the meats become viscous sticky, usually about 10 minutes.
Molding the Mixture
use empty ridge-free walls fruit cans such as the jackfruit or lychee cans. Line the cans with sandwich bags and tightly pack the cans with the mixture. Every spoon of mixture you add in the mold, press it down firmly to compact the mixture. Close the bag then place something heavy on top to compact the contents further. Store in the fridge overnight.
Remove it from a mold and wrap it up in banana leaves or plastic wrap and aluminum foil.
Keep refrigerated until ready to use, serve in sandwich
