Bones_ Recipes, History, and Lore - Jennifer McLagan [42]
The ginger helps cut the richness of the pig’s tails. Even so, one per person is enough.
4 cooked pig’s tails
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
⅔ cup (150 ml) julienned fresh ginger
¼ cup (60 ml) rice wine vinegar
½ cup (125 ml) light soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
8 green onions, trimmed and sliced
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Lightly brush a baking dish with oil and add the pig’s tails. If they are long cut them into two and position the thick fat sections together in the dish. If your tails have a lot of fat, trim some of it off.
2. Cover the tails with a splatter screen, if you have one, and bake for 15 minutes.
3. While the tails are cooking, heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until they begin to stick to the pan. Pour in the vinegar and 1 cup (250 ml) water and bring to a boil, stirring to deglaze the pan by scraping the browned bits from the bottom. Add the soy sauce and sugar, cover, and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the garlic softens. Remove from the heat, uncover, and set aside.
4. After 15 minutes, carefully turn the pig’s tails and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes. They should be crispy, dark, but not burnt. When the tails are cooked, drain them on paper towels, then chop into small pieces.
5. Add the tails to the sauce and reheat. Mix the cornstarch with 2 teaspoons cold water, stir into the sauce, and bring to a boil, stirring to thicken it slightly. Add the green onions, and serve very hot.
οPig’s Tails with Lentils
{SERVES 4 TO 6 AS AN APPETIZER} In this recipe, the lentils absorb fat and flavor from the tails. The cooking time will vary depending on the type of lentils. You want them cooked but not mushy.
4 cooked pig’s tails (page 86)
1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
1 small carrot, peeled and diced
12 ounces (350 g) lentils, preferably French le Puy, rinsed
2 to 1½ cups (500 to 625 ml) reserved cooking liquid from the tails
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. Cut the fat and skin from the back end of the tails and dice it. Cut the rest of the tails into i-inch (2.5 cm) pieces.
2. Mix 1 tablespoon of the oil and the diced skin and fat in a medium saucepan, covered with a splatter screen, and cook over low heat until the pieces begin to pop; add the extra oil only if necessary, there should enough fat in the tails. Add the onion and carrot and cook for 5 minutes, again covered with the screen. Add the lentils and 2 cups (500 ml) of the cooking liquid and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and add the bay leaf and the pig’s tails. Cover with a lid and simmer until the lentils are tender, 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the lentils.
3. Check the lentils regularly after 20 minutes, so as not to overcook them, and add the extra liquid only if necessary. The liquid should all be absorbed by the time the lentils are cooked.
4. Season the cooked lentils and tail with salt and pepper.
TIPS Tails and feet need special attention when it comes to cleaning. I have been lucky the ones I have bought have had very little hair. I removed any remaining bristles by singing them over a gas flame. Fergus Henderson, an authority on extremities, recommends using a disposable razor in his book, The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating.
MUSICAL BONES
The Latin word tibia means both shinbone and flute. Archaeologists have found many Roman flutes made from the tibias of sheep or large birds like cranes or geese. Although the tibia is ideal for making a flute, any long, straight hollow bone will work. American Indians made their flutes using both the long wing bones of birds and their leg bones. Others turned bones into into whistles and tuning pegs for