Nose to Tail in Practice

[farcego]

5 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

It's interesting to see that so many have mentioned the way that our parents cooked liver. They sliced it so thin and then cooked it until it was hard and dry. My ex-mother-in-law was the worst. You could have taken the liver that she cooked and resoled your shoes. You would have only had to have done it once. I used to hate liver until I finally had it medium rare and it was a life changer.

 

Slice thin would have been great in my youth; sometimes I had steaks of liver, and that was, as you said, something to resoled mountain boots.

PS. Overcooking liver may have to be with the past when parasites like Trichinella, liver flukes or others that may live in or around livers were not as well checked as now, and people raised and killed pigs at home more often.

Edited January 13, 2023 by farcego (log)

[liuzhou]

Slight interruption to normal service and a question.

 

I have always considered chitterlings to be the small intestines of (usually) pigs and all my dictionaries agree. However the USDA seems to define them as the LARGE intestines.

 

Quote

Chitterlings or "chitlins" are the large intestines usually of swine (hogs) but can also be from young bovine animals such as calf, or veal.

 

https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/What-are-chitterlings

 

Surely not? What's your take?

Edited January 14, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

12 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

It's interesting to see that so many have mentioned the way that our parents cooked liver. They sliced it so thin and then cooked it until it was hard and dry.

 

Slicing thin isn't the problem. It's best sliced thin. The problem is simply one of overcooking. It should only be flash fried for seconds. Perfect.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

51 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

Slicing thin isn't the problem. It's best sliced thin. The problem is simply one of overcooking. It should only be flash fried for seconds. Perfect.

 

Thankfully my parents never cooked liver.

 

[liuzhou]

Another connection between the soul food of the Southern States of the USA and the daily fare of China is the regard for or 猪肠 (zhū cháng) or 粉肠 (fěn cháng), the small intestines of the pig. Or as they are known in the USA by everyone but the USDA,  ‘chitterlings’. The USDA thinks they are large intestines. They are wrong again!

 

(Yes, I know sometimes other animals are used, but not often).

 

Small Pig Intestines

 

These are another divisive part: people either love or hate them and they really have to be prepared correctly – especially when it comes to cleaning them. Several changes of water are needed, aided and abetted by baking soda and/or vinegar. For more on this see here. The advice given applies no matter which culture you are cooking in.

 

These knives are sold specifically to slit open the small intestines. They are useful for gutting small fish, too.

 

In Cantonese cooking intestines are often cooked in a casserole-type dish with 海鲜酱 (hǎi xiān jiàng), hoisin sauce or 柱侯酱 (zhù hóu jiàng), chee hou sauce. Round here, however, they are more likely to be stir fried with chillies. I’ve seen them mixed into congee or as part of a fried rice dish.

 

Like so many Chinese favourites, they are more about texture than flavour, but if cooked well, they shouldn't be over-chewy.

 

肥肠 (féi cháng) literally ‘fat intestines’ are the large intestines and these are also eaten, but are more often braised, especially in soy sauce with spices. These can be more chewy. They are sold raw or pre-cooked on deli counters in supermarkets.

Soy-Braised Large Pig Intestines

 

Edited December 14, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[heidih]

From the linked article "They are not the small intestines from which chitlins are made but part of the large intestines. At Asian markets you'll find this part of the large intestines labeled as bung. Its taste is meaty and porky and, because sometimes I am at a loss to describe that ineffably "gamey" or animalistic flavor of innards, let me just say that intestines taste "offal-y."   https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-prepare-bung-intestines-offal   I've never takes chitlins or bung but I'd try if presented to me.

[liuzhou]

Every source I have seen, and I've seen a lot, agree that chitterlings are small intestines.

Anyone who has seen and eaten chitterlings and large intestines would agree, they look very different.

 

The Oxford Companion to Food - Second Edition 2006

 

 

 

OED

 

Edited January 14, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

If I were to be restricted to only one kind of ‘offal’ or related parts for the rest of my life, it would be an impossible choice. Chicken livers or hearts? Blood sausage? Haggis? I’d sooner give up chocolate or ice cream!

 

But high on my list would be kidneys; lamb / mutton by preference, pig by availability; beef not so much. I have managed in my life to convert offal haters to kidneys; if not to fallopian tubes!

 

Pig's Kidney                           

 

Two recipes spring mind for these conversions. The first is western-type recipe by Delia Smith for lamb kidneys in red wine, a recipe which converted my son's best friend who definitely couldn’t eat kidneys as he would probably immediately die, howling in agony. Or perhaps not.

 

The second is a Chinese (Sichuan) treatment detailed in The Food of Sichuan (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) by Fuchsia Dunlop. 火爆腰花 (huǒ bào yāo huā ) which she translates as fire-exploded kidney ‘flowers’*, is a pig kidney dish which are basically stir-fried with vegetables. The special part of the recipe and the dish is in the cross-cutting of the kidneys prior to cooking.

 

* I'd translate it as 'fiery kidney flowers'.

 

Usually I can only get pig kidneys but I have successfully made the Smith recipe with those, too. Occasionally, lamb kidneys turn up, once tucked away unnoticed in a piece of lamb belly.   Even more rarely, I can get them with the suet still in place.  Heaven! 

 

Lamb kidney in lamb belly

 

Lamb kidneys in suet - image from advertisement on Meituan online shopping portal in China.

 

Kidneys seem to go with almost everything. Sometimes I do them in western recipes and sometimes Chinese. I’ve even done a Chinese take on that old favourite, steak and kidney pie!

 

As with so much offal, cleaning is important but kidneys are easy. Just lay the kidney on the board and slice in half lengthwise keeping the knife blade parallel to the board, remove the exterior membrane and cut out as much of the fat in the centre as you can manage and you’re good to go. Again a light cook is all that is needed unless you have beef kidneys; they require long slow cooking.

 

Kidneys seem to go with almost everything. Here a few dishes I’ve made. There are many more.

 

Steak and kidney with spinach, new potatoes and mustard

 

Pork kidneys with mushrooms and rIce

 

Pork kidneys with okra and mash

 

Breakfast - Devilled pork kidneys

 

Kidneys and mushrooms with hothouse chives

 

Versatile ingredient

 

Edited January 16, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

I’ve mentioned before my enjoying watching old women fighting over bits of meat in the supermarkets in China. I’ve turned it into a spectator sport. The amusing thing is that they are usually after bits that most of us would reject out of hand. For example this would be low on their desirability scale.

 

 

Instead they would do injurious battle to get their grubby little manual appendages on this.

 

 

The first doesn’t have enough fat to satisfy them, the second is nearly all fat.

 

OK. I exaggerate but only a little. They do battle for the fattier cuts in the knowledge that it comes with its own built-in cooking medium. In the case of my first picture, they will separate the fat from the flesh, chop the fat and render it down to cook the rest of dinner. Vegetables are nearly always stir-fried in pork fat rendered at home each meal.

 

However, this is a low quality fat. To obtain the best results you need to obtain the best fat from which to make your lard and it is generally accepted that this is the ‘flare’ or ‘leaf fat’ which is mainly found surrounding the internal organs such as the kidneys. This is what, in other animals such as sheep and cattle is referred to as suet. Back fat is also a good source, followed by the ever-common pork belly fat.

 

 

Fortunately, good fat is easy to source. Most supermarkets sell it as pictured above. And it’s very cheap, if not as cheap as the lower quality stuff still attached to the flesh.

 

There are websites with information on how to render the lard, including this one, however the Chinese cook will do it in a wok on relatively low heat. I tend to add a splash of water to start the process without scorching - the water soon evaporates once the fat starts to melt.

 

Lard was, not so long ago, a common choice fat in Europe and the Americas for all sorts of cooking from frying to baking, but became demonised recently as part of the anti-fat movement and competition / propaganda from the liquid oil industry. China has largely avoided that trap, except perhaps in the larger cities such as Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing.

In fact, lard has many health advantages over the common oils used worldwide. Also, of course, it is (as those Chinese grannies recognise) an important element of nose-to-tail. Why buy expensive, highly refined air-mile heavy oils when you can use more healthy, local fat that would otherwise be wasted?

 

The fat is rendered and any remaining solids are eaten as snacks à la "cracklings," or "pork rinds" depending on your local terminology. No waste.

 

Of course the Chinese are much more fat tolerant than modern Europeans or Americans generally tend to be. A favourite dish (which I find inedible) is Dongpo pork from Hangzhou in eastern China which is extra fatty pork belly (with the skin) slow cooked for hours in rice wine and soy sauce until very soft. Although it isn’t greasy in the mouth, it is basically 95% fat. It’s the texture I don’t like. I like my fat crisp.

 

Dongpo Pork

 

Also, some, maybe most, Chinese sausages have huge amounts of fat in them; certainly more than would be acceptable in most western kitchens.

 

 

 

 

PD

Edited January 17, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[KennethT]

7 hours ago, liuzhou said:

In fact, lard has many health advantages over the common oils used worldwide. Also, of course, it is (as those Chinese grannies recognise) an important element of nose-to-tail. Why buy expensive, highly refined air-mile heavy oils when you can use more healthy, local fat that would otherwise be wasted?

What are the health advantages?  The link just goes to top of page 3...

[liuzhou]

23 hours ago, KennethT said:

What are the health advantages?  The link just goes to top of page 3...

 

Apologies. Have now edited the link. Here it is again.

Edited January 17, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

There is one part of the animal which is eaten, but rarely. That is the spleen. The spleen is part of the circulatory system and its main function is to filter the blood and regulate the amount of red blood cells - if there is a shortage, it can produce more; if there is an excess it can kill some off. The spleen lies next to the left kidney in most vertebrates but is long and narrow. Straightened  out, the one in the picturebelow is 30 cm / 1 foot long.

 

Pig's Spleen

 

It has a similar texture to the relevant animal's liver.

 

Fergus Henderson, nose-to-tail eating enthusiast and populiser, chef-owner of London's famous St John restaurant has a recipe for rolled pig's spleen here. It is a typically simple, yet flavourful example of his no waste cooking style. The compendium edition of his two nose-to-tail books (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) is a must-have for anyone seriously interested in the concept and the practice.

 

Another interesting recipe that I came across is this for pig's spleen stuffed with minced pork.

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[Arey]

years ago in Philadelphia PA  at a kosher restaurant I had stuffed spleen for a starter.  I don't remember what it was stuffed with,but  I'm  pretty sure it wasn't pork.

Edited January 17, 2023 by Arey (log)

[liuzhou]

1 hour ago, Arey said:

years ago in Philadelphia PA  at a kosher restaurant I had stuffed spleen for a starter.  I don't remember what it was stuffed with,but  I'm  pretty sure it wasn't pork.

 

Beef spleen?

[Arey]

Probably beef spleen.It was so long ago I can't remember for sure.

[liuzhou]

From something rarely eaten to the opposite. From Japan to Jamaica, Laos to Lithuania, one porky part is eaten with relish. Trotters or pettitoes; ຫມູຂອງ to kiaulės koja, there are few cultures which don’t eat them.

 

 

I’m talking pig’s feet, although in Chinese we have both 猪手 (zhū shǒu) and 猪脚 (zhū jiǎo), pig’s hands and pig’s feet respectively, denoting the front and back feet separately although the latter is also used for both, unless it is essential to differentiate.

 

Pig's Foot with Garlic

 

I’ve never cooked them, but I’ve eaten them on three different continents. Now, the nearest restaurant to my home does a mean pig’s foot, which I always order when I visit. I ate them in the UK regularly when my mother cooked them (or more often bought them pre-cooked from the butcher).

 

Cantonese Braised Pig's Feet

 

 

I think these are too well known for me to have to say anything very much except to mention this typical Cantonese recipe which is how I usually have them, and point you to probably the greatest song about a porcine part.

 

 

Twenty-five cents?

Ha! No! No!

I wouldn't pay twenty-five cents to go in nowhere 'cause listen here:

 

Up in Harlem ev'ry Saturday night when the high-browns git together it's just too tight,

They all congregates at an all night strut and what they do is tut-tut-tut

Old Hannah Brown from 'cross town gets full of corn and starts breakin' 'em down

Just at the break of day you can hear old Hannah say, "Gimme a pigfoot and a bottle of beer"

 

Send me gate I don't care I feel just like I wanna clown

Give the piano player a drink because he's bringin' me down

He's got rhythm, yeah! When he stomps his feet, he sends me right off to sleep

 

Check all your razors and your guns

We gonna be rasslin' when the wagon comes

 

I wanna pigfoot and a bottle of beer

 

Send me 'cause I don't care Slay me 'cause I don't care

Gimme a reefer and a gang o' gin

Slay me, 'cause I'm in my sin

Slay me 'cause I'm full of gin

 

Check all your razors and your guns

Do the shim-sham shimmy till the risin' sun

Edited December 14, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[heidih]

My ex used to think himself so macho when he ate a serving of my stepmothers Sultz/pig foot jello - cold. I don't like it but I also do not like various aspic preps. I've not cooked pig trotters, but am fond of cow's foot soup in the style of my first husband's late grandmother - Panamanian style. Back in the day the Smart and Final stores here catered to small businesses. Mini version of Costco for mom and pop restaurants.  One item that always caught my eye was a huge jar of pickled pigs feet. I asked a customer buying the gallon? jar and he said they kept it on their bar top as a drinks accompaniment and he knew some mii mart (like 7-11) had them to sell per piece at check out.  

[Anna N]

I grew up sucking on pickled trotters. I have not had them for 60 years or more. Would I still think them heavenly? Not sure I want to know the answer to that question.

[farcego]

2 hours ago, heidih said:

My ex used to think himself so macho when he ate a serving of my stepmothers Sultz/pig foot jello - cold. I don't like it but I also do not like various aspic preps. I've not cooked pig trotters, but am fond of cow's foot soup in the style of my first husband's late grandmother - Panamanian style. Back in the day the Smart and Final stores here catered to small businesses. Mini version of Costco for mom and pop restaurants.  One item that always caught my eye was a huge jar of pickled pigs feet. I asked a customer buying the gallon? jar and he said they kept it on their bar top as a drinks accompaniment and he knew some mii mart (like 7-11) had them to sell per piece at check out.  

I just got pork feet picked this afternoon, from an online store. Ill se how they are

[liuzhou]

8 hours ago, Anna N said:

I grew up sucking on pickled trotters. I have not had them for 60 years or more. Would I still think them heavenly? Not sure I want to know the answer to that question.

 

I haven't had a pickled trotter in decades, either.

[liuzhou]

I’m posting this now to give you time to prepare for the celebrations.

 

 

Haggis is normally associated with Scotland but while it is popular there, there is no evidence that it originated there. The Romans had similar preparation and may have introduced it during their brief occupancy of northern Britain. Also, there are similar dishes recorded in the early 19th century in England.

 

This is hardly surprising. Haggis was one answer to how to preserve slaughtered animals as long as possible. The most perishable parts were the offal. So by salting and cooking, it lasted longer. The same idea was employed in the preparation of blood sausages, also still popular in Scotland as ‘black pudding’.

 

Basically and traditionally, haggis is the minced lungs, liver and heart of a sheep with added minced fat, onions, oatmeal and spicing, all mixed and boiled after being sewn into the animal’s stomach. Vegetarian versions also exist. Never mind.

 

The prepared haggis is boiled for around two to three hours depending on size. This causes the oatmeal to swell and unless care is taken the thing can explode from the pressure. It is normal to prick the stomach with a needle after some cooking to allow some release.

 

The poet, Robert Burns (Auld Lang Syne and Red, Red Rose among many others) lauded the haggis as the ‘great chieftain o’ the pudding race’ in his To a Haggis and today is remembered around the world on his birthday, 25th January, by holding celebratory Burn’s suppers where the haggis is served with mashed ‘neeps’ (swedes), mashed potatoes and washed down with a copious amount of whisky. The poem is normally recited at such events as the dish is served.

 

English and other visitors are often advised to be on the lookout for wild haggises when they venture into the hills and mountains. The creature has shorter legs on one side of its body, enabling it to run around the slopes more quickly, making it very difficult to catch. So when you eat it, you should be appreciative of the skilled hunting that enabled your meal. People fall for it.
 

I have no time for people who just say it’s disgusting, never having tried it. Say you don't want to try it – OK. Your loss. If you are on the fence, try it. You’ll probably be pleasantly surprised.

 

To A Haggis - Robert Burns 1786

 

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy o' a grace
As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o need,
While thro your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An cut you up wi ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn, they stretch an strive:
Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
The auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
'Bethankit' hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout,
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi perfect scunner,
Looks down wi sneering, scornfu view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle shank a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll make it whissle;
An legs an arms, an heads will sned,
Like taps o thrissle.

Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies:
But, if ye wish her gratefu prayer,
Gie her a Haggis

 

translations of varying exactitude are available online.

Edited December 14, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[heidih]

At mainstream market today I was reminded of this topic re pork rinds. In lead uo to SuperBowl the aisles were plugged up with beer dispays and sitting on top of one were these pork rinds along with salsas as the suggested dip. Jumping gun a bit since sporting event is Feb 12 but typical. "On Sale" for $2.50. I prefer the less BigFood brands but I picked up a bag. They had both regular and picante.

The big note on carbs is a flashback to the super low carb diets popularized. 

Edited January 21, 2023 by heidih (log)

[liuzhou]

By popular demand. Well, @KennethT asked.

 

Pork Neck Bones - Image by Jung Min (Kevin) Kim. Licenced under Creative Commons (CC BY 2.0)

 

Not a particularly popular preparation here in China, but I know they are common elsewhere. We're talking pork neck bones (and any attendant meat). Usually cheap compared to most piggy parts. When they are used here it is nearly always for making pork bone stock. There is a simple, but interesting Soul Food recipe here.

 

Wherever you are, be careful when buying them. They can be quite meaty but also can be virtually meatless. You want the meatier ones. They need simmering at least a couple of hours after being seared. To get falling-off-the-bones meat can take double that.

 

Related to that and also relatively cheap are neck fillets / pork collar, with a mix of lean and fatty meat. These are best cooked low and slow. They can be stewed, braised, grilled / BBQ’d or roasted and are great for curries and the like. There is a Jamie Oliver recipe here for pan fried pork neck fillet steak.

Edited January 21, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[kayb]

I loves me some neck bones and gravy. Over rice.

 

Mama used to make neckbones and dressing. That wasn’t half bad, either.

[heidih]

I like the neck bones on the Weber kettle - coals to the side so low and slow. Like this  https://forums.egullet.org/topic/138482-eg-foodblog-heidih-2011-a-slice-of-life-in-the-south-bay-of-los-a/?do=findComment&comment=1812468

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by heidih (log)