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Once the water was simmering, I lifted the tails out and discarded the water. This helps to eliminate the floating scum of coagulated protein that collects during poaching. Then the little ears got a proper poaching with onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and bay.
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Unlike the tails, which were a blend of meat, fat, and skin, the ears are just skin with a tell-tale white band of cartilage running through the middle. No matter how long you cook it, the cartilage never loses its firm bite. This gives the ear a slightly gristly texture, but certainly no reason to avoid eating one.
Once patted dry, the ears are quite fragile and the skin tears easily. It's
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And that's all there is to it! I promised a coworker (who had never tried a pig's ear before) to bring them in to work, and a few people enjoyed them unadorned. They're just delicious, salty snacking! I even got my boss' two year old to eat one. He was very pleased, calling it a "french fry." I hope his vegetarian mother is proud of him expanding his gastronomic horizons! The rest of the pig's ears ended up as porky croutons on my kale soup. They added a nice, salty contrast to the smooth, herbal soup.
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