This little dish is an appetizer from the fairly extensive ‘Authentic Chinese’ section of the menu at the Best Chinese Restaurant here in Halifax. I am fairly sure I have featured pig’s ears in a previous restaurant review sometime during the past several years, but this preparation deserves a bit of a mention…
Pig’s ears, often served cold, are enjoyed in Chinese cuisine primarily for their texture. The taste is somewhat negligible, and chiefly overshadowed by accompanying ingredients, but the sheet of cartilage below the thin, soft skin, yields a bite that is a bit like breaking the skin of a knackwurst… it seems tough and unyielding at the first pressure, but then suddenly gives way with a satisfyingly crisp crunch.
These ones were prepared much as others I have had; that is to say, in red chili oil (it appears as 红油耳丝 on the menu), and also includes scallion and garlic. What differentiated this particular one in my mind is the sheer amount of raw garlic… there were thick slices of it all throughout the dish and they really added a sharp note in addition to the fire of the flakes of chili in the oil.
As much as I enjoyed this, though, I think I would be willing to forego the raw garlic in order to have this served as a hot dish rather than a cold appetizer… I think the pleasure of the dish would be enhanced (for me at least). There is a decent Chinese market I recently discovered not far from my new home that may have the raw pig’s ears from time to time, and if I come across them, I will see what I can do with them…