pig head torchon
 

got a pig head today, it was cut off the pig this morning, paid $10. i win.

gonna make a pig head torchon, straight out of momofuku by david chang. sounds difficult, but it's pretty easy.

1 - boil whole pig head (ears, nose, face, whole head) in court bouillon for a few hours.
2 - separate fat from meat (skin is considered fat) peel tounge, it's considered meat. i don't use eyes or brain or "yucky parts," there is plenty of meat on cheeks and such.
3 - lay down saran wrap
4 - lay down blanket of fat
5 - season meat with sauteed garlic and pepper and salt. lay down meat on top of fat.
6 - roll up like a jelly roll
7 - put in refrigerator overnight.
8 - slice into pucks, bread and fry. cover with sauce. devour.

this is a super rich tasty sexy meal. and as chang says, what better way to honor the animal who gave it's life for us than to eat the whole thing and not waste it. americans throw away the head (and all the other parts) and it's wasteful. there is a bunch of sweet tasty meat on the face.

i don't own a restaurant, but wow, this would be pure profit. i spend a total of about $20 (head + all the other stuff) and i can easily get about 20 meals out of it. charge a very reasonable $10 a plate, and you are making bank.

i love this recipe, it's like an art project that you can eat. lots of people have done it, there are tons of blogs about this recipe. i'm just lucky i live in a place where i can get a fresh pig head.

if you cant get a fresh pig head, you can get pig heads at any mexican carneceria or decent butcher shop. seriously, if you can, try this, it's super fun and awesome.

1. Yes, easy and awesome. As a hunter I eat head & face all the time.
2. You are really missing out if you don't eat the brain. Chop and scramble with eggs and onions if you can't handle the texture.

oh that's awesome. I love eating the cheeks. :) sesos (brains) not so much... but I guess maybe in the future I'll try it again.

wow, skizziks, that sounds like it would taste awesome!

I've frequently eaten meat off of a bbq'd whole pig's head/face but this recipe would better preserve the meat and fat flavors. I like brains, too. All sweetbreads, too. If it moves, I'd eat it. If it doesn't move, I'd eat it even easier.

Okay... that is just a bit of awesome.

Thanks for posting this. I have eaten this before but never made it before. Oddly, pig's heads are expensive here. They value all the cuts.

If you like this you should also look into Pig's Trotters. The meat on the feet is even better than the head.

i have a cool recipe for pig feet, where you braise them, shred the meat, and put them in pancakes. yes, trotters are tasty.

do you have his cookbook?

wow, i dont even eat pork and this sounds lovely

dlish, use goat head or sheep head. :)

Maybe... MAYBE... you could use lamb, but IMHO goat would be too lean.

I've never had goat head, but have seen lamb head and know it is fatty. I didn't realize that goat would be so lean, or is it just not fatty enough for this?

i ate some cheek of goat fresh off the spit last year right before the AF vs. Navy game. it was amazin. . stringy in a good waygand not tough at all, i think the victory over Navy might've had something to do with it, so dont take my word for it when i say it tastes like glory and heppy thoughts

No Way. I don't like fatty meats period. And this sounds like not only fatty but inedible. I get served a lot of whole pigs (Chinese style) at family gatherings, but always remove the skin (which has been crisped) to get at the meat only.

My German father always prepared pork hocks and I think that may have been the reason for detesting the fatty parts.

Interesting post tho... Now I know what to avoid. :)

"Smalahove" (torched and steamed lambs heads) is a traditional, Norwegian dish. (Smalahove - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...malahove01.JPG

I've actually never tasted it as it's not at tradition where I come from.

http://www.dinmat.no/var/ezwebin_sit...lte_medium.jpg
"Sylte" is another delicacy from my part of Norway. Meat and fat from a boiled pigs head are stacked in layers with spices. It's usually eaten with bread and mustard.

That "Sylte" ^ looks like a variation on "head cheese". In our ethnic Hungarian tradition, there are a couple varieties, one with lighter "aspic" with lots of paprika added to the outside of the meat; and the other with a dark red blood-based aspic. I grew up eating plenty of both of those and still enjoy them a lot.

As far as pigs' feet, I love ham hocks in a good bean soup.

I heard pigs are quite intelligent and make good pets, plus they taste good. Great combo.

Hmmm...I like the sound of everything about this, but I really doubt I can sell it to the fam.

telekinetic... the key is to prepare it in their absence. The dish in the OP ends up looking kind of like a coarse sausage. They will never know what it is until they are smacking their lips and asking for more... then you tell them.

i do have the cookbook and i recommend it. it's not just a great book of recipes, it's actually a fun and funny read about him opening his three restaurants.

---------- Post added at 08:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:18 AM ----------

actually, after it's made, it looks like a round puck shaped schnitzel. it's breaded with panko and fried.

I'd love to try this.
Not so sure about the "americans throw away the head (and all the other parts) and it's wasteful" The big packers in Omaha and Chicago used to brag that they "used everything from the hog but the squeel."

Lindy

What I meant was, after the boiling before the frying...

The only "horrific" part of the process is the head. Once you've rolled it up, it's not a threat to the squeamish.

Look! Now with video: