Souse Soup (spicy pig ear soup)

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Souse Soup (spicy pig ear soup)

Serves 6

“In a pig’s ear I’ll eat that!” you say? Well, you have taken the first step and opened this article, therefore you must be interested. Give me just a few moments of your time to tempt your taste buds with something just a little bit different, yet also very familiar. Remember that home cooks all over the world share the same dilemma; feeding themselves and others on limited income and resources. When we look to each other for ideas, we expand our menus.

Souse or head cheese dates back to the Middle Ages and is served sliced cold. It is another example of waste-free budget cooking. I use ears and tails since they are cleaner and only require one-time cooking. With other parts of the animal it is necessary to boil the meat until tender, discard the water and boil again in clean water.

I had something similar to this soup when I was pregnant with my first son in South Carolina. My husband’s cousin made this with a wry smile as I sat and watched. Little did he know the kinds of things I ate around the world and was looking forward to his meal. They politely brought home KFC chicken for me to eat, but I never touched a mouthful. No-siree, I ate bowl after spicy bowl to their amazement and joy. I yearned for this soup and found that his cousin never created a recipe at all, so I did.

“Ok, what does it really taste like?” you ask. Well, it tastes like a gelatinous piece of pork in spicy gravy. It is a cross between Caribbean souse and Filipino adobo. The only way to really understand its flavor is to try it yourself.

* The phrase "to get soused" (to get drunk) comes from this term to pickle or brine!

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs pig ears and tails combined, ears sliced into smaller pieces (kitchen scissors work best for this)
• 6 C water
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 Scotch bonnet pepper, other hot chili pepper or several shakes of Tabasco
• 1/4 C fresh lime juice
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 packet adobo seasoning
• 1/4 C apple cider vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a deep pot over medium heat add the ears, tails, water, onion, garlic, vinegar and hot pepper.
2. Cook about 2 hours or until ears and tails are soft and gelatinous.
3. To the pot add the  pepper, carrot, and celery over medium-high heat and cook until carrots are tender.
4. Add adobo packet cooking for about 5 minutes longer.
5. Take off of heat, add lime and serve with white rice.