Did you know that just like dogs, pigs wag their tails when they are happy? The message from pigs, it seems, is pretty clear. ‘I am delicious. Come and eat me.’
The tail is the flexible appendage attached to the torso section at the rear of an animal’s body. Many vertebrates have them. Birds & fish have them, some insects have them, and humans kinda have them (in the form of a coccyx, an internal fusion of vertebrae at the base of the spine). Tails are most often used for locomotion, stabilisation or grasping. But our porcine friends have seemingly evolved their tails for an entirely different purpose. To be turned into meat candy.
Pigs tails are best if you remove the bone. That way you won’t choke when you see how insanely tasty they are and try to swallow the entire plate in one mouthful. What you are left with is skin, meat and fat. And these three things in this combination should be x-rated.
Skin is largely made of collagen, one of the proteins that makes up roughly 25% of all the protein in mammalian bodies. When collagen is exposed to high heat for a short period, it snaps up like rubber bands, becoming chewy and tough and about as delicious as them as well. But if you cook it slow and hold it at a high temperature for many hours, it melts and the fibrous strands absorb water. What you end up with is gelatin – the exact same thing that jello is made from, or the thing that sets your panna cotta. I.e. Cook pork tail in this way and you can make meat jello. Cook it this way and add a ton of smoke and you can make meat jello heaven.
Now, take this meat jello with nicely rendered fat and hunks of meat still attached. Dredge it and drop it in the fryer. You want the skin crispy to counter the gelatinous insides. Fry it up real good. Contrast in texture makes great eating. Toss the crispy pork tail in a signature sauce – our Carolina Gold mustard sauce will do the trick. Finish with an extra pinch of spices and a smattering of chili oil. Holy shit. Are you salivating yet?
Of course, this is a lot of work. Don’t worry though. We got it. Introducing Quán Ụt Ụt’s new Sticky Pig Tail. Come take a ride.
– Quán Ụt Ụt
