Head-y Business

Mom absolutely loves 猪头肉 or meat from the head of a pig. Why? It helps her reminisce her childhood. Because of poverty, maternal grandmother would source for the cheapest protein to feed her large family of 9 children. And the pig's head seemed affordable to the family. Then, maternal grandmother would turn this part of the pig which few people wanted, into a mouthwatering delight!

At home, the usual way to prepare the head is to braise it in a liquid concocted from soy sauce, sugar and the Chinese five-spices. The result is very flavourful cuts of meat which is full of texture. Mom and her sisters all love 猪头肉 because they grew up eating it. Hence, all of them know how to cook this. Second Aunt had  made some for me last year.

Anyway, Mom bought a portion of the head from the market. The butcher had cleaned it and blanched it before he sold it. So all Mom had to do was to braise it when she got back.

Pig's head meat

And there, we had slivers of the meat for dinner! Sil and I both thought that it was delicious, for the meats were totally infused with the flavours of the braising liquid. We helped ourselves lots! Thanks, Mom!