Okinawa Deep-Fried Pork Ears (Mimigar Karaage)

Submitted by Pearl Ishizaki

"In Okinawan local markets, it's easy to find shredded pieces of pork ears or "mimigar". These pork ears are pre-cooked so it's easy to cook at home and it doesn't take much time to be prepared. It's very inexpensive too. This deep-fried recipe is recommended for starters who might not be completely comfortable in eating pork ears. It's crispy and tasty and is actually good with beer."

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Serves: 2

ingredients

• 100 g shredded pork, ears (pre-boiled)
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ginger juice
• 1 tablespoon awamori
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch pepper
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup oil (deep frying)
• 50 g red cabbage

directions

1. Bring water in a pot to boil. Once the water boils, put the pork ears in the pot then boil it for a minute. Take the pork ears from the boiling water and use a strainer to drain.
2. Grate about a teaspoon of ginger then squeeze it to get the juice. You will need about 1/4 teaspoon of ginger juice.
3. In a small bowl, combine the ginger juice, awamori, soy sauce, salt, pepper and sesame oil then mix well until well combined.
4. In a large bowl, toss the pork ears and the seasoning mixture. Mix to combine well then marinate for 15 minutes.
5. After marinating, place the pork ears in a strainer to remove excess liquid. While waiting for the ears to drain, you can shred the red cabbage.
6. After draining the pork ears, put it back in a bowl and add cornstarch then mix to coat the pork ears.
7. Heat oil in a pan until it reaches 170 degrees Celsius. Your oil reached the desired deep frying temperature when it starts to bubble almost immediately when you try to dip the end of a chopstick on the oil. Once it reaches the desired temperature, reduce the heat to low.
8. Carefully put the coated pork ears into the oil then fry until the color becomes golden brown.
9. Once the color changes, increase the heat to high then fry until the pork ears become crispy. Remove the pork ears then drain the excess oil.
10. Serve the deep fried pork ears with the shredded cabbage.