Few housewives know how to cook a pork head, but meanwhile, this is an excellent material for many dishes. In addition, the pork head becomes a real decoration of the solemn table, it can be stuffed, fried.
Before starting cooking, the pork head must be thoroughly processed: it must be singed, cleaned and rinsed very well. If you bought a whole pork head, then at home it will have to be cut, usually in two parts. It is worth focusing on the size of the pan.
After the head has been singed and washed, it should be soaked in cold water for 2-3 hours. For half a head, 4-5 liters are usually enough.
From one half of the head, you can cook jellied meat in an amount sufficient for an average family. However, a pork head is not enough to make good jellied meat. To make the broth rich, meat is added to the head, as a rule, beef.
Let the water boil, remove the foam and cook over low heat. After 2-3 hours, add beef to the pork head. When the beef is ready, it must be removed, and the pork head should be continued to cook until the meat begins to separate from the bones. An hour before the end of cooking, dip a whole onion, a piece of parsley and celery root, carrots, bay leaves and black peppercorns into the broth. Be sure to salt the broth, but remember that the beef was taken out earlier, which means it is not salty.
The finished pork head must be selected from the broth, and carefully strain it through a sieve or loose gauze. Remove the meat from the pork head, chop it. Chop the beef separately. Mix the two meats.
At the bottom of the dish into which the meat for the jellied meat will be laid out, put the mugs of boiled carrots and the crushed clove of garlic, the meat on top, and then carefully pour the broth. Let cool and then place the container in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
It is customary to serve jellied meat, after turning it over on a flat plate, decorate as desired. Horseradish or mustard is usually brought to the jellied meat.
Pork head roll is also a common dish. Pre-treatment of the head before cooking is the same as for jellied meat, but you do not need to chop it, you will have to carefully cut it. To do this, put your head on the table with the back of the head down.
Along the upper part (muzzle), starting from the lower jaw, make an incision with a sharp knife. Cut the meat off the skull in layers; do not remove the skin. The more carefully you remove the meat, the more it will be in the roll.
Having cut off the ears, spread the resulting layers of meat with the skin on the table, cut off the patch, and put a piece of meat in the eye holes. Season the meat with salt, pepper, you can sprinkle it with a ready-made dry mixture for pork, be sure to put a few crushed cloves of garlic.
Roll each layer in turn carefully into a roll and tie with culinary twine. Place the roll in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Let the water boil and reduce the flame. The roll is usually cooked for 3-4 hours. An hour before the end of cooking, add parsley and celery root, black peppercorns and a large onion to the broth. Lightly salt the broth, taking into account that the roll is already salted inside.
When the roll is ready, it is taken out of the pan and placed on a plate, and a load is placed on top of a clean linen napkin. The load must be heavy enough for the roll to take the desired shape. It is advisable to place the dish in a cool place and let it cool completely.
By the way, you can make a Chinese salad from the remaining pork ears.
Twine is removed from the cooled roll and cut into slices, beautifully laid on a serving plate. The roll can be used as a cut or as a separate dish as a cold snack. Served with horseradish or mustard.
