OKINAWA DEEP-FRIED PORK EARS (MIMIGAR KARAAGE)

Steps:

• 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.
• Grate about a teaspoon of ginger then squeeze it to get the juice. You will need about 1/4 teaspoon of ginger juice.
• In a small bowl, combine the ginger juice, awamori, soy sauce, salt, pepper and sesame oil then mix well until well combined.
• In a large bowl, toss the pork ears and the seasoning mixture. Mix to combine well then marinate for 15 minutes.
• 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.
• After draining the pork ears, put it back in a bowl and add cornstarch then mix to coat the pork ears.
• 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.
• Carefully put the coated pork ears into the oil then fry until the color becomes golden brown.
• 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.
• Serve the deep fried pork ears with the shredded cabbage.