Pork Bung (!?)

Watched an episode of Chopper After Hours today - where the chefs that are usually the judges use the set to have their own competition.

One of the challenging ingredients was one I had never consciously come across before - pork bung. Any yes, it is what it sounds like - the anus and last bit of the large intestine of a pig.

Apparently if you cross cut them and fry them they can pass as calamari, but in the West, we use it mostly as a casing for large bore sausages, except in the American South, where they are called chitterlings or chitlins. In the Orient they are often used as street food.

Never tried them myself and I understand that they smell foul while in preparation. Any experience with them out there? Like, dislike....?

More info: https://www.vice.com/en/article/neqeqk/ ... -pork-bung

Chitterlings/chitlins more commonly refers to the small intestine, not the large intestine or the bung, but they're probably all prepared the same way. The French stuff minced, seasoned chitterling in the small intestine casing to make a sausage called andouillette. Not to be confused with the Cajun smoked sausage called andouille. I found that out when I ordered andouillette at a restaurant in France, expecting it to be a version of andouille made in smaller links. When the dish arrived I thought to myself, "OMG! It's chitterling sausage!" Tasty, but not at all what I'd been expecting.

-Paul W.

My partner made that mistake, too.

[Jenise]

No. Never will I ever. NOT HAPPENING.

I recall reading somewhere about pork anuses being used as faux scallops. I've been very particular about where I order scallops ever since.

[Robin Garr]

Back when I (1) ate meat and (2) traveled to France a lot, I found that AAAAA (top quality) andouillettes were considered the absolute best pairing with red Bourgogne. You know what? It works!

Indeed it does. I had my meal of andouillettes at a restaurant in Lyon, the ancient capital of Burgundy.

I read up a bit more on andouillettes and they are traditionally made from the large intestine, which gives them, as it's delicately put in the Wikipedia article, "that distinctive odor".

-Paul W.

I recall reading somewhere about pork anuses being used as faux scallops. I've been very particular about where I order scallops ever since.

Wouldn't pass as a scallop which is a solid piece of muscle, but does pass as calamari with the hole in the middle. I wouldn't be very gung ho about bung hole....

Pork bung is thick enough that you can open out and flatten the cylinder and then punch out round scallop-shaped pieces of meat from it. I haven't heard of this being done with pork bung but I have heard of faux scallops being made from other cuts of meat in this way.

-Paul W.

Pork bung is thick enough that you can open out and flatten the cylinder and then punch out round scallop-shaped pieces of meat from it. I haven't heard of this being done with pork bung but I have heard of faux scallops being made from other cuts of meat in this way.

Skate wing, for example.