When I went to Ranch 99, I knew wanted a new kitchen challenge. Something that I never had before. Something exotic. When I saw the package of pork uterus, I hesitated for a moment and then threw it in the cart. After I got home, I went looking for a recipe. There really isn’t much out there. What I did find frightened me a bit. The post Scary Food on Bay Area Bites lists Pig Uterus as the #1 Scary Food sold at Ranch 99. From that post:
And it began to cook.
And it began to smell.
“Jesus Christ, there is NO WAY, I’m tasting that,” Tristan shouted. The smell got worse, perhaps mixing with eau de fermented mudfish. “It smells just the way a cooked [uterus] probably should smell,” he cried above the hiss of the oil and the mass of sizzling pink-grey tubes.
The author proceeds to put the entire dish in the trash and then take the trash out after the cat showed too much interest.
Now I was worried. I had to assume the taste would not be to my liking, so I’d need to surround the pig uterus with heavy tastes that I already enjoy. My weapon of choice would be curry made from coconut cream.
Recipe: Pig Uterus Curry
Summary: Hiding the taste of pig uterus in a Thai Curry.
Ingredients
- Pig Uterus ( I used 1/2 pound)
- Onion
- Curry Paste (I used Massaman)
- Coconut Milk or Cream
- Yam or Sweet Potato (for sweetness)
- Cabbage
Be sure to chop up uterus meat.
Instructions
- Saute onion in oil (I used coconut oil).
- Add curry paste (as much or little as you want).
- Add coconut milk or cream
- Peel and dice yam. Put into curry.
- Cut uterus into bite sized pieces. Never thought I’d write that sentence.
- Chop cabbage into pieces.
- Once the yam is soft, put in the cabbage.
- After a minute or two, add in the pig uterus.
- Cook until done (this is your call, I’m no expert!)
Preparation time: 15 minute(s)
Cooking time: 15 minute(s)
The Verdict
I slightly over cooked mine. The taste was rubber like, but not terrible. Not quite as good aschicken hearts. I didn’t get a foul smell. The curry most likely overpowered it. Also, I suspect I used a lower cooking temperature than Bay Area Bites. To reduce the possibility of overcooking, I adjusted the recipe so the cabbage has a 2 minute head start on the pork uterus. The good news was the curry had some heat and sweetness, so I powered through lovingly consumed two bowls of it. And I have leftovers for tomorrow. Don’t they always say how leftover uterus tastes best? 
Next time, try this for any organ meats:
1. Season (and rub) all surfaces with salt and rinse.
2. Quick blanch (30 seconds to 1 minute) and drain.
(1. and 2. will take care of any possible foul smell or taste.)
3. Also, you did overcook it. Cantonese cuisine usually uses a quick stir-fry technique in a wok or drop into ready-to-eat congee (rice porridge). Bottomline: don’t cook for over a minute.
@Terri – Thanks for the tips. I still have 1/2 pound left. Round #2 next week!
…and here I was thinking the uterus was just muscle meat.
Kidding, MAS that was a bold call at the market.
For some reason the combined effect of your photos and your description of the meat have me thinking that the uterus had the shape and texture of calamari rings. @Teri’s suggestion to not cook it for over a minute also sounds similar to the standard instructions for calamari. Naturally the color is different (as I suspect was the flavor), but was their any comparison between the two?
@Geoff – It did taste slightly like overcooked calamari, but more like chicken hearts. I only slightly overcooked mine. The recipe fixes it, by moving the cabbage ahead of the uterus.
[...] pin after donating my 8th pint of premium grade B Positive. Now some lucky chap will soon have pig uterus coursing through his veins. Back in my Florida days, I donated a full gallon to that state. I like [...]