Twice-Cooked Pig’s Ear Salad

I spent a lot of time trying to find a way to crisp up the pig’s ears for this salad. The recipe is a variation of hot bacon or pancetta dressing, using pig’s ears. There are two problems with cooking slices of pig’s ear in a frying pan: they explode and pop with the heat; and, as you stir them, their gelatinous qualities cause the pieces to stick to each other and form a great sticky mess. Some recipes suggest deep-frying them. I tried it—scary and dangerous. The ears explode in the oil wi