Crunchy and swirly bánh lỗ tai heo are beloved by kids and adults in Vietnam. I adored them when I was young because they were charming, had a funny name that made me giggle, and were fried to slightly coconutty crunch. Viet pig ear cookies are traditionally a street vendor specialty because a vendor can specialize in it and do well. You don’t an oven to make them.
You likely think pig ear cookies are oddly named but whoever named them were inspired by the slightly bent ear-like shape round shape, layered appearance evoking cartilage and skin, and the crunch that echoed the experience of eating fried pig ears. Don’t worry, the recipe is vegetarian!
Where can you find pig ear cookies?
Most likely in small bags sold at Little Saigon bakeries and delis. But to be honest, I’m always slightly skeptical about their provenance (how old the oil was, for example) but with a recipe and a little oil, you can make a batch yourself. Cookie obsessed author and well-seasoned food editor Ben Mims recently included a solid pig ear cookie recipe in his book, Crumbs. Vietnamese cookies got two spots among the 300 recipes he selected from all over the globe. It’s a stellar book for anyone interested in a good cookie recipe now and then, which is all of us.
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