Pig Stomach or Hog Maw

April 8, 2021

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Photos from Friday, April 2

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If you read my blog, you know that we have been taking local excursions in the middle of the week to break up long winter weeks. (We probably won’t have to do that as much during the summer.)

A few weeks ago our plan for the day was to go to Gene Wenger’s Meats and Fine Food in Elizabethtown. We don’t remember ever being there, even though we pick up their ham loaf at local grocery stores or markets. Their ham loaf is also a popular entrée at restaurants in our area.

Also scheduled in the day was for Cerwin to get his first shot of Moderna vaccine, stop at the TFC Global office for the April issue of the Highway News (for preparing a bulk mailing of single issues) and go to TJ Rockwell’s for an early supper.

While at Wenger’s, I remembered that my brother Dale said he likes their pig stomach because it is already stuffed and ready to bake. I asked if they had any prepared pig stomach, and the employee took me to an upright freezer, where there were several.

I love pig stomach, but haven’t had any for many years – mainly because I don’t like all the work it takes to clean the stomach, make the mixture and stuff the stomach. Wenger’s come already cleaned, stuffed and frozen. That was incredibly enticing to me, so we bought one and kept it in the freezer until I was ready to bake it. In our area of Lancaster County, it is easy to find an unstuffed pig stomach in a market where pork products are sold, but finding a stuffed, ready-to-bake one is a bit more difficult.

This reminds me of my mom, who used to make us a pig stomach meal in turn for Cerwin cleaning or fixing something at her propane gas stove.

I like pieces of the stomach itself when it is well done. Cerwin only likes the stuffing.

While doing a bit of research for this, I learned that there are a variety of ways of making or using a pig stomach – depending on the area of the country.

From the Internet: Hog maw is the stomach of a pig. More specifically, it is the exterior muscular wall of the stomach organ which contains no fat if cleaned properly. It can be found in American, Chinese, Pennsylvania Dutch, Mexican, Portuguese and Italian dishes. In addition, it can be prepared in various ways including stewed, fried, baked, and broiled.

I learned that in some countries the stomach is cut up and stir-fried with vegetables and in other areas it is stuffed with a variety of meats and vegetables.