When braising the pork ears, you have to augment the soy sauce with salt because too much soy sauce and the pork ears will be too dark even before they reach the grill. They will darken even more with the charring and the basting sauce so use soy sauce sparingly at this point.To make the basting sauce, mix together bottled vinaigrette (available in the grocery) and the brown sugar. If you don’t have bottled vinaigrette, make your own by mixing together olive oil (you can even use virgin coconut oil), lemon or kalamansi juice, salt, pepper and lots of aromatics (I recommend rosemary and thyme).Although pork ears barbecue are traditionally served as a snack or an accompaniment for cold beer, they are equally delicious when served as a main course. With rice, naturally.
Bring to a boil without stirring. Let boil for a few minutes.
Season with soy sauce and salt.
Pour in a cup of water and simmer for an hour to an hour and a half or until the pork ears are tender. Never mind if very little liquid remains after cooking — you don’t need the liquid; in fact, because most of the fat would have melted in the liquid, you really want to discard it after cooking.
Drain the cooked pork ears, cool and cut into bite-size pieces. If you thread them while still hot, they will be too soft and they will tear. So, be patient and allow them to cool. After cooling, thread them into the bamboo skewers.
Prep the grill and position the rack eight inches above the charcoal.
Grill the skewered pork ears for a few minutes, turning them over to lightly char all sides.
After charring has begun, start brushing the sauce on the pork ears. Brush, turn and repeat until the surface of the pork ears are nicely charred.