Pork, fresh, variety meats and by-products, lungs, raw

Pork lungs are a variety meat, sold mostly at butcher counters that carry a full range of offal rather than at general supermarkets. Raw, the tissue is spongy and pale, and it firms up and turns pale gray as it cooks. Cooks who use it typically parboil the lungs first to clean the texture, then slice and simmer them into soups, braises, or stews, or dice them for use in sausage fillings and stuffed dishes, where the mild flavor takes on whatever broth, garlic, chili, or vinegar it is cooked with. Because the texture is naturally light and a little chewy, long, moist cooking methods work better than quick searing.

When buying pork lungs, look for a fresh, faintly sweet smell and a moist, pale pink to gray surface, and plan to cook them within a day or two or freeze them, since offal spoils faster than muscle meat. Per 100 grams, raw pork lung provides 85 calories, 14.1 grams of protein, and 2.72 grams of fat, with no carbohydrate or fiber. It is also a source of iron, at 105% of the Daily Value per 100 grams, which makes it worth including in a stew or braise alongside vegetables and a starch like rice or potatoes for a complete, low-calorie main dish.