Pig’s trotters and hard-boiled eggs simmered in sweet black vinegar with a pound of toasted ginger. In Guangzhou and Hong Kong this is the dish for new mothers in the month of confinement. It is also simply a great braise: sweet, sour, gingery and sticky with gelatin.
Untested: I have not cooked this one yet. It is here because the Offal dive needed it, and it is adapted from the source named in the Notes.
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh ginger
- 5 cups (1,200 ml) Chinese sweet vinegar
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) Chinese black vinegar
- 1 pork trotter with shin (about 2 pounds), chopped into pieces by the butcher
- 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
- 6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
- Salt
Directions
- Prepare the ginger. Scrape off the ginger skin with a spoon, cut into chunks and smash them with the flat of a cleaver. Dry-toast in a wok over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until dry and fragrant.
- Simmer the vinegar. Put the ginger and both vinegars in a non-reactive pot (clay, enamel or stainless steel — never aluminium or cast iron) and simmer gently 90 minutes.
- Blanch the pork. Put the trotter pieces in a pot of cold water with the Shaoxing wine, bring to a boil and boil 3 minutes. Drain and rinse.
- Braise. Add the pork to the vinegar and simmer 60 to 90 minutes, until tender.
- Add the eggs. Add the eggs, bring back to a boil, then turn off the heat. Let rest overnight.
- Serve. Reheat the next day, taste and add salt if needed.
Notes
Source Adapted from The Woks of Life, “Cantonese Pork Knuckles with Ginger and Vinegar.” They advise that new mothers wait several days after delivery and check with a doctor before eating it.
Buying Chinese sweet vinegar (sweetened black rice vinegar) is sold in Chinese groceries; Pat Chun is a common Hong Kong brand.
The Offal dive on the Food site covers this part in depth.