STORY BEHIND THE RECIPE
For Cantonese households like mine, it is a tradition for the new parents to distribute pig’s trotter vinegar and red eggs to close relatives and friends to herald the arrival of their newborn 12 days after the baby’s birth.
In the past, the family would prepare this pig’s trotter vinegar in a tall earthen pot over charcoal weeks before. So you can imagine the infusion of the vinegar onto the knuckles over time! It was beyond description. My mum and I were always the ones who sank our teeth first into our favourite “Zhu Keok Chou”, leaving the pot sparkling clean.
Pig’s trotter vinegar is a heritage Cantonese dish is especially good for postnatal recovery during the ‘confinement period’. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), ginger is believed to warm the womb and purge “wind” generated during childbirth. The calcium and collagen from the pork trotters help to replenish calcium and collagen lost during pregnancy, while the egg soaked in the vinegar is protein-rich and helps with muscle strengthening and repair.
Pig’s trotter vinegar is definitely one of the most popular confinement dishes in Singapore, not just for the health benefits but also as a great comfort food. Just be careful not to overdo it as this dish is not exactly diet friendly, and can be quite heaty if you are not a postnatal mother!
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HOW TO MAKE PIG’S TROTTER VINEGAR
Use a brush to scrub the ginger skin thoroughly, removing any loose skin on the Bentong ginger and young ginger. Wash and pat dry (best to do this a week in advance and dry under the sun until they are dried thoroughly).
Remove the stems from the young ginger. Cut the Bentong ginger and young ginger into chunks and lightly bruise with a cleaver for better absorption of the vinegar. Set aside for later use.
Rub the pig’s trotter with coarse salt and use a knife to scrape the skin to remove any scum on the skin to get rid of the porky smell. Rinse well.
In a wok, add in 2 litres of water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Add in the pig’s trotters to the wok and blanch for about 10 mins to further get rid of the porky smell. Discard the water.
Use a pair of tweezers, remove any stray hairs on the trotters and scrape off any blood clot in the bones with a pointer knife. Rinse the pig’s trotter thoroughly, then pat dry.
In a clean wok, add in 3-4 TBsp of sesame oil and turn heat to medium. Add in the ginger chunks and fry until they are very dry ( but not burnt ) stirring constantly.
Add in the pig trotters and fry for a few minutes, then transfer the ginger and pig’s trotter into a large clay, ceramic or glass pot.
Add in the brown sugar and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, turn the fire to medium low and simmer for about 1 to 1 1/2 hour until the pig’s trotters are soft but not too jelly like.
Meanwhile, prepare the hard boiled eggs (read my other post here for how to make the perfect hard-boiled egg). Peel and add the hardboiled eggs into the black vinegar during the last 15 minutes of the cooking time.
MARKETING TIPS
- Front pig’s trotter has a good ratio of meat and collagen, whereas hind trotters are tougher and more muscular, with more tendon and collagen but not much meat. I prefer the front trotters which are meatier (pictured below) but also have a good amount of collagen. However, you can also mix front and hind trotters if you prefer more collagen.
- It is best to use a mixture of old and young ginger. The matured ginger (see picture below, left) is more fragrant and spicy whereas the young ginger (see picture below, right) is less aromatic. However, young ginger is better for eating as it is less fibrous, softer and more tender.
- I recommend using Bentong ginger (see picture below, right) and Indonesian ginger as they are more aromatic and spicier compared to the China or Thai ginger (see picture below, left).
- For the black Sweet Vinegar, I recommend buying the double strength ones. I like to use the more concentrated Chan Kong Thye Pink Label which is its double strength version, whereas its Yellow Label is more diluted. You can also read more tips on the sauces I commonly use for Chinese cooking in my earlier post on Essential Chinese Sauces and Condiments.
COOKING & STORAGE TIPS
- It is best to wash and sun the ginger for a few days before cooking. This will increase the capacity of the dried ginger to absorb the vinegar.
- Ensure the pig’s trotter are thoroughly cleaned otherwise the soup will have a strong porky smell. To do this, exfoliate the skin of the trotters thoroughly with coarse salt and use kitchen tweezers to removing any stray hairs.
- More sugar can be added if that’s your preference.
- The pig’s trotter is best consumed after it has soaked in the vinegar for 3-4 days.
- Do not cook or store vinegar in plastic containers, cast iron, aluminium and stainless steel pot. Vinegar is acidic and will react with these materials. It is best to use glass, stainless steel or ceramic for cooking and storage of vinegar.
- The pig trotters can be kept for a few weeks, but the vinegar needs to be stored separately. The longer the pig’s trotter sit in the vinegar, the softer it will become and it may even disintegrate. The eggs will turn hard and rubbery if stored in the vinegar for too long. Hence, it is best to store the pig trotters and eggs in one container, and the vinegar and ginger in another container.
DIETARY MODIFICATIONS
- Egg-Free: Skip the egg, it won’t affect the taste of the dish.
- Fish-Free: No modifications needed.
- Gluten-Free: No modifications needed.
- Nut-Free: No modifications needed.
- Shellfish-Free: No modifications needed.
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Pig's Trotter In Black Vinegar
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 Pig's Trotter (Front Leg) Also known as Pig's Hand (猪手)
- 3 tbsp Coarse Salt to wash the pig's trotters
- 2 litres Water to blanch the pig's trotter
- 1 bottle Black Sweet Vinegar Chan Kong Thye (Double Strength, 750ml)
- 1 bottle Water 2 bottles if you like it more diluted
- A pinch Salt Optional
- 1 kg Old Ginger ( Bentong) and Young Ginger a mixture of both
- 3 TBsp Sesame Oil
- 5 TBsp Brown Sugar
- 6 Hard-Boiled Eggs Room temperature
Instructions
Preparation
- Use a brush to scrub the ginger skin thoroughly, removing any loose skin on the Bentong ginger and young ginger. Wash and pat dry (best to do this a week in advance and dry under the sun until they are dried thoroughly).
- Remove the stems from the young ginger. Cut the Bentong ginger and young ginger into chunks and lightly bruise with a cleaver for better absorption of the vinegar. Set aside for later use.
- Rub the pig's trotter with coarse salt and use a knife to scrape the skin to remove any scum on the skin to get rid of the porky smell. Rinse well.
Cooking Method
- In a wok, add in 2 litres of water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Add in the pig's trotters to the wok and blanch for about 10 mins to further get rid of the porky smell. Discard the water.
- Use a pair of tweezers, remove any stray hairs on the trotters and scrape off any blood clot in the bones with a pointer knife. Rinse the pig's trotter thoroughly, then pat dry.
- In a clean wok, add in 3-4 TBsp of sesame oil and turn heat to medium. Add in the ginger chunks and fry until they are very dry ( but not burnt ) stirring constantly.
- Add in the pig trotters and fry for a few minutes. Then transfer the ginger and pig's trotter into a large clay, ceramic or glass pot.
- Pour in the whole 750ml bottle of Sweet Black Vinegar and 1-2 bottles of water (using the same bottle to measure the water) according to your preference.
- Add in the brown sugar and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, turn the fire to medium low and simmer for about 1 to 1 1/2 hour until the pig's trotters are soft but not too jelly like.
- Peel and add the hardboiled eggs into the black vinegar during the last 15 minutes of the cooking time.
- Turn off the heat and let the pig's trotter and ginger sit in the pot for at least 4 hours (preferably 2-3 days) before consumption. This is to allow the pig's trotter and ginger to fully absorb the flavour of the vinegar. Best served with a bowl of rice.
Notes
MARKETING TIPS
- Front pig's trotter has a good ratio of meat and collagen, whereas hind trotters are tougher and more muscular, with more tendon and collagen but not much meat. I prefer the front trotters which are meatier (pictured below) but also have a good amount of collagen. However, you can also mix front and hind trotters if you prefer more collagen.
- It is best to use a mixture of old and young ginger. The matured ginger is more fragrant and spicy whereas the young ginger is less aromatic. However, young ginger is better for eating as it is less fibrous, softer and more tender.
- For old ginger, I recommend using Bentong ginger and Indonesian ginger as they are more aromatic and spicier compared to China or Thai ginger.
- For the black Sweet Vinegar, I recommend buying the double strength ones. I like to use the more concentrated Chan Kong Thye Pink Label which is its double strength version, whereas its Yellow Label is more diluted.
COOKING & STORAGE TIPS
- It is best to wash and sun the ginger for a few days before cooking. This will increase the capacity of the dried ginger to absorb the vinegar.
- Ensure the pig's trotter are thoroughly cleaned otherwise the soup will have a strong porky smell. To do this, exfoliate the skin of the trotters thoroughly with coarse salt and use kitchen tweezers to removing any stray hairs.
- More sugar can be added if that's your preference.
- The pig's trotter is best consumed after it has soaked in the vinegar for 3-4 days.
- Do not cook or store vinegar in plastic containers, cast iron, aluminium and stainless steel pot. Vinegar is acidic and will react with these materials. It is best to use glass, stainless steel or ceramic for cooking and storage of vinegar.
- The pig trotters can be kept for a few weeks, but the vinegar needs to be stored separately. The longer the pig's trotter sit in the vinegar, the softer it will become and it may even disintegrate. The eggs will turn hard and rubbery if stored in the vinegar for too long. Hence, it is best to store the pig trotters and eggs in one container, and the vinegar and ginger in another container.
Amazing recipe! How long can we keep the pork leg vinegar for?
Hi Yiwen, thank you for the question! You can keep it up to one month in the fridge, you have to separate the vinegar sauce from the pig trotter before storage. The high vinegar content will break up the pork if you do not do so. Happy cooking! Hope you do it and share it on our Facebook page 🙂
is it possible to add fresh pig trotter with the extra vinegar? how?
Yes you can. Wash the pig’s trotter and blanch in a pot of water for about 10 mins. Add to the existing black vinegar. Add in extra vinegar and water in the ratio of 1:1. Then bring to.boil until the trotters are soft. Add the brown sugar according to your taste of sweetness. Hope that helps.
Can cook.this dish in stainless steel pressure cooker? Why do we need to fry the trotters with the ginger? Is it for a reason? Hope u can enlighten me so I can further improve on this dish. Thank you.
I do not used pressure cooker though it cooks very fast. I feel the sauce will not have sufficient t time to penetrate through the pork. Hence the taste is never the same as you cook slowly in a normal pot. I certainly won’t not recommend you to use any stainless steel or aluminium utensil to cook food that has vinegar as the acidity of it will have some chemical reaction. Best is to use porcelain pot or Corning ware. Frying ginger in sesame oil with the trottera will give it an extra fragrant and also get rid of the… Read more »
Thank you for yr advice..
Hi, thanks for putting this together! You responded to a comment below that this can be kept for one month in the fridge. Are there any signs to watch for re: spoilage or will it be okay to consume as long as the vinegar is brought to a rolling boil again? Thank you!
Gillian,
There will be mould it it’s spoiled but it shouldn’t be unless:-
For any food it should not be kept too long. Anyway, this is not too difficult to cook. Hope that helps. Happy cooking and enjoy!
Thank you for the response, Bee. A further question: is this dish suitable for consumption when a woman is on her period?
May I know how to prevent the meat from breaking up? Is it soaking too long in the vinegar is the problem?
Yes. The vinegar, being acidic causes the disintegration. When storing, transfer the pig’s trotters into a glass container. The ginger is ok to be left inside the pot of vinegar. I thought I have written all these in my tips. Pl refer to it. Txs.
Hi Bee Leng, if the vinegar sauce is too thick after cooking, can I add abit more water and reboil it again?
Sure you can. The vinegar will get thicker because of the collagen released from the pork trotters. The longer you cook, the thicker it will be. Add the water until the consistency you prefer but not too diluted. Hope that helps. Pl post a picture on our FB page to share, like and comment. Thank you. Enjoy!!
Hi bee leng, what if we store in plastic container and we see layer of white on side of the pot. Is it dangerous to eat? “Thanks
Hi Florence, it is not advisable to store any citrus food or liquid in plastic containers especially when it’s kept over a long period of time
May I know how long have you put it in the plastic container? If it is not too long, it should be ok. The layer of white stuff is probably the coagulated fats from the pig’s trotter. Scope it out to see if it melt like oil?
Best if you can for show me a picture of that white thingy thing. M
Hi, Bee Leng,Thk you for your generosity to share with us your recipe.
I cooked the black vinegar pig’s trotter abt 3-4 weeks ago n kept the cooked extra vinegar n thought of cooking the 2 Nd round. I kept the vinegar in the fridge n has a layer of white n brownish layer.. is the vinegar ok to cook again? It smells ok
Hi Elaine, no worries, it’s ok.The layer of oil coagulated once it’s put in the fridge. The vinegar can be kept for a long time in the fridge.
Go ahead and enjoy!
Hi, thank you for recipe. When you soak the pork in the vinegar for 3-4 days does it require refrigeration? Or can be left out on the counter?
As for storage, after separation can the items be frozen?
Hi, can I know how to store unused Chan Kong Tai black vinegar still in the bottle? Does it have to be refrigerated n how long can I keep it before I cook the next round?