Pig's Trotter in Vinegar, also called 猪脚醋 or 'ter ka cho' (Hokkien) among the Chinese community, or pork knuckles in black sweet vinegar, is a common postpartum dish for postnatal mums during the 'confinement period'. The perfect pig’s trotters in vinegar will have very tender and succulent pork trotter meat that can be easily torn apart, and jelly-like chewy skin that almost melts in the mouth.
Cook the vinegar and ginger (optional to do this a day before adding the meat)
Remove the stems (if any) from the young and old ginger. Peel the skin of the ginger off with a metal spoon. Cut the ginger into smaller chunks of about 1 inch each. Lightly bruise the ginger with the back of a knife (optional).
250 g old ginger, 250 g young ginger
Stir fry ginger over medium low heat in a pot (use only ceramic, glass, claypot, or stainless steel) without any oil, to dry up the moisture from the ginger as much as possible. Take care not to burn the ginger.
Once the ginger appears dry enough, add 3 tbsp of sesame oil. Stir fry the ginger with the oil until the ginger releases its aroma with the sesame oil. Take care not to burn the ginger.
250 g old ginger, 250 g young ginger, 3 tbsp sesame oil
Using the same pot, add 750ml (the full bottle) of black sweet rice vinegar and 1 bottle of water (using the same bottle to measure the water). Add 100g of gula melaka (or brown sugar).
750 ml black sweet rice vinegar, 750 ml water, 100 g gula melaka
Cover with lid and bring to a boil over medium heat, then simmer over reduced heat for 30 minutes.
If cooking the pig's trotter on the following day, remove from heat and let it cool completely. Store the cooked vinegar and ginger in a glass or ceramic container. This way, the ginger is left to absorb the flavour of the vinegar over a period of time. I left it on the countertop till the following day and it still tastes and smells great. Or store in the fridge for a longer period of time.
Cook the pig's trotter
Rub the pig’s trotter all over with 2 tbsp of coarse salt. Remove any hair on skin, if any. Then rinse the trotters under running tap water to remove any scum. Drain the trotters well.
1.2 kg pig's trotter (front Leg), 2 tbsp coarse salt
Add pig's trotter to a pot of 2-litre water, then turn the heat on to medium and bring to boil. The water will turn cloudy. Once boiled, let it simmer for another 15 minutes.
2 litres water
Remove pig's trotters from the boiling water. Rinse under running tap water, and clean away any scum as much as possible. Remove hair from the skin, if any.
Bring the vinegar and ginger to boil on medium low heat, then add the pig’s trotters.
Bring the pig's trotter and vinegar to a boil. Once boiled, reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 1.5 hour until the pig’s trotter turn soft. Cover with lid. Stir every 30 minutes to ensure even cooking.
Meanwhile, boil 6 eggs over medium heat in a pot of water fully covering the eggs. Once boiled, let it simmer for about 6 minutes. Then remove the eggs and let it cool completely in an ice water bath. Remove the shell of the eggs and add into the pig's trotter stew in the last 15 minutes of cooking.
6 hard boiled eggs
Add salt to the pig's trotter stew for seasoning, season to taste. Adding salt is optional.
Salt
Test the doneness of the pig's trotter by poking through the skin with a chopstick. The skin will be very tender and easy to poke through but not like jelly.
Turn off the heat and let the pig’s trotter stew sit in the pot for at least 4 hours (or even 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.