Pig's Trotters with Ginger and Black Vinegar 猪脚姜醋

This dish might be familiar to ladies who have gone through confinement. It's a very popular dish to be taken during confinement as it said to help disperse wind and to help tighten the uterus. Erhmm ... my hubby likes this too but no uterus to tighten leh. My confinement lady said men or women, nevermind. All also can eat lah. *giggles*

I believe the authentic way to prepare this dish is to have the gravy prepared in a clay pot at least a month before it is to be eaten and the gravy must be heat up at least once a day, everyday. When it is ready to be eaten, just add the gravy to the pig's trotters and hard boiled eggs to be cooked together. Notice I mentioned, add the gravy to the pig's trotters and not the other way round. Well, this is because the gravy prepared can usually last for the whole confinement period. It got to last that long because it takes soooo long to prepare. At least, that's how my late grandmother-in-law does it.

I doubt many people will go through the hassle to do it. I for one just do it on the day I want to eat it. BUT, I'm also one of those lucky ones who had the chance to have it the authentic way because my mother-in-law prepare it for me. *smiles* Hmm ... I must try to probe her to give me her secret recipe and correct way to do this.

My confinement lady cooked this for me on my second confinement using her recipe. It's not as super as what my mother-in-law did but it's still very good. I tried the recipe myself some time ago and it's not even half as good compared to what my confinement lady did. Must practice more!

Maybe you can do better than me. Try this some time!

Ingredients:

• 1.5 litre Sweet Rice Vinegar
• 2.25 litre Water
• 1/2 kg Yellow Rock Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Salt or to taste
• 2 teaspoon Sesame Seed Oil
• 1 kg Ginger, slightly smashed
• 1.5kg Pig Trotter or other leaner meat

How to do it:

1. Blanch meat and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pot (preferably clay pot).
3. Saute ginger till fragrant.
4. Add vinegar, water, rock sugar and salt to the pot with ginger and oil.
5. Bring it to a boil.
6. Reduce to a simmer and continue simmering for an hour.
7. Add in the meat and simmer for at least an hour or till the meat is tender.
8. Serve hot with rice.

Note:
You can save half the gravy (before adding the meat) for the next day if you are eating alone. Just heat up at the end of the day and heat up again the next day. Ie, heating at least twice a day. No refrigeration needed. When it's ready to be eaten, just add meat to the gravy and cook.

• Click HERE for printer-friendly version of an original recipe

* Pig's Trotter with Eggs *

Additional Notes:

Had a chance to check with my mother-in-law. She uses brown sugar (Chinese called it black sugar) instead of rock sugar. If you are cooking this to be eaten for the day or next day, half the amount of water or lesser, so the gravy will not be so diluted. She didn't specify the amount required for her recipe. She uses and add the ingredients based on her gut feeling. *giggle* In her words, 'agak-agak' (gauge) how thick and how sweet you want the gravy to be. Don't want it to be too 'spicy', add lesser ginger. *giggle*

One of my visitor, Eleanor, had also advised on the cutting down of water and she gave a very important tip too. Replace the sesame seed oil with normal cooking oil if it's not eaten for confinement as using sesame seed oil will make the dish heaty. You won't want to fall sick after eating this. *wink*

Thanks for the great tip, Eleanor! ^_^