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Pig trotters with ginger and black vinegar ~ Confinement food (坐月) ~猪脚醋(姜醋猪脚)


Pig trotters with ginger and black vinegar is a 'heaty'  dish and is a very popular dish for confinement mothers.
The black vinegar helps in blood circulation and purifies the blood, the ginger helps to get rid of wind in the body and the collagen in the trotters helps to strengthen our joints and ligaments.
It's the Cantonese tradition that this is cooked on the 12th day after childbirth when the baby is 12 days old and together with another speciality, 'Chicken in rice wine', they are distributed to relatives and close friends to announce the arrival of a newborn.
I normally like to cook this dish during the rainy season when the weather is slighly cooler!




I used this bottle of sweet, sour vinegar and some young ginger.


Blanch the trotters in hot water to get rid of scum, rinse and drain.
Trotters simmering in a soup of black vinegar and added in some hard boiled eggs.





This is a nourishing dish which is supposed to help post-natal mums lactate more.  Also it helps to steer the body back to perfect health after delivery....

Ingredients
  • 1 bottle sweet and sour black vinegar
  • 2.1/2  cups water
  • 1.5 kg pig trotters + some lean meat, chopped
  • 100 gm ginger or more, washed and smashed with skin on
  • 100 gm rock sugar or to taste
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 Tbsp sesame oil
  • 4 hard boiled eggs or more
Preparation
  1. Wash and blanch meat in hot water to remove scum, rinse and drain.  Set aside.
  2. Heat the sesame oil in a wok, saute ginger till fragrant, add in the meat, stir-fry.
  3. Add in the vinegar, water, salt and rock sugar.  Bring it to the boil.
  4. Reduce to a simmer and add in the shelled hardboiled eggs.  Cover and continue to let it simmer for an hour or more.
  5. Continue to simmer till the meat is cooked and tender and test for taste.  Add in more rock sugar if it's too sour and water if the vinegar is too strong.  At the same time, skim off any fat from the surface.
  6. Serve hot with rice or enjoy it on its own.
Note :
  1. Transfer any balance to a porcelain or corningware dish and keep at room temperature, no refrigeration is required.  Never cook this dish in an alluminium  pot as the vinegar is acidic.
  2. Any extra vinegared stock can be kept separately and meat added in to cook.  In fact it tastes much better if kept longer.



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Comments

  1. dinewithlenyJanuary 17, 2011 at 1:00 PM

    Cheah this is looking really delicious. With a bowl of warm rice...yumm

    ReplyDelete
  2. WendyinKK January 17, 2011 at 2:53 PM

    One of my favourites.
    But we add black beans and "tai tau choy" into it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MaryMohJanuary 17, 2011 at 5:15 PM

    Mmmm...my favourite.....so good with rice. I can eat this everyday :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. lenaJanuary 17, 2011 at 11:32 PM

    cheah, i would really like to learn to cook this one day..are you getting ready for another round of 'grandma?'

    ReplyDelete
  5. My Little SpaceJanuary 18, 2011 at 10:28 PM

    Cheah, I am loving this one! I'm planning to make this for our reunion dinner. Bring half back to my in-laws' place & freeze the other half for myself. haha.... But I only cooked this once and forgotten the quantity of ingredients already. Luckly to have you! :o) Have a lovely evening.
    Cheers, Kristy
    p/s chat later!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sokehah cheahJanuary 19, 2011 at 1:08 AM

    dinewithleny
    I like to have this on its own and I prefer the vinegar, yummy!

    Wendy
    Sounds interesting with 'tai tou choy'. Only have eaten those with black beans.

    MaryMoh
    Hey, this is good for you right now. Warms you up!

    Lena
    My dear, none of my children are married. I think the 'grandma' title will need a long time to be bestoved!

    Kristy
    You can keep this for a long time. Vinegar won't turn rancid. But just my opinion, sweet and sour for reunion, not so good 'yee tou'. Ha, ha, being conservative. You have a great day too!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Elin ChiaJanuary 19, 2011 at 10:27 AM

    Wa...drooling and salivating now! Can't wait for another round of confinement time LOL! I want to cook this one day...love trotters ! Thanks for the recipe. It is quite some time now since I last had this :p ...you back already ?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sokehah cheahJanuary 19, 2011 at 10:59 AM

    Elin
    Yup, am back. But so much to do, spring cleaning. Each time I come back for a holiday, work like mad!

    ReplyDelete
  9. shazJanuary 19, 2011 at 6:34 PM

    Ah, at first I thought you had some special news to announce! I don't think I've ever cooked this before because trotters are not really my thing, but my mum and dad love these sorts of dishes. I just watch them ha ha :) I'm sure they'd love your dish, it really does look appealing.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nate @ House of AnnieFebruary 7, 2011 at 5:36 PM

    I really love this dish but don't get to eat it enough, now that most of our friends are past their child birthing stage.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Shu HanApril 27, 2011 at 8:25 PM

    i love this! very (in)famously once said i would gladly be pregnant to eat this everyday (i'm only a 20 year old college student). i learnt how to make this from my mum and now i have it whenever i can especially in the cold London winter(:


    http://mummyicancook.blogspot.com/2011/01/pork-trotters-with-vinegar.html

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sokehah cheahApril 27, 2011 at 11:54 PM

    Shu Han
    Thanks for dropping by my blog. My daughter loves this too. Will peep at your blog soon!

    ReplyDelete
  13. UnknownFebruary 19, 2013 at 6:23 PM

    Hi. Wondering, when can start eating this dish during confinement. Is it the first week itself or second week after delivery? Thank you.

    Evelyn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sokehah cheahFebruary 20, 2013 at 5:31 PM

      Hi Evelyn, sounds like you're on family way. Normally, for me, being a Cantonese, we cook this on the 12th day after birth and distribute to friends and relatives. Also cook the 'chicken wine' alongside with this. Distributing this is sort of an announcement of a newborn, but nowadays we don't follow this custom so rigidly, maybe amongst your own siblings. So, the mum in confinement can take this on the 12th day after birth. Hope this helps!

      Delete

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