Notable Nosh: Pig Trotters
I enjoyed this dish at the Harmony Restaurant in Ottawa just a short time ago. Pig trotters, or feet, don’t have a widespread popularity in the west, although they are sometimes pickled, but the Chinese certainly appreciate them a good deal more. I should note here that what I was actually served at Harmony only contained a few pieces of foot, while the rest were clearly taken from the lower portion of the shank, or, more particularly, the ankle.
The menu described this item as ‘Harmony Special Braised Trotters’ in English, while the Chinese name appeared as:
醬豬手
Interestingly, the last two characters (zhūshǒu) are literally translated as ‘pig hand’, rather than pig foot, but if you run Google translate on Chinese web-pages containing the characters, it typically comes back as ‘trotter’. The first character (jiàng) can refer to any culinary paste (or jam, sometimes) but more specifically means soy paste and derivatives. In Chinese, soy sauce often appears as 醬油 (or ‘soy paste oil’) and this gives a clue to how the above dish is prepared.
There is a very common Chinese cookery technique called 紅燒, which means ‘red-cooked’ or ‘red-braised’, in which the main ingredients are long-simmered in a soy-sauce based braising liquid that is generally sweetened with sugar (rock sugar especially), seasoned with various spices. Although I didn’t ask, Harmony’s version of trotters seemed to me to be an example of this technique. The soy flavor was definitely apparent, and it had obviously been sweetened, although no additional flavorings were particularly in evidence. However, since star anise is very often employed in these types of dishes, I didn’t mind this at all as I am not keen on the taste in savory dishes.
In short, this dish was (absent the deep soy flavor) very like a preparation my wife makes using pork hocks. The skin was soft enough to easily chew and very nicely gelatinous, while the meat was moistly tender with enough texture left to still adhere to the bone. The flavor of these ‘trotters’, as with pork hock, is a bit stronger than cuts from ‘higher on the hog’, and not everyone might appreciate it, but I liked it very much. I am thinking that, the next time I buy pork hocks for my wife, I may select a few additional small ones and try a dish along these lines myself, possibly with a few seasonings taken from the cuisines of western China. Naturally, I will post the results of any such experiment…
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I’m surprised to see this on a menu! My family always orders this off the menu. It’s really my uncle who likes it. When he eats it, the staff if usually amused because apparently it’s primarily served to pregnant women.
Wonder why . . .
Happy New Year to you and Darlene!
Same to you from both of us! I am a bit annoyed, I was putting this post in the publishing queue and I accidentally hit ‘publish’ without setting the date for Jan 2nd (which I intended)… Everyone gets it early I guess
I think I told you before that 豬腳 have been the diets of the Okinawa studies. The skin has collagen that help your skin! I am also surprised that this is on the restaurant menu. I never saw it unless it is a special Chinese New Year menu.
I think this is the only time I have seen it on a restaurant menu, actually!
豬腳 with thin noodles is usually something we have on birthdays. It’s to take away bad energy. My mom says it’s because you “kick” away unluckiness. I think this is most common in Fujian and Taiwan.
Interesting! Maybe I’ll make it for my birthday
Trotters are so good, yet such a pain to make. All those little bones to deal with! Happy new year. Looking so forward to tales of life in the far north in 2013!
Yeah … the hocks are a little better in that regard
I love them in gee gyok. Especially white vinegar rather than black vinegar.
My wife always eats hocks with white vinegar.
It was always good when someone had a baby. Mum would make it.
Very nice! They look good
Happy New Year!
I’ve never heard them referred to as Trotters before! That put a smile on my face!