The humble pig's feet

The Chinese don't like to waste any part of a pig and it seems the French don't either. At the marche yesterday, while searching for plain ground pork to use as dumpling filling, I was surprised to see some fresh pork butts and pale pink trotters (that's pigs feet) in the meat case. From the case's contents, it looked like the marche had butchered 4 pigs that day. Side note: I have yet to find ground pork without the sausage seasonings!

I've never tackled cooking pig's feet, but I've eaten them a few times in my youth, and recently I had a sublime 5 spiced braised pork shoulder served with Shanghai vegetables and super soft mantou buns. With a vague idea of how I wanted to cook them, I bought a package each of the pig's feet and pork butt.

My grandmother is a fan of pork, and as a child, I remember her cooking pig's feet into a soup. She boiled the pig's feet with plain peanuts for ages. Until the fat, collagen, and meat were so tender that it fell off the bones and seasoned the peanuts and the broth. It was a bit of a gelatinous goo. I remember being grossed out by it until I tasted the broth..and then the skin and meat melted into my mouth.

I haven't eaten pig's feet in more than a decade at least, but I came very close in 2009! While living in NYC, a friend of mine and her boyfriend, both major foodies, suggested we try a very special restaurant, Hakata Ton-Ton, in the West Village. When I heard this restaurant's specialty was pig's feet, I knew I had to try it! This is why as a person who loves food, I LOVE NYC. Where else can you find a restaurant that showcases pig's feet in almost every dish? Unfortunately for us, the restaurant has a following and is tiny to boot! Starving, we were unable to wait an indefinite amount of time for a table, so we headed to another place. The reviews from the NYT and Yelp are making me hungry!

For my first time cooking pig's feet, I decided to braise it Chinese style. I referenced a few recipes before tailoring them to my own style and available ingredients.

Five spice braised pig's feet (for 2 feet) + some pork butt or pork of any kind

1. Wash pig's feet and tweeze any remaining whiskers. If they are whole, them slice them lengthwise down the middle. And if you know how to carefully wield a Chinese cleaver, then chop them into 2 inch chunks. BE CAREFUL..I cut myself a little while slicing through the thick skin.
2. Into a large pot filled with water, add 1 TBS salt and 2-4 thick slices of ginger. Bring to a boil.
3. Add the cleaned pig's feet. Bring to a boil.
4. Remove pig's feet from pot and clean it with cold water. Dump the oily water. Place pig's feet on a plate. Clean the pot to remove any remaining scum.
5. In a large bowl, soak about 10 dried shiitake mushrooms for 10 - 15 minutes. Use dried shiitakes for their aroma. Add enough hot water to cover the mushrooms entirely. Save the liquid.
6. Coarsely dice up 1 large onion, 4 cloves of garlic (or more if you like it more garlicky), and about 5 slices of ginger.
7. To the clean pot, add 1-2 tablespoon of vegetable oil, the onion, garlic, and ginger. Stir fry until the onion is a little translucent and the aroma is released.
8. Add the pork, and then add the braising liquid which is:

1 tablespoon salt
1.5 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce (if you have any)
2 oz (or 56g) brown sugar
1 teaspoon Schezuan black bean sauce (optional for some spice and extra umami flavoring)
1 teaspoon five spice powder
Anise (optional)

9. Add the mushroom water to the pot, and then add enough water to cover the pig's feet.
10. Bring to a boil for a few minutes, then simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours, checking every half hour to make sure there's enough liquid to cover the pig's feet. On the first check, add the mushrooms (remove the stem if you find them tough..I had it all in!)
11. When the pig's feet tastes gelatinous and the meat falls off the bones, then your dish is ready!
12. Serve with Chinese greens and jasmine rice. Spoon the braising liquids over the rice and greens.

Bon appétit!