Chinese Confinement Recipes: Pig Trotters in Black Vinegar and Ginger

Chinese Confinement Recipes: Pig Trotters in Black Vinegar and Ginger

• May 05, 2021

Pig trotters in black vinegar and ginger is the ultimate dish of confinement. A huge pot is usually made by the mother or the mother in law of the birthing mum and is given away to friends, families and neighbours alike as a celebratory food for announcing the arrival the new baby. 

If you'd like to read the background on Chinese confinement then please click and read this post first.  

The new mum is also expected to eat a bowl of it daily with rice too. The trotters are full of collagen to help with skin renewal and to replenish lost nutrients from pregnancy. The ginger helps to repel wind and the magical black vinegar is supposed to help detoxify the body, provide energy, fight fatigue and relieve pain. Boiled eggs are also added in for extra protein and energy. 

The pot is usually made a few weeks in advance of the birth so that the ingredients have time to infuse together and to tenderise the trotters. Once made up, it needs to be heated until bubbling and boiling once a day, every day. This will prevent it from spoiling and there is no need to refrigerate at all.    

Prepping the trotters and ginger really does take some time and effort. If you don't have time to make this all in one go like me, you can prepare the trotters first and then freeze until ready to be used. The ginger should all be peeled and boiled on the same day with the the vinegar to ensure freshness.

I must admit, prepping the trotters is not for the faint hearted but as I love eating them so much, it makes it feel a little more worthwhile. I've prepared trotters a couple of times now and it does get less intimidating the more you do it! 

Fill a large pan of water and boil the trotters straight from the packet until there is no blood (there's no need to wash or prep beforehand as it will go through a second boil). 

Boil for roughly 15 minutes from when the water is boiling. When it has finished its first boil, pour everything into a clean sink or a large colander. 

Clean each piece of trotter and use a knife to cut away any bristles, hairs or skin tags so that you're left with a piece of smooth and plump trotter. Rinse well under cool water and set aside. Repeat with all the trotters until they have all been cleaned. 

Fill a large pan of water once more and submerge all the trotters. Bring it to another boil, roughly 10 minutes once the water is boiling. When it has finished its second boil, pour everything into a large colander and rinse well under cool running water. Drain and leave to drip dry.

The trotters are now clean, cooked and ready to be used straight away or frozen/refrigerated. 

Peel the skin off the ginger, rinse and pat dry. You can use a teaspoon to scrape the skin off.

Save the peel and air dry and then use it for bathing during the confinement period. The peel will not be needed in this recipe.

These are the 2 vinegars needed. The large tub on the left is the sweet black vinegar and the one on the right is a sour black rice vinegar. Using the sour black vinegar helps to balance the sweet black vinegar so that's it's not so sweet and sickly. 

Traditionally, ceramic/claypots are the best for cooking this dish. Line the pot with a bamboo liner to stop the trotters and ginger sticking and burning. You can buy the bamboo liner from most Chinese supermarkets in the kitchenware section. Make sure you boil the bamboo liner in a pan of hot water first to get rid of any smells/dirt. 

Lay the peeled ginger on top. 

Pour in the whole bottle of sour black rice vinegar. Bring this to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes and then turn off heat.

Pour in the whole tub of sweet black vinegar, bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

It is important to boil the 2 vinegars in this order so that the ginger absorbs the sour vinegar first. This will ensure the ginger doesn't get too sweet from the sweet vinegar.

At this point you can add in the trotters and slow simmer for 1 hour. 

Now that the pot of trotters is all boiled and ready, you must bring it to a rolling boil once a day, every day. 

Eat a small bowl daily from 2 weeks onwards from a natural birth or after 3 weeks from a caesarean. You can add in boiled and peeled eggs into the pot of ginger vinegar trotters but do it no more than a day in advance, or the eggs with go hard and rubbery from the acid in the vinegar. 

Ingredients:

6 trotters, split into 4 pieces per trotter (Chinese supermarkets like Seewoo/butchers can do this for you)

1 kilo of ginger

1 large tub of sweet black vineger

1 bottle of black rice vinegar

Directions:

1) Fill a large pan of water and boil the trotters straight from the packet until there is no blood (there's no need to wash or prep beforehand as it will go through a second boil)

2) Boil for roughly 15 minutes from when the water is boiling. When it has finished its first boil, pour everything into a clean sink or a large colander

3) Clean each piece of trotter and use a knife to cut away any bristles, hairs or skin tags so that you're left with a piece of smooth and plump trotter. Rinse well under cool water and set aside. Repeat with all the trotters until they have all been cleaned

4) Fill a large pan of water once more and submerge all the trotters. Bring it to another boil, roughly 10 minutes once the water is boiling. When it has finished its second boil, pour everything into a large colander and rinse well under cool running water. Drain and leave to drip dry. The trotters are now clean, cooked and ready to be used straight away or frozen/refrigerated

5) Peel the skin off the ginger, rinse and pat dry. You can use a teaspoon to scrape the skin off. Save the peel and air dry and then use it for bathing during the confinement period

6) Line a ceramic pot with a bamboo liner. Make sure you boil the bamboo liner in a pan of hot water first to get rid of any smells/dirt

7) Lay the peeled ginger on top of the bamboo liner, pour in the whole bottle of sour black rice vinegar. Bring this to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes and then turn off heat

8) Pour in the whole tub of sweet black vinegar, bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes

9) Add in the trotters and slow simmer for 1 hour

10) Now that the pot of trotters is all boiled and ready, you must bring it to a rolling boil once a day, every day to prevent it from spoiling. There's no need to refrigerate

11) You may add in boiled and peeled eggs into the pot of ginger vinegar trotters but do it no more than a day in advance, or the eggs with go hard and rubbery from the acid in the vinegar

Take a look at all my other confinement recipes