Growing up we didn’t have a lot of money. So my family was always looking for a way to stretch a buck. One way we did that was by growing a portion of our meats and vegetables. The times we did buy meats at the stores were normally the cheaper cuts, or when the store would have a sale. One of the things I remember my mom cooking is pig’s trotters. Or as we call them in North Florida, pig’s feet. I remember my younger brother and I thought they were gross. Being kids we’d always start laughing about stinky old feet until mom would get mad and tell us “it’s just bacon with extra fat”. Thinking back now she had us believing most of the pig was bacon. The cooking methods were always one of 2 ways. Either boiled in a pot of collard/mustard greens or rice; or pickled. (95% of the time they were boiled in our house.)
It wasn’t until years later when I was re-discovering parts of my past that I rediscovered the wonder that is pigs feet. Pig feet are low in fat and (the edible parts) are very high in protein, particularly Collagen in tendons and skin. This is very good for joints and skin health. Lets face it, as time marches across our backsides most of us could use all the help we can get!
The inspiration for this recipe came to me from a few of the YouTube Asian lifestyle/cooking channels like Xia jie from shanbei, Souped Up Recipes , 酒鬼小莉 Drunkard Lee and Maangchi (The Queen of Korean cooking!). Each of these channels give really great advise and great fun. (Mandy from Souped Up Recipes is great with comments too!)
The recipe might seem a little daunting to the western kitchen, but when you taste that succulent pork with the crisp fresh and/or pickled vegetables while the complex flavors dance across your taste buds it’ll all be worth it!
