Method

1. Scrub the skin of the Bentong ginger and young ginger thoroughly using a brush to remove any dirt or loose skin. Washing them properly is essential to ensure cleanliness.
2. For the young ginger, remove the stems and discard them. Cut both the Bentong ginger and young ginger into chunks. You can also lightly bruise them with a cleaver. Bruising helps release more flavor and allows better absorption of the vinegar during cooking. Set the ginger aside for later use.
3. Rub coarse salt all over the trotter, ensuring you cover all sides. This step helps in cleaning the trotter and removing any impurities. Use a knife to scrape the skin of the pig’s trotter. Scrape off any residue to get rid of the porky smell.
4. Rinse the pig’s trotter thoroughly under running water to remove the salt and any scraped-off impurities.
5. Add 2 litres of water in a wok and bring it to a boil over high heat. Add the prepared pig’s trotters to the boiling water and blanch them for about 10 minutes. This step further helps in removing any remaining porky smell.
6. Discard the blanching water, and then use a pair of tweezers to remove any stray hairs on the trotters. Also, scrape off any blood clots in the bones with a pointer knife. Rinse the pig’s trotters thoroughly under running water and pat them dry with paper towels.
7. Add 3-4 tablespoons of sesame oil into a clean wok and turn the heat to medium. Fry the prepared ginger chunks until they are very dry, stirring constantly to avoid burning.
8. Add the pig’s trotters to the wok and fry for a few minutes with the ginger. Transfer the ginger and pig’s trotters into a large clay, ceramic, or glass pot.
9. Pour in 750ml of Sweet Black Vinegar and 1-2 bottles of water (using the same bottle to measure the water) according to your preference. Add brown sugar and salt to the pot.
10. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the pig’s trotters are soft but not too jelly-like. During the last 15 minutes of cooking time, add in the peeled hardboiled eggs to the pot.
11. Turn the heat off and let the pig’s trotter and ginger rest in the pot for at least 4 hours (preferably 2-3 days) before consumption. Allowing this marination time will help the flavours develop and let the pig’s trotters and ginger absorb the vinegar’s taste fully.
12. Serve the Sweet Black Vinegar Pig’s Trotter with Ginger with a bowl of rice for a delicious and satisfying meal.