Pork trotters, eggs and ginger in sweet vinegar (豬腳薑醋)
The confinement classic: mature ginger and pork trotters simmered in sweet black rice vinegar, with eggs steeped until they turn a deep brown. Made in a big pot and shared with visitors.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 3 hr
- Serves
- 8
Method
- 1
Prepare the ginger. Scrub it well and scrape off the skin with a spoon if you like. Cut it into large chunks and lightly smash each one with the flat of a cleaver.
- 2
Dry-fry the ginger. Stir it in a clean, dry wok with no oil over a low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the surface is dry and it smells fragrant.
- 3
Make the vinegar base. Put the ginger in a large stainless steel or enamelled pot, or a glazed clay pot made for cooking — not uncoated aluminium or bare cast iron, which react with vinegar. Add the vinegar, bring to the boil, then cover and simmer gently for 1 hour. Turn off the heat and leave it to steep.
- 4
Boil the eggs. Put them in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes, until the whites and yolks are completely firm. Cool them in cold water and peel.
- 5
Blanch the trotters. Put the pork in a pan of cold water with a few slices of ginger, bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse off the scum.
- 6
Cook the pork. Bring the vinegar base back to the boil, add the pork and simmer, covered, for 1 to 1½ hours, until the meat is tender and cooked through. Taste, and add rock sugar if you'd like it sweeter.
- 7
Add the eggs. Add the peeled eggs and simmer for 15 minutes more. Serve hot, with some of the ginger and plenty of vinegar.
About this dish
Few dishes say "new baby" in a Hong Kong family like a pot of 豬腳薑. Hours in sweet vinegar mellow the ginger, the trotters turn soft and sticky, and the eggs soak up the colour and flavour.
Tips
- Use mature ginger (老薑) — the knobbly, fibrous kind with thick skin. Young ginger is too mild for this dish.
- Balance the sweetness. If sweet vinegar is too sweet for you, some families add a little plain black rice vinegar (黑醋).
- It's rich. Sweet vinegar is sugary and trotters are fatty, so enjoy a bowl alongside other dishes rather than at every meal — especially if you had gestational diabetes or have been told to watch your blood sugar.
- Go easy on the ginger if it gives you heartburn.
Storing and reheating
Families often keep the vinegar base going for weeks, but once the pork and eggs are in, treat it like any other cooked dish. The Food Standards Agency advises:
- divide it into smaller containers so it cools quickly, and get it into the fridge within 1 to 2 hours;
- eat it within 48 hours, or freeze it;
- reheat only the portion you're going to eat, until steaming hot all the way through, and only reheat it once.
Sources
About these recipes
- These are traditional home recipes, shared for cultural interest. They are not medical or nutritional advice, and we don’t claim any dish treats, prevents or cures anything.
- If you have allergies, gestational diabetes or a special diet, or take any medicines or herbal remedies, check with your midwife, health visitor, GP or pharmacist before changing what you eat.
- Follow UK food-safety advice: cook meat, fish and eggs thoroughly; cool leftovers and get them into the fridge within 1 to 2 hours; eat them within 2 days; and reheat only once, until steaming hot.
- Some recipes contain alcohol, and cooking doesn’t remove all of it. If you’re breastfeeding, read our guide to ginger vinegar and chicken in rice wine first.
Experienced carers cook dishes like these every day of the confinement month, and adjust them to how you’re feeling.
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