Braised Pig Trotter with Soybeans
Pig trotter or pig feet may sound scary or disgusting, but it is very rich collagen protein. Every woman wants a have a nice and smooth skin — no wrinkles, no pores, and no acne problems. Eating healthy food is one of the most important contributing factors to a healthy skin. But you may ask, why pig trotter? Surprisingly, it contains far less fat than you think. It can actually prevent wrinkles, enhance skin elasticity, and delay aging process. Therefore, people call it the “beauty food” and “similar to a bear’s paw delicacies”. Besides this, soybeans can add additional value to this dish (you can find soybean’s nutritious information in the “Spicy Noodle Soup” recipe). This is really an authentic Chinese recipe that’s easy to make and nutritious. Now let’s get started!
Ingredients:
Pig trotters: 2 pieces
Dry soybeans: 50 g
Garlic: 5 pieces
Ginger: 1 piece
Green onion: 2 pieces
Dry red pepper: 5 pieces
Soy sauce: 1 tablespoon (15ml)
Cooking wine: 1 tablespoon (15ml)
Star anise: 3 pieces
Cinnamon stick: 1 piece
Fennel: 1 teaspoon (5ml)
Basil leaves: 2 pieces
Pepper: 20 pieces
Vinegar: 1 small spoon
Rock sugar: 5 pieces
Salt: according to your taste
Oil: 1.5 tablespoons
Steps:
1. Soak dry soybeans in water for more than 4 hours.
2. Clean the pig trotters and cut into small pieces. You can buy ready-made chunks of trotters. Put the pig trotters into cold water in a pot. Bring it to a boil. Once the pig trotters change color, you can remove, drain and let it cool down.
3. Cut ginger and garlic. Pack up pepper, dry red pepper, cinnamon stuck, fennel, basil leaves inside a small cloth bag if you have one. If not, just put all the ingredients on a plate.
4. Turn on the heat and add some oil to a pan. Add rock sugar. Wait until the sugar stats to melt and change color.
5. Add pig trotters and stir evenly. Make sure pig trotters get a sugar coating on the surface.
6. Add boiling water, soybean, soy sauce, cooking wine, ginger, green onion and package ingredients, and salt. Bring it to a boil.
7. Stew for about 1.5 hours over low heat.
8. Add vinegar. Open the lid. Cook over high heat until the sauce thickens. Then it’s ready!