Stew Pig Trotter

Last weekend, saw supermarket selling some pig trotter, the thought of trying this dish flash across my mind, so bought half a pig trotter and try. I did about half the recipe, but I added more water to prevent it from drying up and to make sure the skin will be cooked till soft, also added some mushrooms as I like braised mushrooms. Recipe from 'Sensational Braised and Stewed'.

Ingredients:
1 (600g) pig trotter,
10g old ginger (flatten)
30g garlic cloves
2 tbsp cooking oil
1200ml water

Spices:
4 star anises (八角)
1 piece tangerine peel (陈皮)
1 tsp szechuan pepper
5 pieces Licorice/”gan chao”(甘草)
10 cloves (丁香)
4 stalk “gui zhi” (桂枝) (Don’t have this so didn’t add)
1 inch cinnamon stick (桂皮)
6 cekurs/ “sha jiang” (沙姜) (Don’t have this so didn’t add)
2 “chao guo” (草果) (available at chinese medical hall or sengsiong)

Seasoning:
25g rock sugar
5 tbsp soya sauce paste
1tsp dark soy sauce
3 tbso shao xing wine
½ tbsp monosodium glutamate (I don’t use this at home)

Method:
1. Ask the butcher to cut the pig’s trotter into convenient pieces. Blanch into boiling water for a moment. Remove and drained. Praboil into hot oil for a while (I didn’t do this step). Dish up, rinse under cold water. Keep aside.

2. Cook the spices with water in a deep pot until boiling, simmer for about 20min. Add in pig trotter pieces, old ginger, garlic cloves and seasoning. Bring back to the boil, covered, and stew over low heat for approximately 1 hour until tender.