These braised pork trotters are fall-off-the-bone tender and have a rich savory taste. It’s an affordable way to create a scrumptious and filling main dish that is full of collagen and healthy fats.
Chinese cuisine is known for utilizing different parts of the whole animal to create delicious meals. For example, chicken liver and pork liver are used to create tasty stir fries. Oxtail makes a super luxurious stew. Beef tripe, lung and tongue with red chili oil makes a rich tasting cold appetizer. Bones are often made into hearty bone broth for noodle soup and stews.
Braised pork trotters is one of my favorite homestyle dishes that my mom has been making since I was a kid. The trotters are carefully boiled first to remove the impurities. They’re cooked until very tender in a pressure cooker, then braised with aromatics and sauces to achieve a rich, savory flavor. The end dish is fall-off-the-bone tender but doesn’t taste greasy at all. The connective tissue becomes so tender, and the lean meat in between just melts in your mouth. On top of steamed rice, it makes a satisfying main dish without breaking the bank.
Braised pork trotters ingredients
Pork trotters
You can find pork trotters at most Chinese markets and Asian online grocery deliveries. These days, most shops sell the pre-cut trotters that you can cook directly. If you’re purchasing whole trotters, make sure to let the butcher cut them into large bite-size pieces (they usually cut one trotter into 6 pieces). The butcher has a very sharp saw to make clean cuts, which is much nicer than chopping them at home using a cleaver.
Mise en place
Making braised pork trotters requires a few common pantry ingredients:
- Pork trotters, cut into small pieces
- Aromatics: ginger and green onion
- Spices: star anise, clove, dried chili pepper
- Sauce: dark and light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sugar and salt
I used rock sugar in this recipe, which gives the sauce a more glossy look. You can use regular sugar as well.
Dark soy sauce is used in this recipe to add an appetizing dark brown color to the sauce. If you don’t have it on hand, you can use regular soy sauce (with a touch of molasses if you have it). The sauce will come out with a lighter color but still be delicious.
Cooking process
Cooking braised pork trotters is quite easy, but it involves a bit of passive waiting time. That’s why I usually prefer to make a large quantity at one time and freeze the portion that I plan to serve later.
- Start the cooking with pork trotters, cold water and ginger
- Once boiling, skim the brown bits off the top
- Boil and skim until the broth almost runs clear
- Transfer the trotters with some of the broth into an Instant Pot or pressure cooker
- Pressure cook until the trotters turn tender
- Move the trotters and the broth to a large pot to cook on the stovetop
- Simmer with aromatics, spices and sauce
- Cook until the pork has become flavorful and super tender
- Reduce the sauce so it becomes thick and glossy
- Add back the pork and mix well
The whole cooking process does take some time, but most of it is passive. I highly recommend making the dish on the weekend, so you won’t be in a hurry and can use the time in between to do other things.
Frequently asked questions
Can I cook braised pork trotters without an Instant Pot?
Yes! It is quite easy to do so but will require a longer cooking time. It will take about 2 hours to simmer the pork in this case.
If you do cook this dish on the stove, I would also add the aromatics and spices at the beginning (once you finish skimming the broth). Then add the sauce ingredients after 1 hour. This will give the pork an even richer taste.
Do I have to reduce the sauce at the end?
I took the extra step of removing the pork from the pot and reducing the sauce, so the sauce will be thick and glossy. The thicker sauce stays on the pork better and gives it a richer flavor.
To simplify this step, you can leave everything in the pot and use high heat to slightly reduce the sauce at the end. In this case, make sure to constantly stir the pot, so the pork won’t stick to the bottom.
It’s also totally OK to not reduce the sauce at all, if you’re happy with the seasoning the way it is.
How to serve braised pork trotters
I always love to serve braised pork trotters over a bowl of steamed rice. Although some Chinese restaurants also serve them in noodle soup. Check out this simple tomato noodle soup recipe if you want to serve the trotters over noodles.
Since braised pork trotters are so rich tasting, I would pair them with a simple side dish such as Fried Cabbage, Baby Bok Choy Stir Fry, Spinach and Peanuts Salad, or Cucumber Salad.
How to reheat and store braised pork trotters
I like to store the extra portion in small containers in the freezer. They stay good for 3 to 4 months. To reheat, the best way is to thaw them overnight in the fridge, then heat them up thoroughly in a steamer. If you haven’t reduced the sauce much, you can also reheat them in a small pot over medium-low heat (you need to stir frequently to prevent it from sticking).
It’s possible to directly reheat them without thawing first, but it will take longer.
Do not heat the trotters in a microwave. The skin and connective tissue don’t heat well and will make explosive sounds. The dish will end up heating up unevenly and leave a mess in your microwave.
Other delicious make ahead main dishes
- Instant Pot Curry Beef Stew
- Chinese Chicken Dumplings (鸡肉饺子)
- Coca-Cola Chicken Wings (可乐鸡翅)
- Instant Pot Chinese Sausage Rice (腊肠饭)
- Easy Salt Baked Chicken (简易盐焗鸡)
- Chinese Braised Beef Shank (酱牛肉, Jiang Niu Rou)
Chinese Braised Pork Trotters (红烧猪蹄)
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 lb (1.3 to 2 kg) pork trotters , cut into large cubes (*Footnote 1)
- 2 thumbs ginger , thickly sliced and divided
- 4 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 4 green onions , cut into 4” pieces (or 2 Chinese scallions)
- 5 dried Chinese chili peppers
- 2 star anise
- 4 cloves
- 1 heaping tablespoon (20 g) rock sugar (or regular sugar)
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Place the pork trotters and half of the ginger slices in a large pot and add cold tap water to cover. Bring the water to a boil. Stir occasionally to prevent the bottom from sticking. Continue boiling while skimming off the brown foam from the top until the broth is mostly clear, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the pork to an Instant Pot (or pressure cooker). If the boiling broth is clear and doesn’t have a strong smell, transfer 5 cups of broth to the pot with the trotters, or until the broth almost covers everything. If the broth looks very cloudy and smells strong, discard the broth and add 5 cups of cold tap water. (*Footnote 2)
- Set the pressure to high and timer to 15 minutes for fall-off-the-bone tender pork (or 12 minutes for tender pork with some texture). Press start. (*Footnote 3)
- Once the Instant Pot is done cooking, release pressure naturally for at least 15 minutes. Then switch the valve to fast release. Transfer pork and the broth back to the large pot.
- Add the rest of the ingredients into the same pot and turn to medium-high heat. After bringing the broth to a boil, reduce to medium-low heat and simmer for 40 minutes or so, until the pork has absorbed a lot of flavor. Stir pork occasionally to avoid burning on the bottom.
- Transfer the pork to a large bowl. Use a ladle to remove and discard the solid spices and aromatics from the broth. Turn to medium-high heat to boil the broth until it reduces to half of the volume and gets thicker, 15 minutes or so. Keep an eye on the broth so it doesn’t reduce too much. The broth will continue to thicken when it cools down a bit, so you don’t need to reduce it too much.
- Add the trotters back to the pot and mix everything together. Serve hot as a main dish. You can store the leftovers in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 to 4 months.
Notes
- If you purchase the pork feet in an Asian market or online, most of the time the pork feet are already pre-cut into cubes. If you purchase whole pork feet, ask the butcher to cut the pork feet into 6 pieces using their saw. This recipe cooks up to 4 lbs (2kg) pork trotters, which is about 4 whole pork trotters.
- The pork will release juice during the cooking process, so you don’t need to add too much water to fully cover the pork.
- To cook without a pressure cooker, add boiled pork, water and all ingredients into a dutch oven. Add the broth (or water) until it covers the pork. Once boiling, simmer for around 2 hours. If the water level becomes too low while pork is still tough, add hot water, 1 to 2 cups at a time, and continue braising once the pork becomes very tender. Reduce the sauce according to step 6 if needed.
Truly delicious. I grew up in a poor rural family. We had pigs trotters cooked in a bland Anglo style and loved them. It was a change from mutton stew and rabbit. I still like them in British recipes but we love the different Asian ways of cooking them as well. Your recipe is the most requested when it comes to pigs trotters.
Hi Maggie…I presume slow cooker would also be good for this recipe. How I love your recipes. Simple delicious and authentic! Home made black beans! Oh so good…never again store bought!
This is so good Maggie…obviously am Asian..I wonder if this same recipe can be used in chicken feet? Another favorite! Thanks.
The pig feet recipe looks great. I’m going to cook it today.
If we cook like 4kgs, do we multiply all the rest of the ingredients by 4? How about amount of water? How much?
Now….winter coming, it`s command at least once a month this dish. No excuse!
Hi Maggie,
I’m hoping to make this recipe (BIG fan of piggie feet!). A quick question: can you make this in a slow-cooker and, if so, what changes to the methods should I make?
Hi Sylvia, I’ve never done this dish in a slow cooker but I’m pretty sure you can. The only thing I would do differently is the liquid amount. After you boil the pig feet and transfer them to a slow cooker, you probably don’t need to fully cover them with the liquid. It will end up with too much broth. I would only cover like half way up. In the end, you will end up with more broth than the stove top method. You can choose to thicken the broth with some cornstarch slurry (cornstarch whisked with water) or you can boil down the liquid on the stove top to get a more concentrated sauce to serve with the pig feet.
Happy cooking and I hope you enjoy it!
I used smoked pig tails because that’s what I had on hand. My gf is Chinese and she said these reminded her of her childhood in Wuhan. I garnished them at the end with a little sesame oil, sesame seeds, and chopped cilantro. Will definitely do again with pigs feet next time.
I’m so looking to duplicate my mom’s old dish. She’s no longer with us so I’m winging it. I didn’t have cloves so I omitted it added a little more star anise
Crossing my fingers and will update in a couple of hours but it’s definitely smelling yummy
step 4 reads “while pork is still though”… tough is what you meant, no need to reply, thanks ..cooking some pig feet. good for anemia….gonna look up intestine with blood. I like hunan organ soup and beef tendon stew… its funny how your body tell s you stuff is tasty when you need it….
I am cooking pigs feet for the first time and my house smells heavenly! I was raised in American not eating odd parts but was always drawn to them. They taste more unique, have amazing texture and are fun to eat. This recipie is really great and I am sure to use it many times! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Maggie,
I enjoyed reading your story and recipe even if I have my own way of cooking pig cooking pig trotters.
Instead of parboiling I braised it to take out the smell. I like boiling it many time over two days (instead of with pressure cooker) with a lot of chinese wine and garlic (and ginger and chilies too) – it makes the infusion of the flavors deeper.
Many culture including european have pig trotters (and intestine and ect) recipe from the time when food was much harder to get.
I tried to find the link to your video and your mom recipe collection but unable to do so
When starvation is close then all sorts of things get eaten. In medieval and renaissance Europe peasants would raise pigs for money. The muscle meat would be sold and the offal would be eaten by the peasant family. Pig intestines were used for sausage casings and the sausage was often kidneys, lungs and other parts of the pig. My wife’s Polish family used pigs’ feet to make studzienina, boiled pigs’ feet in gelatin. Polish peasants faced a similar risk of starvation that Chinese peasants did. As was said of the Armour Meat Packing Company, they used all of the pig except the squeal.
Made this following your recipe to the “T” tonight! Delicious flavoursome way of braiding pig trotters! Yum! I used to only make the black vinegar version, Hakka style. Thank you for sharing your amazing recipe! 😘
Thanks for this recipe. I can’t wait to try it.
My family is from Jamaica and we love to eat the odd parts too. We ordered this at a restaurant and the waitress tried to warn us off, perhaps thinking we weren’t familiar with pig’’s feet, but I ate them growing up. We tend to prepare pigs’ feet in a garlicky sauce with white beans. However, ginger is very popular in our cuisine. I loved this preparation. It makes the most of the gelatinous texture of the meat and the flavors are fantastic.
Cheers Maggie, loved this recipe. I travelled China for 2 months and ate some amazing food. When I got back to England I tried to recreate my favourites. I’ve managed a passable char siu and my dumplings have been given the thumbs up from two Chinese friends. I’m still after a good book or video on how to make hand pulled noodles though, can you help?
Hi Jack, I’m glad to hear you like the recipe! I do have a hand-pulled noodles recipe: http://omnivorescookbook.com/recipes/hand-pulled-noodles
It is a family-style recipe and the noodles are tender. It’s not the Chinese street-style hand-pulled noodles (that type adds alkaline in the dough so it’s chewier). Hope you’ll have a chance to give it a try!
I think you forgot to add the other ingredients. When does that happen?
Hi Khalid, you will add the rest ingredients in step 3 “Add the rest of the ingredients into wok”. Happy cooking!
Hi Maggie, your braised pork’s feet look so delicious with the dark sauce. I would like to know which part were you using, the front trotters or the hind legs. I’d be curious to know that since I haven’t cook pork’s feet before and I would like to try your mom’s recipe. Please advise and thanking you in advance.
Hi Rosita, we usually buy the whole trotters (front and hind legs) and let the butcher cut it into smaller pieces.
If you can buy them separately, I would definitely recommend hind legs. They have a thin layer of skin and some very tender lean meat plus tendon, a perfect combination. The front trotters are fine too but it’s mostly skin.
Hi, I’m teyingbthisbrecile tonifht, vut i’m cookingbitbin the slow cooker instead as my wok has just recently broke and I haven’t replaced it with another big one. Wish me luck
in the middle of the list for ingredients, there is the item listed as “3 cloves” (of what?). Thanks for your help.
Hi Warren, it’s whole dried cloves pods: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clove
Great recipe, thank you for sharing this! Is there a reason that you don’t put the ingredients together when it’s cooking in the pressure cooker though? I’m just curious as I would think more time cooking/soaking in the ingredients would be better.
Hi Steve, I’m glad to hear you like the dish!
It’s a family recipe and my mom has been using the method for years so I never thought about it.
I think one of the reasons is, if the pork feet is not super fresh (happens a lot in China), my mom would discard the broth (it has an unpleasant smell) from the pressure cooker and use water to braise the pork. Also, you will not need all the broth from the pressure cooker, so if you add the seasoning at the beginning, you will lose a lot later because you are only using partial broth. Hope that makes sense.