Why it works: Vinegar and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,814 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Pigs Feet Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the feet
Take off the horny parts of feet and toes, scrape, clean and wash thoroughly, and if needed, singe off the hairs.
Place in a kettle with plenty of water, boil, skim, pour off water and add fresh, and boil until the bones will pull out easily.
Do not bone, but pack in a stone jar with pepper and salt sprinkled between each layer.
Mix some good cider vinegar with the liquor in which feet were boiled, using two-thirds vinegar to one third liquor, and fill up jar.
Cook and serve
When wanted for the table, take out a sufficient quantity, put in a hot skillet, add more vinegar, salt and pepper if needed.
Boil until thoroughly heated, stir in a smooth thickening of flour and water, and boil until flour is cooked.
Serve hot as a nice breakfast dish.
Alternative method
Or, when the feet have boiled until perfectly tender, remove the bones and pack in stone jar as above.
Slice down cold, when wanted for use.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Liquor | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pigs feet (in the method)
- Provide gelatin from bones and skin that sets the jellied body of the dish.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens flavor and helps preserve the packed feet.
- Flour (in the method)
- Thickens the hot liquid into a smooth sauce when cooked through.
The step that matters
Boil until the flour is cooked. Flour must be fully heated and boiled to swell its starch and lose its raw taste; undercooked flour leaves the sauce pasty and floury.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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