Why it works: Vinegar and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Pickled Pigs' Feet
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the feet
Put 1 dozen well-cleaned pigs' feet in a kettle; cover with cold water.
For each gallon of water, add 2 scant tablespoons salt.
Boil until tender.
Pickle and rest
While hot, transfer to a stone jar, putting here and there between them a large onion, sliced.
Heat together 2 quarts of vinegar with 1 pint of water, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon peppercorn, 2 ounce cloves, 2 bay leaves.
Boil for 5 minutes.
Pour over feet.
Cover and let stand one day before using.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Bay Leaf | 1 leaf (0.6g) | 2 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | 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.
-
Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Vinegar
- Provides the sour acidity that flavors the feet and helps preserve them in the pickle.
- Pigs' feet
- The main meat; boiling until tender breaks down connective tissue so it eats softly.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Peppercorn
- Adds a sharp, aromatic pepper flavor to the pickling liquid.
The step that matters
Pour over feet and let stand one day. The hot vinegar liquid needs time to penetrate the cooked feet and mellow the sharpness, so the flavor develops only after resting. Using them too early gives a harsher, less seasoned result.
“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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