Pigs' Feet
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Scrape and thoroughly clean the pigs' feet.
Boil the feet in water with coarse sea salt until tender.
Cut the feet in half.
Fry and serve
In a pan, heat lard and fry the feet until nicely browned.
If desired, add vinegar to the gravy.
Serve hot or cold.
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.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Pigs' feet
- Main ingredient; boiling makes the connective tissue tender and frying adds browned flavor.
- Lard
- Fat that carries heat for frying and gives the outside of the feet a rich browned crust.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity to the gravy, giving a sharper, brighter taste that balances the rich fat.
The step that matters
Boil until tender. The feet must be fully tender before frying, because the thick collagen-rich skin and connective tissue only soften with long, gentle simmering. Stopping early leaves them tough and chewy.
“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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