Pig Skin Stock Recipe – Filling For Soup Dumplings

Step 1

Cut pork skin into 10 x 3-5 cm pieces to make the cooking easier.

Step 2

The next step is very simple, first place the meat pieces into the pot filled with water inside and bring to the boil.

Step 3

Turn the stove to low and continue to cook (about 5-10 minutes) until the pig skin color darkens, becoming slightly translucent, looking like this.

Step 4

Remove the pot from the stove, take the meat out and plunge it into cold water to wash away the foamy residue. Wash the pot to remove the foam.

Step 5

The following process is to remove the fat attached to the flesh, otherwise, a layer of white lard will form on the surface of the frozen meat, which does not impact the taste too much, but is mainly for a better look.

Step 6

The other reason for doing this is that cooked meat skin is easier to cut than raw pig skin. Use a good sharp knife (sharpen if necessary) to remove the rind.

Step 7

For safety reasons, it is best to hold the flesh with a fork instead of your own finger. The fork will prevent the meat slipping on the cutting board, and not block the line of sight. Align the knife horizontally where the fat and rind join.

Step 8

The knife should slide easily between the rind and fat.

Step 9

After Cutting the meat, it looks like this, without any fat.

Step 10

Next, chop each piece of pig skin into small pieces, the finer the better, because meat skin stock is made from the collagen, chopping finely will increase the surface area and thereby the extraction of collagen.

Step 11

Pour water into the pot. The amount of water does not matter because later you need to keep adding water. Put the pork into the pot and heat. When the water is boiling add the star anise and salt. You do not need to put in a lot of salt since when you use the meat skin stock in your cooking, more will be added then.

Step 12

When it comes back to the boil, turn down to low and simmer, uncovered. During this process you will need to pay attention to the temperature of the stove. Do not set it too high so that the water evaporates too fast, and not too low; adjust it to keep the water boiling, but not boiling rapidly.

Step 13

This is a long process, taking about 3 hours. You may need to top up with cold water during this time to avoid it going dry. To know exactly what amount of liquid to cook the pig skin in is tricky, and it may take 2-3 times before you get it right.

Step 14

If the water content is too high the stock will be weak tasting and break easily, and if it is too low, you will not get much stock in the end. People will say, ha! So much meat to make such a small finished product? Ha ha.

Step 15

Pick out the star anise and pour the cooked liquid into the mold.

Step 16

Cool slightly cool at room temperature.

Step 17

Cover the mold with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator freezer overnight. (Do not put it into the freezer in the freezing room, as precipitation will form due to the lower temperature.) The next day it can be cut up.

Step 18

In the pursuit of more crystal-clear effect, strain the stock so no solid pieces of skin are present.

Step 19

After a little cooling at room temperature, cover the mold with plastic wrap and put it into the refrigerator room overnight. It should set nice and clear. The finished product is somewhat yellow, because of the star anise. If you don’t like this color, omit the star anise, or add it in the last half hour of cooking.