pigs feet

Trotter gear? The British chef Fergus Henderson calls it that – an unctuous and shockingly delicious jellied broth made from pigs’ feet, vegetables and Madeira that imparts an intensely flavorful, lip-sticking quality to any stew or soup to which it is added. He gave The Times the recipe in 2009. It is project cooking at its most exciting and slightly ridiculous – a four- or five-hour process that yields 6 or so cups of glory to punch up any recipe for beans that you have on hand, elevate a beef-and-Guinness pie to extraordinary heights, make fantastic an otherwise benign casserole of baked chicken thighs. Friends and family will ask: What’s the secret ingredient? Say nothing until well after all the plates are cleared.

Fergus Henderson’s Trotter Gear

trotters (pigs’ feet)

onions,

celery,

carrots,

leeks,

garlic

bay leaves

black peppercorns

thyme

Madeira red wine

chicken stock

Place everything but the liquids in a large pot. Pour in the wine and enough chicken stock to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a simmer and cook for 3 hours, until the meat falls off the bone and, in Henderson’s words, the trotters are “very wobbly.”

Remove the trotters from the pot. Strain the stock. Pluck the meat, flesh and skin from the bones and chop. (There are a lot of bones.) Discard the bones. Stir the meat, flesh and skin back into the stock, then serve.

Meatball and Pigs’ Feet Stew

olive oil

garlic bulb,

pork

tsp juniper berries

cloves

cinnamon

shallot,

garlic clove,

2.2 lb (1 kg) ground pork

(30 g) breadcrumbs

tbsp (15 ml) whole-grain mustard

carrot, thinly sliced

celery stalk, thinly sliced

garlic cloves, finely chopped

tbsp (30 ml) pork fat or olive oil

(1 litre) pork hocks cooking liquid

beef broth

(105 g) light toasted flour (see note)

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In a large saucepan over medium heat, brown the cut side of the onions in the oil for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, pork hocks and spices. Season with salt and pepper. Cover with water.

Bring to a boil. Skim and simmer over medium heat for 3 hours or until the meat is fork tender. Add water as needed so that the hocks are covered in liquid throughout cooking.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the hocks from the broth onto a large plate and let cool. Degrease the broth, reserving 2 tbsp (30 ml) of the pork fat and discarding the rest of the fat. Strain the broth through a sieve. Reserve at least 4 cups (1 litre) of broth for the sauce (see note).

Debone the meat, removing the fat and keeping the pieces of meat as intact as possible. Set aside.

Pork Hocks

Meanwhile, with the rack in the middle position,  preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line two baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.

In a small food processor, finely chop the shallot and garlic. Add the egg and pulse a few times. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the ground pork, breadcrumbs and mustard. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well with your hands.

Using a 1-tbsp (15 ml) ice cream scoop, divide the mixture into balls. Working with lightly oiled hands, shape each meatball. Spread the meatballs out on the baking sheets (you should have about 85 meatballs).

Bake one sheet at a time for 15 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked, stirring halfway through the cooking time. Set aside.

Meatballs

In a saucepan over medium heat, soften the carrot, celery and garlic in the reserved 2 tbsp (15 ml) of pork fat. Add the reserved pork hock cooking liquid and the beef broth. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Sift in the toasted flour while whisking constantly. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Strain the sauce through a sieve. Return to the saucepan. Add the reserved meatballs and pork hock meat. Cook for 10 minutes. Adjust the seasoning. Serve with steamed potatoes.

Sauce

Excellente recette, je la fais à chaque année et c’est devenu un classique pour la famille ❤️

Pourquoi ne pas nous dire la quantité de sel et poivre !? Cette recette prend des heures à faire et tout peut se jouer sur ce point. Désolant d’avoir ce manque de précision constamment dans les recettes et devoir se fier aux commentaires des visiteurs. Aussi, j’ai plus que doublé la recette (2.1 kg), et cela donne 110 boulettes (et non 2x85=170) en utilisant la petite cuillère à crème glacée (exactement 15 ml). Elles vont rapetisser à la cuisson et seront d’une petite mais bonne grosseur.

Bonjour Ricardo vient à mon secours, j’adore tes recettes, je ne fais jamais de ragoût car je ne suis pas capable de l’épaissit…. Mais la j’ ai mélangé la farine grillée dans environ 2 tasses de bouillon et ensuite ai tout mis cela dans le chaudron….  Résultat c est trop épais , que faire .  Aide moi s’il te plaît. Merci!

Quelle bonne recette! Ça fait quelques années que je fais cette recette au temps des fêtes! Quelle belle tradition! Merci Ricardo et votre équipe!

C’est bon, mais je n’ai pas l’impression que c’est du Ricardo. J’adore l’ail, mais effectivement, il y en a trop dans cette recette. Les boulettes sont par contre surprenantes. Elle sont très bonnes. Je trouve que cette recette demande beaucoup trop de temps par rapport au résultat. J’ai beaucoup aimé les bâtons de cannelle dans cette recette.

Bof pour la sauce 
, c’est meilleur la faire qu’avec le bouillon de patte , plus goût maison à mon avis.

C’est la 2e année que je fais cette recette et je l’adore!!

Bonjour!
Je refait cette recette (tel quel) à chaque année et c'est toujours gagnant!
Merci Ricardo! merci d'être là 
Jean François Delisle

Sel et poivre sont écrits dans la préparation par contre.

Très bonne recette. Attention si vous suivez les ingrédients à la lettre, il faut ajouter du sel et du poivre à chaque étape (Jarrets, boulettes et sauce) car nulle part c'est écrit.

Simmered slowly with classic Chinese spices, these pig's feet turn out very tender and with an unctuous, dark brown sauce to savour.

Chinese braised pig’s feet with soy sauce and spices

(5⅓oz) fresh ginger

garlic cloves, peeled

chillies

milliliters (⅔ cup) light soy sauce

star anise

65 grams/2¼oz Chinese slab sugar (1 piece), or soft brown sugar

2-3 segments chun pei (dried tangerine peel)

fine sea salt,

(3½oz) raw peanuts (use the large, skinless type suitable

onions coriander

Rinse the pig's feet under cold running water. Bring a large pot of water to the boil, add the pieces and simmer for about five minutes. Unless your pot is very large, you'll probably have to do this in batches. Drain the feet and rinse them well. Bring a fresh pot of water to the boil and repeat this process (this rids the feet of impurities).

Wash the pot. Rinse the ginger (no need to peel it) and cut it into large chunks. Put the pieces on a cutting board and lightly crush them with the side of a cleaver. Put the ginger into the pot, then add the garlic. Break the dried chillies in half, shake out and discard the seeds, then put the chillies into the pot. Add the soy sauce, rice wine, cinnamon sticks, star anise, sugar, chun pei and 1 tsp of salt into the pot, along with 600ml (2¼ cups) of water. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sugar is dissolved.

Put all the pieces of pig's feet into the pot and bring to the boil. Cover with the lid, turn down the heat and cook at a low simmer, occasionally moving around the pieces of pig's feet so they are submerged in the liquid. After about an hour, add the peanuts.

Simmer the ingredients for about three hours in total, or until the pig's feet pieces are very tender. The sauce should reduce to a sticky, light syrupy consistency; if it's too thin, remove the lid when the meat is tender and continue to simmer. Taste the sauce and correct the seasonings, if necessary.

Remove the pieces of pig's feet and put them in a large serving bowl. Add the fu pei to the pot, if using, and simmer it in the sauce until soft. Ladle the sauce and fu pei over the pig's feet. Cut the spring onions into 1cm pieces and scatter them and/or fresh coriander sprigs over the ingredients before serving.

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Fergus Henderson’s Trotter Gear

Meatball and Pigs’ Feet Stew

Chinese braised pig’s feet with soy...

Top 3 pigs feet recipes from across the web

The most viewed pigs feet recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Fergus Henderson’s Trotter Gear

Meatball and Pigs’ Feet Stew

Chinese braised pig’s feet with soy...

The most viewed pigs feet recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine