In the menu of New Year's Eve, besides delicious food, the most important thing is to have good luck and a good moral. For example, eating fish in the New Year means more than one year, and eating chicken means good luck. So what does it mean to eat pig's trotters? In my impression, from the beginning of being sensible, there will be braised pig's trotters on New Year's Eve every year. My mother told me that eating pig's trotters in the New Year is scratching my head and making money back. Moreover, this pig's hoof eaten in the New Year is also very particular. It must be the pig's front hoof, because the front hoof is scratched backwards and the rear hoof is pushed backwards. Although this is just a rumor among the people, it expresses people's wishes for a better life.
Pig's trotters are rich in collagen, and the fat content is lower than that of fat. Moreover, calcium, iron, vitamin A, vitamin D and other beneficial ingredients are all online, so people call pig's trotters "beauty food" and "delicious like bear's paw". Every year near the end of the year, pig's trotters are selling like hot cakes, and everyone is competing for each other when they buy them, and they don't care if they choose well. Sometimes they just ask the shopkeeper to wrap a few for them. As everyone knows, it is easy to be fooled and it costs a lot of money. When I got home, I found that the trotters had less meat and more bones, and the taste was poor. So let's avoid lightning protection today and teach you how to choose pig's trotters with more tendons and less bones!
In fact, there is a big difference between the front hoof and the back hoof of a pig, whether it is meat quality, taste or cooking method. As the saying goes: "the front hoof is behind the arm", the pig's front hoof has thick skin, thin meat and few bones. This is because the pig is lazy, and all its power points are in the first half. Therefore, because of the large amount of exercise, the front hoof looks thick and thick, and it tastes full and chewy and tastes more fragrant. Suitable for braising or braising.
Because of less exercise, the pig's hind hoof is only responsible for supporting, so the meat is loose and fat, so the bones are big and the meat is small, which is more suitable for making soup, such as peanut trotter soup and soybean trotter soup, which are all delicious.
So choose "front hoof" or "back hoof" according to your cooking. On the whole, if you eat in the New Year, you should choose your front hoof. After all, everyone wants to be lucky.
The cooking methods of "front hoof" and "back hoof" are mentioned above. Next, let's distinguish between "front hoof" and "back hoof" in detail. Here I summarize three aspects.
1, distinguished from toes
If you buy frozen trotters, it is most intuitive to distinguish them from the toes. Because of the large amount of exercise, the toes of the front hoof are thicker, the thickness is consistent, and it feels smoother by hand. The hind hoof is thinner because of less exercise, and the toes are thinner, one big and one small, which is particularly asymmetrical and rough to the touch.
2. Distinguish from folds
As mentioned above, because all the centers of gravity of pigs are in the first half, there are many obvious folds on the front hoof. But the hind hoof is different. Because there is less exercise, wrinkles look less and smoother. Moreover, the pig's front hoof is curved and the back hoof is straight. As for the reason, I won't say much, or because the pig is lazy, all the power points are in the first half. The popular understanding is tired and bent.
3. Different from bones
Due to the large amount of exercise in the front hoof and the thin bones, the tendons can be clearly seen on the cross section. The exercise of the hind hoof is small and the meat quality is looser than that of the front hoof. It only supports the body, so the bones are strong, the meat is less and the fat is more, and the tendons are not obvious at all, or there may be no tendons at all.
If you want to buy a good trotter, whether it's the front hoof or the back hoof, don't forget to look at the color, smell and touch the meat.
Look at the color, you should try to buy pig's trotters close to meat color. If the color looks too white, it may be treated with some chemicals. Although it won't be poisoned, it will definitely taste much worse.
Smell it. If it is fresh pig's trotters, it smells like raw meat, which means it has a fishy smell, but it won't stink. Some specially treated pig's trotters smell terrible. Don't buy them, they may have gone bad.
Touch the meat. Fresh trotters should feel neither sticky nor soft. If the skin is hard and sticky, it is soaking pig's feet.
The bigger the trotters, the more meat. On the contrary, smaller trotters have more muscles and bones. Let's share a practice of "braised pig's feet with soybeans" and get ready to show your talents in the New Year's Eve!
Required ingredients: trotters, soybeans, rock sugar, white vinegar, cooking wine, yellow wine, braised soy sauce, salt and onion ginger.
(1) Soak the soybeans for 4 hours in advance after cleaning, cut the pig's trotters into pieces, and blanch the onion, ginger slices and cooking wine in a pot with cold water to remove the fishy smell.
(2) Rinse the blanched trotters with water for later use. Heat oil in a pan, add ginger slices and rock sugar, stir-fry until the rock sugar melts and discolors, then pour pig's trotters, stir well, add onion and a little braised soy sauce, and stir well.
(3) After that, add water and soybeans, season with salt, pour into a pressure cooker, and stew until the trotters are soft and rotten.
Having said that, I think everyone has a clear understanding of how to buy pig's trotters, so don't be fooled by merchants again.