Ashi Tibichi Okinawan Simmered Pig Trotters

Quick answer

Total time: 265 min
Level: Hard
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 7

About this dish

Ashi tibichi is an Okinawan simmer that first parboils pig trotters in water scented with awamori, then slowly cooks them with knotted kombu and daikon until the bones slip out easily.

It reflects Ryukyu pork cookery that used every part of the animal, moving from court cuisine into ordinary homes. The broth becomes firm when cold because the trotters release abundant gelatin. Residual hair on the skin is singed and the surface is thoroughly washed before a twenty-minute awamori parboil removes odor and excess fat. The trotters then enter fresh water with kombu and blanched daikon for about three and a half hours of gentle cooking, with foam and fat skimmed along the way. Kombu and daikon soften sooner, so they are removed before losing shape and returned only when the trotters are meltingly tender. Salt and soy sauce provide a restrained final seasoning.

Ingredients (4 servings)

Ingredient	Amount	Unit
cleaned pig trotters	4	piece
dried kombu	1	sheet
daikon radish	300	g
awamori	45	ml
water	2400	ml
salt	8	g
soy sauce	30	ml

Instructions

Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.

6 steps

1

Prep

Use four pig trotters split and prepared by a butcher.

Briefly singe residual hair with a torch, extinguish the flame, then scrub under hot running water to remove char and bone dust.
2

Control

Boil enough fresh water to cover the trotters with 45ml awamori in a deep pot.

Parboil the trotters for 20 minutes, discard the liquid, rinse them once more with hot water, and transfer to a clean pot.
3

Prep

Soak the kombu in cold water for 10 minutes, cut it lengthwise in half, and make four loose knots.

Cut 300g daikon into 2cm half-moons, blanch for 5 minutes, and drain.
4

Heat

Combine the trotters, 2.4L water, knotted kombu, and daikon in the clean pot and bring to a boil.

Lower the heat, leave the lid ajar, and skim foam and excess fat every 30 minutes.
5

Control

After about 60 minutes, remove tender kombu; remove the daikon when a chopstick enters easily and keep both covered.

Continue until about 3.5 hours total, when bones slide out and the trotters exceed 74°C at the center.
6

Season

Return the kombu and daikon and warm for 5 minutes.

Season in two additions with up to 8g salt and 30ml soy sauce, then divide trotters, vegetables, and broth among four bowls.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: Twenty-minute awamori parboil
Finish cue: After about 60 minutes, remove tender kombu; remove the daikon when a chopstick enters easily and keep both covered.