Ashi Tibichi Okinawan Simmered Pig Trotters

Name: Ashi Tibichi Okinawan Simmered Pig Trotters
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 230 min
Total time: 265 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 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

Quick answer

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

About this dish

Pig trotters simmer here until the bones slip out and the broth sets to a jelly once cold.

The Okinawan method first blanches them in water spiked with awamori, the island's rice spirit, to strip away odor and excess fat, then adds kombu and daikon radish for the long simmer. Seasoning stays light, just salt and a little soy sauce, and the broth tastes clean. The dish carries on Ryukyu pork cookery, which used every part of the animal and passed from the royal court into ordinary homes.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmount

cleaned pig trotters4 piece

dried kombu1 sheet

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Instructions

6 steps

1

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

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

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

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

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

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.