Vinegar Pork Trotters

This is a traditional dish served to  mothers who have just given birth to a baby. The vinegar and ginger help to expel wind.  Nowadays, we do not have to wait for someone to have a baby to savour this. My friends, men and women rave about this dish after eating at my place.
In the old days, the traditional way of cooking this dish is to boil the vinegar and ginger over and over again for a few months.  The pork trotter is only added on the day it is served.
Why not try the short cut way and still achieve the same results?

Ingredients

2 Pork forehand trotters with some lean meat attached. cut into bit size
Old and young ginger
one knob of garlic leave skin intact
1 bottle of Chan Kong Thye vinegar (Bulldog logo)
2 pieces of gula malacca (palm sugar)
hard boiled eggs
sesame oil


Method

Skin the ginger, cut into medium sized stubs.
Smash it lightly and put it in the sun to dry for a few hours
After ginger is fully dried,
Heat sesame oil in pot and fry ginger and garlic till fragrant
Add gula malacca and fry till dissolved
Pour in whole bottle of vinegar and another bottle of water
Let it boil for 2 hours on low fire
Turn off fire and let it steep in pot overnight
Boil water to blanch pork
Add pork trotters to vinegar and boil till soft. Add eggs
Adjust taste to your liking, depends if you like it sourish or sweet

Achar (nonya salad)

Just came back from Europe and craving for local food. Here's my achar recipe, its sweet and sour, a great appetiser. It  goes well with chicken rice, nasi lemak, fried bee hoon, fried rice and lots of other local food. The degree of sweetness and sourness is up to your own liking. How much of each ingredient you use is also up to you.

Ingredients

Cucumbers with skin on

Carrots

Cabbage plucked into pieces

Pineapple

Lots of grounded peanuts

Lots of toasted white sesame seeds

Rempah (look for recipe in earlier post)

White vinegar

sugar and salt

Cooking oil

Method

Cut the cucumber, carrot and pineapple into thick strips (see picture)

Dry cucumber and carrots in the sun for 2 to 3 hours. This is to make it crunchy.

Heat oil and fry rempah till fragrant

Add vinegar, sugar and salt. Adjust according to your taste

Fry till well blended, then turn off fire

Put in all the vegetables, mix well

Lastly add peanuts and sesame seeds

Cool and store in glass containers

Place in refrigerator for future use