The other day, I came across somebody sharing a local (Sibu) newspaper report on Facebook. It was in Mandarin, of course but thanks to Google Translate, I was able to understand what it was all about. It seemed that some machine used in the slaughtering of pigs here had broken down and could not be repaired. Thus, everything would have to be done manually by hand as a result of which, they were expecting a shortage of pork.
Wasting no time at all, I hopped over to the fruits and vegetables sundry shop in the next lane from my house and grabbed a whole lot of what they had fresh from their butcher that morning to stock in my freezer.
I did manage to get hold of two bags of pork leg/trotter, half in each bag. I took two because there did not look like a lot in one and anyway, my missus would be able to cook all at one go…
…and keep in the fridge so we would be able to eat it over a number of days, no need to finish it all in one sitting!
I sure enjoyed what my missus dished out, her phak lor too kha (five-spice braised pork leg) is second to none and I was delighted that she added some hardboiled eggs as well, my favourite. Interestingly, I seemed to notice that there wasn’t much fat at all, a lot of lean meat and also tendon and skin – they say the collagen is all in the latter two, great for old folks with weak bones and knee joints, yours truly included!
My missus did cook her black vinegar pork leg/trotter…
…not too long ago, last month in September, to be exact and yes, I enjoyed that a lot as well. Yes, she did say that she only bought a bag of the pork leg, half only so that day, she had to add some pork belly so there would be enough to go round.
I also enjoy char bee lau too kha…
– pork leg soup cooked with that lovely fragrant root with a bit of meng ngee (dried cuttlefish) thrown in for the fragrance and the sweetness and yes, I do enjoy a bowl of pek ting eyok too kha mee sua (Eight Treasures pork leg string noodles) once in a while too…
Of course, I love that awesome Filipino crispy pata or what we call the Philippine pork leg…
…here. Honestly, I go weak at the sight of those beauties! LOL!!! Gosh!!! I cannot remember the last time I had one. Perhaps the next time we have a reason to celebrate, I shall go and order one to take home and enjoy!
I also had German pork trotters before, once at Modesto’s at Jalan P. Ramlee in KL and another time at Gunther’s Gasthaus in Kota Kinabalu but I don’t think I had started blogging at the time so I have no permanent record of these two times. Of course I enjoyed them a lot, both times! I think I did see it on the menu at Hutong Lot 10 but I did not order it when I went there once as I felt it would be too big for me to finish alone, too much for my lunch.
We do have a few places here serving stewed/braised pork leg on a bed of cangkok manis…
…a dish that seems mighty popular among the people here but I’m just so-so with it. For one thing, even though their pork leg ain’t too bad – I would order it sometimes (usually without the cangkok manis), theirs come nowhere near as nice as how my missus does hers.
I wonder how many of you are pork leg/trotter lovers like me and how you like yours done.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Other than phak lor too kha, I have never try cooking black vinegar pork leg myself. My first time having this black vinegar pork leg is during my daughter’s confinement when she gave birth to her first born. Her confinement lady cook this dish for her and apparently this is a West Malaysian confinement dish. I like pork leg cooked with pek ting yoke too…😋😋
Ah yes!!! I missed out that one, too kha in pek ting eyok! Nice! Haven’t had that for ages!!!
It seems to me that black vinegar pork leg is a Cantonese dish. Never had it before in my life until I visited my Kuching friend living here during her confinement and the confinement lady cooked that. It was love at first bite – I loved it!
A number of places selling that here, all pretty good. Probably easier to cook than phak lor too kha as the few we have in town are quite disappointing – nowhere near my missus’.
P.S.:
I’ve edited the post and added the pek ting eyok too kha mee sua to the line-up. Thanks for the reminder!
My knees go weak at the sight of your missus’ pork leg/trotter dishes! Drooling too. LOL! My mum and I and my brother are firm fans of pork leg/trotter and we have always enjoyed it cooked with soy sauce as in tau eu bak. We also love the vinegar pork leg. Eaten with rice, some vegetables and sambal belacan, heaven! And of course we love the hard boiled eggs too.
Comfort food, have to refrain from going for a second helping or rice when feasting on those. Heaven sure is a place on earth!!!
Isn’t that pork leg soup called bak kut teh? LOL 😀
Oh dear!!! No, no, no, no!!! But come to think of it, do they have pork leg serve bak kut teh style? I never really took note of that at the places here.
I guess you do not know all these Foochow herbal delights, the char bee lau and the pek ting eyok. We love them both but maybe they are an acquired taste – may not be down your alley like the Hakka kacang ma chicken in Kuching, another favourite of mine!
I cooked black vinegar pork trotter last week. Yum yum.
I like the Filipino pata the most. And growing up eating pork leg rice in Kuching, I also acquired to it long time ago. Used not to take but now I tend to enjoy it.
Too kha pui!!! I loved the one at a coffee shop/restaurant in Kanowit when I was there, late 70’s. Everytime the lady cooked it, may she rest in peace, she would tell me…and I would go to the shop to eat. She was Hokkien – her lor too kha was just like my mum’s…or my missus’s or her mum’s – not like the somewhat diluted/washed-down Foochow version.
Hubby and I are pork leg lovers too but I tried not to cook too often. Your missus’ pork leg dishes all look delicious. We have tried fried pork leg in a restaurant in Temoh town and it was one of the best especially served with mint sauce. Now I am thinking of cooking black vinegar pork leg soon.
I was rather surprised that day when we had that stewed/braised pork leg. Unlike those we had in my younger days, there was little or no fat at all. Mostly skin and tendon and quite a lot of lean meat. We really enjoyed it!!!
I did not like it so much when I was young as I would feel giddy after eating – too much fat, maybe. Later, I started to learn eating it with sambal belacan – that brought the taste to a whole new level. So very nice and I have loved eating it like that since!
Oh I had the authentic German pork trotters in Germany.
There were two types, boiled or deep fried.
Tried both, personally I prefer the deep fried one, less fat and crispier.
The boiled one was rather salty and the fat looked a bit disgusting, ha!
Can’t get any more authentic than that!
I would prefer it deep fried too! I hear they may vary depending on whether they’re front or hind legs. More meat, less fat in the front ones or something like that.
Of course crispy pata is easy to love, deep fried, cripsy, OMG just the mere thought of it makes me hungry already. Anyways pork leg is one of my favourite meat cuts, the meat texutre, the fat, the bones, the collagen, mmmmmm
And yes I have a round up also for this meat cut here https://www.angsarap.net/2020/11/03/18-pata-recipes-you-need-to-try/
LOL!!! The collagen will keep us looking young, they say and pork fat has been listed as one of the most nutritious foods…
https://www.asiaone.com/health/pork-fat-ranked-among-top-10-most-nutritious-foods-report
How to even choose a favorite from all these different leg dishes?
You gotta eat ’em all!!! LOL!!!
I have also heard that there could be a shortage of beef due to import issues.
Not surprised. They are taking about empty shelves in the supermarts this Christmas, right through till March or sometime next year.
I prefer lamb shanks 🙂
Thanks for sharing your link at My Corner of the World this week!
Yes, I do enjoy lamb shanks too but they are VERY expensive here, imported from New Zealand!