Black vinegar shank

After news of Clueless Confinement Man feeding his wife with only Ginger Rice, Ms Fiona sent me a message to confirm if I didn't want her to take over as the Confinement Lady. Yes of course I still want Ms Fiona as my backup, since I give up easily in most of my endeavours and there is no telling when I'll crack and cry. In the meantime, Ms Fiona should be assured Jen was not fed Ginger Rice with Egg for a meal only but at least one minimum useful side dish each time.

The Black Sweet Vinegar Pig Trotter is the oldest trick in any confinement food manual. So that was the first food I made for Jen right after she was discharged from hospital. As the method of cooking this dish is braising, it is not practical to cook a portion for a single meal because braising is a time consuming cooking style which involves submerging ingredients in a sauce. Too little sauce used will result in a incomplete braise. Too few ingredients, you'll be left with too much sauce. So imagine the challenge of making Kuay Zhup or dark soy sauce chicken for just one meal of a single person. Therefore, it is common that a modest attempt at the Black Sweet Vinegar Pig Trotter will last several meals as a side dish for a woman in confinement.

The dish is known to supplement the calcium lost during pregnancy and helps to remove blood clots in the uterus and prevent osteoporosis problem in menopause. The dominant sweet-sour taste of the dish, topped with the zing of the ginger, is a natural appetite inducer. So this dish can be consumed from the first week after childbirth onward.

The problem I faced in Perth was that, a pig trotter in the butcher shop here actually meant the foot. What I feel is the best for this dish is actually what other butchers termed it as the hock, knee or shank. It doesn't matter if it's from the front or back leg but what we really don't want is the foot right at the toe end because it contains little meat and only a fraction of the collagen you want from the joints. So for Perth noob husbands buying the part yourself, point to butcher your calf or knee, not your ankle. While you are at your pointing gig, why not buy some ham for yourself the same way too?

What we need are the following:

1-2 Shanks
4 eggs
800 grams of ginger
3 tablespoon of sesame oil
1 bottle of black sweet vinegar or black vinegar (both does the job really)
2 pieces of rock sugar


Preparation work:

Make hard boil eggs. If you don't know how to and don't have a hard boil egg maker at home, just submerge eggs in boiling water, cover the lid and turn off the flame and continue the boil for 10 minutes. (Thanks Ms Ong) Remove eggs, cool, crack and peel. Do not pour away the hot water.

Blanch the shanks in the same pot of hot water 10 minutes or until considerable scum emerge on the surface. Strain and cool, then pluck the hair off the skin unless your wife likes things bushy.

Method:

1. Heat sesame oil then saute ginger till fragrant. SOP. You should know by now.
2. Add black vinegar and rock sugar
3. Add hard boil eggs
4. Add shanks
5. Taste. If it isn't too right, add a bit of salt or more sugar to taste
6. Let the magic pot comes to a boil and continue cooking it on low heat for at least 30 minutes or chuck it all into a thermal pot.

The dish can be stored easily for several days without turning bad. Just keep heating it to a boil each time before consuming.