Manitas de Puerco Recipe

Conservation is an amazing thing, a human discovery that has saved thousands of lives from starvation. Plus, with incredibly healthy results and a great taste. It was difficult to decide what kind of preservation I wanted to do. Ferments and jams are my favorites, but that is something I do a lot. And I realized that I have never tried to make a vinegar preserve. I love pickled food, and it occurred to me to make an ugly delicacy. "Manitas de puerco" or pickled pork feet...

Are you scared? Well, this crazy food is unbelievably delicious and good for our health.

Pain in the knees and joints?

Did you know that pork feet are amazing for our health? It belongs to the group of pork meat and is a special type of meat that contains protein but also contains almost no carbohydrates and provides only 291 calories to our body per 100g.

If the pig feet are consumed moderately, they can provide benefits to our health because it contains a large amount of collagen which is an essential protein in our body since it makes the connective tissue of the same such as skin, bones, cartilage, organs, and tendons.

The main vitamin they have is vitamin B1 since for every 100g of this meat, you get 1mg of this vitamin.

Due to its high content of vitamin B1, also known as thiamine, the consumption of this type of meat could be recommended to combat stress and anxiety, as well as during pregnancy, lactation or after surgery due to the high probability of suffer from a deficiency of this vitamin. (Nutricienta.com)

Ilustration from Olivia the Pig Cartoon 2014.

Ancient Food

Vinegar is a sour liquid which is produced from the fermentation of diluted alcohol products. This yields the organic compound acetic acid, its key ingredient. Used in many cultures as a condiment and preservative, vinegar can be made from a variety of liquids, including malted barley, rice, and cider; however, as its name suggests, it was first made from wine. The word vinegar derives from the Old French vintager, meaning "sour wine." (New World Encyclopedia)

Although the exact origin of the pickle is not known. It is well known that it is one of the oldest conservation methods of preservation and has a significant part of our history. The archaeologists believe ancient Mesopotamians pickled food as far back as 2400 B.C., according to the New York Food Museum. Even the queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, consumed pickled food as part of her diet to maintain her beauty. There are record of use of Vinager in Egypt from around 3000 B.C

In the 19th Century, Napoleon Bonaparte had offered a large amount of money to the person who found the best way to pickle and preserve food for his troops. In 1809, Chef Nicolas Appert appeared, with a brilliant idea that could preserve not only vegetables, but also dairy and meat. If all the air is extracted from a glass bottle and boiled in water to be sealed. Food could be preserved for much longer, a technique that we still using today.

Illustration by Stacey C.

The food of the poor.

The limbs of animals as well as their intestines, and other undesirable parts have been abhorred for years. The main reason they are not commonly consumed is that they are parts with less meat such as the tails, trunks, feet, and ears. For this reason, their low prices at which only people with limited resources consumed them. Over the years and with globalization, people prefer "cleaner" cuts of meat, as if forgetting that meat comes from an animal. But in Mexican and Chinese gastronomy, they are still popular dishes. Although in Mexico they are considered as working-class food. Ironically, there are also many fine restaurants offering dishes with beef tongue, bone marrow, and pork feet at soaring prices.

In the streets of Mexico, you can easily find places that sell pickled pig's feet tostadas. Normally the pig feet are pickled with some vegetables like Jalapeño peppers, carrots, onions, and cauliflower, and it is called "Escabeche". In the markets and local restaurants, Tostadas will prepare for you at the moment, with sour cream, fresh cheese, beans, avocado, lettuce, tomato, spicy sauce. A real delicacy!

Picture by Mexico Gourmet, Tostadas el Guerro. 2021

Picture from "Tostadas Coyoacan" 2017. Edo Mexico.

Picture by O.Vellasco. From ALPUS Condesa Restaurant. 2017.

My recipe

This time I wanted to experiment a little, and after my pozole blog, where I complained about not finding the cuts of meat I wanted. Someone recommended me to look in China Town. Indeed, there I found the pork feet that I wanted, and my adventurous spirit began to grab extra things that could be an interesting ingredient for my recipe. That is how I ended up with this crazy mix of Pig's feet jalapeño, beech mushrooms, and daikon radish and more.

Ingredients:

500 gr of pork feet

5 cloves of garlic

1/2 onion

1 tablespoon oregano

1/2 tablespoon of black pepper

1/2 tablespoon of Sichuan pepper

3 bay leaves

2 sprigs of thyme

1 tablespoon of salt

2 cups of water

Escabeche ingredients:

1 head of garlic

3 dried arbol chiles

1 tablespoon of black pepper

2 tablespoons oil

1 onion

10 jalapeño peppers

2 carrots

1/2 Daikon

1 package of white mushroom

1 package of mushroom beech

1 bunch of green onion

3 bay leaves

2 sprigs of thyme

3 cups of water

2 cups apple cider vinegar

1 cup of rice vinegar

Salt to taste

Preparation:

Since I am the only person in my house who is going to eat the pig's feet, I decided to cook them separately. So, it is also necessary for the gelatin from the pork to coagulate the liquid in the bottle.

In the instant pot add all the ingredients of the legs and cook for 30 minutes plus natural release.

Cut all the vegetables, and in a deep pan or pot, heat the oil and fry the garlic, pepper, and chili to flavor, once browned, set aside. Then lightly cook the vegetables in order, taking care of their timing, I put the onion first, then the carrot, then the chili and finally the mushrooms. When they are half cooked, add the water and vinegar, and in a cloth, bag add the spices that we fried at the beginning, plus the bay leaf and thyme, simmer for about 15 minutes add salt to taste and then let it cool. Preferably leave it with the spices all day so that it takes more flavor.

When the legs are ready, separate them from the broth, and mix with 1 cup of their strained broth and a cup of vinegar. (Do not throw away the leftover broth, it is perfect as a base for a soup).

In a large pot, boil water to sterilize the glass jars, they can be new or recycled. I used the ones I had saved for sauces and pickles. When they are ready fill them with the vegetables and the feet. Reheat the vinegar liquid and fill the jars, then turn them over and let them cool upside down, this will help create a vacuum and thus last longer.

Serve on a Tostada shell, with sour cream, beans, tomato, lettuce, feta cheese, avocado, spicy sauce, and lemon. I also love the vegetable with Sandwiches and Tacos.

Result and evaluation.

After a week of preparing this preserve, I opened a jar to see the result. This preservation was a complete success, I am very happy with the choice of flavors I made. The pork feet were incredibly soft, the jalapenos infused all the vegetables with a spicy touch and in turn the Sichuan pepper gave another spicy punch to the meat. The mushrooms soaked up the juices and biting into them is like an explosion of flavor, while the carrot and daikon add an amazing crunchiness. And the smell, made me salivate from just smelling the acidity of vinegar and chili when opening the jar. Everything mixed is a perfect accompaniment for your food or as a main dish like a Tostada de Manitas de Puerco.

Reflection

When I was a child, my mother always insisted on eating chicken and pig's feet, because they were extremely healthy. For a long time, I stopped eating them because I was ashamed that people made fun of me. Over time I learned to ignore others and create my own criteria. Am I going to limit my gastronomic experiences because someone thinks it looks ugly?. Never again.

That is why I invite you to try this wonderful dish, and all the ugly delicacies that you find. Remember that it is not only very tasty, but also healthy and sustainable since if we are going to kill an animal for our consumption. The most ethically correct is to use as much of the body as possible.

Pictuere by el lobo/Shutterstock.

Citations

Pruitt, S. (2020, December 18). The Juicy 4,000-Year History of Pickles. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/news/pickles-history-timeline

A Short History of Vinegar. (2020). Womersley Foods. https://womersleyfoods.com/pages/a-short-history-of-vinegar

Nutricienta. (2018, July 15). Propiedades nutricionales y calorías de las manitas de cerdo. https://www.nutricienta.com/alimento/manitas-de-cerdo