Chinese black vinegar pork trotters recipe

I am prone to randomly grabbing food items that interest me whilst doing my weekly food shopping in Chinatown. There are too many things waiting to be discovered which prompt my itchy fingers to pick them off the shelves. Not that it's a bad habit but I do get stuck with these items especially if I don't have a clue what to do with them. I tend to forget. Oops.

So I had some gula melaka sitting in my pantry for months and I finally decided to bring them out to use. But first, a recipe is needed. I was not in the mood for something sweet, hence, opted for a savoury dish instead. This one is something my dad used to prepare every now and then. It was a treat to slop off the sauce with the white rice in my bowl.


Ingredients:
100g ginger
1.5kg pork trotters (I mixed the pork trotters with a bit of pork shoulder meat)
100g gula melaka
200ml sweet spiced vinegar

1. Blanch pork trotters in boiling water for about 10 minutes to remove any foul stench. Remove and ensure that every bit of hair is removed from the skin.
2. Roughly slice the ginger into think chunks and fry in a pot with sesame oil until fragrant.
3. Add meat into the pot to sear the meat before adding in the sugar and vinegar.
4. Add just enough water to cover the meat and allow it to simmer in the pot for 30 minutes.
5. Remove excess scum build up in the liquid and adjust taste to preference. Feel free to add more sugar or salt.

Dish out and serve or keep it in containers, ready to be consumed for the rest of the week!

This was one of the brands that I found in my local Asian grocer although it was not as spiced as I would have liked it to be. Perhaps I need to reduce the liquid more?