ONE of these days, I am going to cook a big pot of pork trotters in black vinegar, and I won’t share it with anyone. I’ll just slurp on the black vinegar gravy all day long till I am sick of it, and relish every bit of the pork fat melting in my mouth with absolutely no guilt. When all that richness and sourness and unctuosness get too much, I’ll just chew on the stewed young ginger and I’ll be restored.

This will be my go-to reserve therapy for when I am down in the dumps. Anyway, I exaggerate. It’s not like I am all that restrained when it comes to grabbing my share of this stew.

The good thing is that it’s an acquired taste, and not everyone likes it…less man, more share I say. My mother-in-law sometimes made this stew for Christmas lunch, and I’ll be the last to leave the table. While everyone is drinking wine, I’m content to drink more of this sweet vinegar.

For all my obsession with this dish, I didn’t realise this was confinement food until my mother lugged in bottles of black vinegar when she came to take care of me after I gave birth. She has always cooked this for us whenever we wanted to have it, and there was never any talk about childbirth and whatnot.

But it’s easy to see why it’s good for new mothers in confinement after childbirth. There is lots of ginger for dispelling dampness and wind in the body, and the pork trotters will restore the exhausted mother’s energy. It also tastes really good – if you like this dish – and that always cheers up a woman who does not get much sleep, is not allowed to wash her hair or leave the house for an entire month (that’s why it’s called confinement month). I don’t know if Chinese confinement rituals really do wonders for new mothers, but it is a month of rest and pampering.

In that one month, the new mother concentrates wholly on restoring her health, and getting to know her newborn. I love the wholesome food; there are lots of ginger, sesame oil, Chinese wine, the best fish, free range chicken, and red date tea.

Different cooks have different recipes. The difference between the home-cooked ones and those sold in the stall is the former usually has thicker gravy and more richly flavoured by trotters. The brand of black vinegar also makes a difference. The one we use regularly is ready blended for cooking pork trotters, and we do not have to add any more seasoning.

My aunt’s neighbour even goes to the extent of mixing two different blends of black vinegar to attain the depth and sourness her family likes. The good news is that pork trotters in black vinegar is easy to make. You have to blanch the trotters, and fry the ginger and trotters in sesame oil till fragrant. Then you just put everything in a slow cooker, and pour the black vinegar in.  Leave it to cook slowly for a few hours.

RECIPE

1 pork trotters, cleaned and cut in big chunks

300g young ginger, bruised gently

3 tablespoon sesame oil

750 ml black vinegar

1 cup water

4 hard boiled eggs (optional)

Blanch the pork trotters in boiling water for five minutes. Drain.

Heat sesame oil in a wok over medium heat.

Add the ginger, and fry till fragrant.

Then, add the pork trotters, and stir fry for a few minutes.

Put the trotters and ginger in a slow cooker.

Add black vinegar and water.

Add hard-boiled eggs.

Stew over low heat until the pork trotters are tender; it should take about an hour and a half. .