Recipe: Braised pork trotters with sea cucumber and mushrooms

A must-have dish for us during our Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner: 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐞𝐚 𝐂𝐮𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬.

Every year, during our reunion dinner, this Hokkien specialty would make an appearance. The pork trotters are braised for about 2-3 hours until tender and falling off the bone. Sea cucumber is added at the end and cooked to your preferred consistency (different sea cucumber will have different cooking times, so check every 10 mins to see if texture is to your liking.)

For this recipe, I used Japanese wild shiitake mushroom for this recipe, but you can use any regular dried Chinese mushroom too. The mushrooms were incredibly smooth with a lovely aroma. 

Braised pork trotters with sea cucumber and mushrooms
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 2 1/2 to 3 hours
Serves 6

Ingredients
2.2kg pork trotters, ask your butcher to cut into chunks
1.2l water
6 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
70g dried mushrooms, soaked for at least 4 hours
400g sea cucumber, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tbsp cooking oil
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4-5 slices old ginger
2 tbsp Shaoxing wine

1. In a large pot, sauté garlic and ginger with oil for 3-4 mins. Add water, dark and light soy sauce and bring to the boil.

2. Add trotters and braise for 1 hour.

3. Add mushrooms and braise for further 1 hour.

4. Add Shaoxing wine and sea cucumber and cook for further 30 mins, or until the sea cucumber texture is to your liking. Taste, and adjust with more soy sauce or salt as necessary.

5. Serve with longevity noodles or rice.

Note: One way to tell that the dish is ready; the sauce will be gelatinous and rich once it is ready to be served.

Buy sea cucumber here: https://shope.ee/5pZf3782IF (see this post on how to rehydrate and clean dried sea cucumber)

Buy Japanese wild shiitake mushroom here: https://shope.ee/9USxjeUrtk

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