Smoked Pig Trotters from Beizhen

Smoked Pig Trotters from Beizhen

　　    Produced in Beijing.

　　    In the early years of the Daoguang reign during the Qing Dynasty, an old man named Yang and his two sons in Beizhen town started a business processing meat products. Initially, they had very little experience — their method of preparing pig trotters was limited to using spices such as Sichuan peppercorn and star anise, and simply boiling them, which resulted in poor sales. Later, they began using a master stock, sesame oil, soy sauce, salt, star anise, Sichuan peppercorn, and ginger as seasonings, and after boiling the trotters, they smoked them with white sugar. This method not only improved the color of the trotters but also enhanced their flavor. The Yang family’s smoked pig trotters quickly became famous throughout the town. Later, they adopted new techniques such as using rosin for hair removal and blowtorches for singeing. Building on the original seasonings, they added traditional Chinese medicinal ingredients such as cinnamon, dried tangerine peel, cloves, and fennel, giving the trotters a rich and aromatic taste. The process of preparing Beizhen’s smoked pig trotters includes selecting the meat, removing hair, singeing, trimming, seasoning, boiling, smoking, and oiling. The result is a dish with a rich five-spice aroma, a dark jujube-red color, snow-white tender meat, soft yet firm skin and tendons, a well-balanced salty taste, and a rich flavor that is not greasy.