Crispy Pata
- Level: Advanced
- Yield: 4 servings
- Total: 1 day 8 hr 5 min (includes fermentation time)
- Active: 1 hr 50 min
Ingredients
One 3- to 4-pound pork leg with foot attached (lacones)
1 cup sugar cane vinegar
1/2 cup minced garlic
1/2 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 ounces baking powder
2 tablespoons whole peppercorns
5 bay leaves
2 stalks lemongrass, cut into 2-inch pieces
Sawsawan Sauce, recipe follows
Tinimtim Green Chili, recipe follows
Quick Kimchi Cabbage, recipe follows
Sawsawan Sauce:
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup cane vinegar
1 cup spiced vinegar
2 ounces sliced green onions
1 1/2 ounces fish sauce
1 tablespoon garlic
Pinch Hawaiian salt
3 whole chopped Hawaiian red chiles
Tinimtim Green Chili:
1 ounce salad oil
1 ounce fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
4 smashed cloves garlic
2 sliced shallots
1 pound green chiles
1 cup cane vinegar
1/2 cup fish sauce
Pinch kosher salt
Pinch ground black pepper
Quick Kimchi Cabbage:
1 whole napa cabbage, chopped into 2-inch pieces
8 cups warm water
1/2 cup kosher salt
2 ounces kimchi powder
2 ounces vinegar
1 1/2 ounces garlic and onion paste blended together
1 ounce fish sauce
Directions
Special equipment:
a deep-fryer- To clean pig foot, soak in cold running water, scrubbing toes on all sides with a scrubber. Rinse with clean water.
- Pour 2 gallons cold water in a large cooking pot and bring to a boil. Add cane vinegar, garlic, fish sauce, salt, baking powder, peppercorns, bay leaves and lemongrass. Slowly drop pig foot in the boiling water and cover with parchment paper. Let simmer on a low heat for 4 to 5 hours.
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
- Remove pig foot and transfer to a flat sheet tray with wire rack. Place inside the oven to dry for 30 minutes.
- Preheat a fryer to 350 degrees F.
- Slowly drop pig foot in the hot oil and step back, as it will splash. Cook until hot oil is no longer popping, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn, then let cook, turning every few minutes, until the skin gets crunchy, 8 to 10 minutes total. Serve with Sawsawan Sauce, Timtim Green Chili and Quick Kimchi Cabbage.
Sawsawan Sauce:
- Mix soy sauce, cane vinegar, spiced vinegar, green onions, fish sauce, garlic, salt and chiles in a bowl until mixed well.
Tinimtim Green Chili:
- Heat a pot on medium heat, then add oil. Add ginger, garlic and shallots and saute until soft and aromatic. Add the green chiles, vinegar, fish sauce and 1 cup water and season with salt and pepper. Simmer on low heat until all liquid is reduced, turning chiles 2 times during this process. Let cool, then refrigerate for up to 5 days.
Quick Kimchi Cabbage:
- Soak cabbage in warm water and salt in a bowl at room temperature to wilt for one day. Drain salted water and wash cabbage, then squeeze out excess water. Place in a bowl and add kimchi powder, vinegar, garlic-onion paste and fish sauce. Place kimchi in a mason jar and store in the refrigerator.
Cook’s Note
As pig foot is simmering, check on water level from time to time to make sure water is covering. Add water as necessary until meat is tender.