Jok (pig) bal (feet) is a Korean dish commonly served with alcohol. Korean "finger food" if you will. Taiwanese pig feet are famous but I didn't know about Korean pig feet at all. With Taiwanese pig feet, we typically cook the parts that are closer to the hooves. Korean pig feet are more similar to the Cantonese variant, working with the whole trotter instead.
I learned about this because Ares used to live in Korea for work and is quite the self-proclaimed Korean food expert–in eating, not cooking, sadly. From time to time, he'd tell me that he misses some random dish from around the globe in places that he has lived before and I would be compelled to make it.
Most Taiwanese Korean restaurants have been localized and don't taste as authentic or would only serve dishes that are famous in Taiwan. We could only find one place in Taipei that served Jokbal and it was ridiculously expensive.
After 8 months of his random nagging, I felt so bad for him I studied some ajumma recipes and finally fixed his cravings. It was a great success, not only did it turn out beautiful, Ares also said that it tasted authentic. Albeit slightly spicier but that was my intention. So let's get into this easy recipe where the pot and stove do all the work while you can kick back and relax.
Jokbal Recipe—Ingredients
Seasoning pouch:
- 1 apple
- 1 onion
- 1 star anise
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 4 green onions
- 2 tbsp Gochugaru (Korean Chilli powder)
- 6~8 cloves of garlic
- 8~10 slices of peeled ginger (thinly sliced)
- 6~8 jujubes
- 2 pieces of bay leaf
- 2 dried chilies (or to taste)
- 1 fresh chili (or to taste)
- 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp coffee powder
Pig trotters:
- 1 large pig’s trotter (approx 1.5 kg)
- 10 cups water
- 3 tbsp doejang
- 1 tbsp gochujang
- 1/4 cup rice wine
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 tbsp salt or to taste
To serve:
- sprinkle some white sesame seeds
Jokbal Recipe—Instructions
Soak the pig’s trotter in cold or room temperature water overnight to get rid of the blood. Blanch the trotter with some ginger for around 20 minutes. Wash and shave it. *(see notes)
Put all of the seasoning ingredients in a seasoning pouch or cheesecloth and place it in a large pot along with the pig trotter, 10 cups of water, and the remaining ingredients. Boil covered for an hour on medium-high.
Flip the trotter, boil covered for another hour on medium.
Remove cover and boil on high while drizzling sauce over the pig’s trotter for 15-20 min.
Remove from pot and let cool for around 15-20min before slicing. *(see notes)
Slice and plate. Sprinkle some white sesame seeds to serve.
Jokbal Recipe—Video Recipe
Jokbal Recipe—Notes:
Traditionally, the pig trotters are placed into the pot along with the bones in the center. They would also place the sliced pork on top when plating. However, I did not own a big enough pot, so as you can see in the video, the bone in the center has been removed. I asked the butcher the remove it for me beforehand. If you cook it together with the bone, it would fall right off after you're done cooking.
You must NOT skip the step of soaking the pig trotter for 8-10 hours to get rid of the blood and gunk. Don't pretend to be tough, it's gross. Pouring out the water the next morning, was the only time I ever thought being vegan sounded nice.
Before actually cooking the trotter, you need to blanch it. In the instructions, I wrote 20 minutes but it's give or take. Put it in a pot of cold water along with a few slices of ginger and bring to a boil then take it out. Once it cools down, I used a disposable shaver to shave it. Feel the skin, if there are any rough patches, that's hair, you need to further shave it. Ares said that they use a torch to remove any residue hair in Korea. I have never seen that be done before and I am really afraid that I would burn down the city so I stuck to the shaver.
Once you remove the trotter from the pot, make sure you drizzle some sauce over it and wait for it to cool down before you slice it. This solidifies and colors the trotters. If you skip this, the color would not be as nice and the juice would not be properly absorbed which would affect the taste. Most importantly it would be very difficult to slice, it would kind of be like an avalanche of pork.
--
Don't forget to follow me on Instagram!
Cherie Aria🧜🏻♀️ 艾雪莉
Lifestyle, workout, doggies: https://www.instagram.com/cheriearia/