Sopa de Pat (slow-simmered pig's feet soup)

Low sodium chicken, turkey or vegetable stock (homemade is best); at least a quart and a half of fresh cold water; garlic; celery; carrots; onion; 3 pig's feet cut into 2-inch by 2-inch pieces (readily available at most butcher counters, especially in more ethnic supermarkets)

Several hours before serving, prepare the pig's feet by washing well and patting dry. Place in a saucepan, and cover with cold water. Bring to a rapid boil for 2 minutes, then remove from heat. Drain water and rinse the trotters. This blanches the meat and bones, removing any hidden dirt or impurities, and provides a cleaner flavor. After rinsing, fill saucepan again with water enough to cover the pig's feet, and bring to a boil again. Cover and simmer at a low roll for several hours. Check the water level periodically and add more if the water level drops too low. You want to be left with about a quart of stock.

It should take approximately 2 hours for 3 cut up pig's feet to cook down to the point where the cartilage has liquified and will have turned the water a milky white color. This stock will be what makes this soup so rich and filling.

Meanwhile, about an hour or so into the pig's feet simmering, make the soup base. In a heavy soup/stock pot, add in 1 TSPB olive oil, and heat on medium. Add 1 chopped onion, 1 cup chopped celery, and approximately 1 cup chopped carrots (you can add as much or as little as you want, these are aromatics that will provide a richer base for our soup and provide some vegetable power).

With the flat side of your knife, smash and rough chop 6 cloves of garlic. Add to the pot and stir all the chopped vegetables around to coat with the oil, and heat on medium until the mixture is fragrant and slightly soft. At this point, add in 4 cups of of chicken, turkey, or vegetable stock. Turn heat down to medium-low, and cover to allow vegetables to infuse into the stock.

After about another hour, check your pig's feet. If the water is almost opaque white, and the bones can be easily pulled off the meat, the trotters are done. Carefully pour this wonderful liquid into your soup base pot, straining the bones, skin and meat from the pig's feet as you go (I placed a colander over my soup pot and slowly poured the pig's feet stock into the soup, catching the solid material in the colander.)

Cover the soup again and allow it to simmer on low to medium-low, careful not to let it come to a rolling boil. You just want it to simmer.

Optional step: Take your colander of trotter meat and bone to the sink and rinse with cold water long enough to make them manageable with your bare hands. Now this step is a little tactile, but I find it fun and it leaves me with a nice bowlful of tender and chewy meat that further enhances the richness of the soup. Carefully with your fingers, remove the bones and skin of the trotters, while gently pulling out the meat and softer gelatinous material between the bones. This is simply more gelatin, the same as has been infused into the stock, and it will continue to infuse as the soup cooks.

Discard the bones and skin (or you can feed the skin to a happy dog.) Drop the picked-off meat and gelatin into the soup. Don't worry about getting all of it, its all edible, and this is just an option if you want to really make it very rich without adding a lot of fat.

At this point your soup is basically done. Serve hot over potatoes, noodles, rice, or with thick bread. Add in cooked pieces of pork chop, chicken breast, or anything you want to make it more meaty. The broth, however, will be so rich and fulfilling, you may find you enjoy it just on its own!

Its even better reheated the next day. Just be aware that while in the fridge, the gelatin from the trotters will solidify, making the cold soup have a somewhat "jello" texture. It will melt in your microwave or pot when you reheat it, rich and fulfilling and delicious. Enjoy.


Number of Servings: 10

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user COOKANDRUN.