Vietnamese Pig Feet Soup with Potatoes and Carrots (Canh Giò Heo Khoai Tây Cà Rốt)
In Vietnam, nothing goes to waste. We can make delicious food out of anything.
- 2 lbs pork hock chunks
- 1 tablespoon coarse sea salt (for cleaning)
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar (for cleaning)
- 1 large shallot (peel; roughly slice half for cleaning; finely dice remaining)
- 1-inch piece ginger (cut into coins and smash; for cleaning)
- 4 cloves garlic (peel and dice)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1½ quarts water
- 12 oz carrot (peel and cut into chunks)
- 1 lb potatoes (peel and cut into chunks)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder or mushroom seasoning powder
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- 4 green onions (separate whites and greens)
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper (sprinkle)
- Scrub pork hocks with sea salt then toss in vinegar. Rinse well. Bring a medium-size pot to boil. Add ginger, shallots (half) and pork hocks. Boil until impurities float to the top (about 8 minutes). Remove pork hocks and rinse with cold water. Discard boiling liquid and solids.
- In a medium pot, heat oil. Add garlic, whites of green onions and remaining shallots. Pan fry until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add blanched pork hocks. Toss in the aromatics for about 30 seconds. Add water. Simmer on low for about 45 minutes until pigs feet are soft and gelatinous
- Add carrots and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add potatoes and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Avoid overcooking as potatoes will turn to mush.
- Season stock to taste with fish sauce, salt, bouillon powder, and sugar. When ready to serve, garnish with scallions and a sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper.
And this includes pigs feet. Canh Giò Heo is a Vietnamese collagen-rich, pork-based soup. Pork hocks (feet) and sometimes even toes are gently simmered until soft and gelatinous.
Vegetables such as potatoes and carrots are then added and gently cooked until chopstick tender. You can have the soup on its own since it’s filled with hearty tubers but you can also have it as a side dish to steamed rice in a traditional Vietnamese family meal. Canh Giò Heo is a comforting soup and now that it’s cold outside, it’s the perfect way to warm up.
Where to Find Pigs Feet/Pork Hocks
I’m pretty certain that you will need to get your pigs feet at an Asian or Mexican grocery store. You will unlikely find it at Whole Foods.
I can find pigs feet in my Asian store in both the refrigerated and frozen section. You can get pigs feet whole but why do that to yourself. Get them already cut into chunks.
I prefer ones without toes, because removing them at home can cost you a nice cutting board and knife. In Asian cultures, we love to clean everything, including animal proteins. Sometimes, we can get away with animals protein straight from store to stove such as steak cuts.
But pigs feet are one of those proteins that have to be cleaned. No exceptions.
Just like internal organs, it can taste fantastic if properly cleaned, but you’ll know immediately when it’s not. To clean, scrub it down with a combination of salt and vinegar. Sometimes white wine is used in place of vinegar.
Use coarse salt to scrub the feet then rinse well with water. You can stop right here if you’re pressed for time.
But I would highly recommend continuing further to blanch the bones in aromatics. To do that, bring a large pot to a boil and toss in ginger, shallots, and/or green onions.
Add the scrubbed pigs feet and boil for 5 minutes until impurities (foam) float to the top. Remove the pig’s feet from the boiling liquid. Rinse well with cold water, drain dry, and set aside.
Now we can finally use it to start cooking. Phew. You did it!
By the way, the boiling liquid that was used to clean pigs’ feet? Make sure you don’t dump that down the drain. Once cooled, it will solidify and will wreak havoc on your plumbing over time.
Set aside to cool completely then discard properly in the trash. Pigs feet will take about 1 hour to cook all the way through, if already cut into chunks. You want it really soft and gelatinous before you add any vegetables.
Once you are able to pierce it easily with a chopstick, you can proceed with the rest of the soup.
