Dining

Cold Pig Trotters & Shark’s Meat – A Taste of Adventure

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Teochew delicacies such as cold pork trotters (猪脚冻) and shark meat are a dying trade in Singapore. I think such novelties appeal more to the older generations, as my parents have shown me. When we chanced upon a hawker stall selling these at Chinatown complex, they ordered the dishes as though they were buying your everyday chicken rice!

Eating trotters, chilled, no less, certainly bears that squeamish factor. But I know some of you are probably hunting down these traditional dishes and, truth be told, they just aren’t that easy to find anymore. So I thought I would showcase them here.

We start off with the cold pig trotters. They look like jelly! Yup yup, that’s right. Beneath that translucent brown jelly-like substance you can clearly see the round pinkish trotters.

Cold pig trotters
SGD4 onwards
You decide!

I venture to taste a piece of it just so I get to say that I’ve been there, done there. Bracing myself to chew on what I imagine would be very rubbery trotters, I’m surprised by how tender the meat actually is! The taste is palatable, too. No kidding! This meat dish can almost be taken like a dessert, kind of like salted jelly. But I’d be lying if I said I’m a fan.

Preparation of this dish is a painstaking process…

firstly the bones are removed from the trotters and other parts.
then the meat is boiled for half a day, during which a gelatinous base forms.
the resultant meat + jelly thing is frozen for a day.
cut into strips and serve.

The final product is a cold and soft jelly-like substance that slides down the throat easily, with meat that is super tender and devoid of any porky taste.

I’m most intrigued by the part where the brown gelatinous base forms. How, exactly? And from what? Would some good, wise people enlighten me please?

Shark meat

Shark meat
SGD4 onwards

Next, we tuck into white shark’s meat, another specialty at the stall. This dish is also served cold. The flesh is soft and fresh, with no unpleasant fishy stench.

The shark meat is unseasoned. For extra flavors you can dip into the two sauces (can be used for the pork trotters, too) — sour chili sauce and plum sweet sauce with crushed peanuts — that are served alongside. The latter, a sweet and sour concoction, is my favorite.

If you like shark meat, here’s another place that sells it in the form of fried fritters.

Useless trivia: did you know that rotten shark meat is a delicacy in iceland? I bet the pork trotter jelly doesn’t seem so bad now does it?

so, feeling adventurous yet? trying out these two dishes would be a good idea, if only for the experience. In a few years they may disappear from our market altogether.

Cold Pig Trotters & Shark’s Meat
Chinatown Complex
335 Smith Street #02-122
Singapore 050335

Bus services: 2, 12, 33, 54, 61, 63, 80, 124, 145, 166, 143, 147, 190, 197, 851, 961, 970, 961C
Nearest MRT: Chinatown

Opening hours: 11am – 8pm (Closed on Mondays & Tuesdays)

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About the Author

Veron Ang is the founder and chief editor of Sparklette. She lives in Singapore and has dined and traveled across the world. She also runs Sparklette Studio, a web design and WordPress development firm. If you'd like to connect with her, head on over to the contact page or follow her personal updates on Twitter: @VeronSG.

Winner of “Spot and Win the LG GD900 Crystal”

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22 responses

Leave your comment

weekee
June 22, 2009

gosh..these 2 dishes are delicacies! had not have them for such a long time! will definitely try out this store.
Reply
dotty
June 23, 2009

I think gelatine is from the collagen in the skin. If you have ever roasted chicken with the skin on, and then put the whole thing in the fridge, including the ‘juice’/gravy, you will find that it becomes gelatinous.

BTW, great post. I love pig trotter jelly. Must go look for this one day.
Reply
- Veron
  June 23, 2009
  
  Ooh! Thanks for explaining. That clears things up :)
  Reply
tony q
June 23, 2009

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin
Reply
- Veron
  June 23, 2009
  
  I guess that means vegetarians can’t eat marshmallows!
  Reply
  - tony q
    June 23, 2009
    
    Yep. Malays should stay away from gelatin as well!
    Reply
    - dotty
      June 24, 2009
      
      Really? What about if the source of the gelatine is halal? As in from halal chicken or beef or mutton? Or is it due to some other reason?
      Reply
      - tony
        June 24, 2009
        
        Hi dotty,
        
        As you said, it’s fine if the source is halal.
        
        But more often than not, it’s usually gelatin made from pork. So it’s non-kosher ;)
        Reply
ping
June 23, 2009

I think the term for it is aspic, so 猪脚冻 = pork aspic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspic
Reply
- Veron
  June 23, 2009
  
  Or pork jelly!
  Reply
Chaozhouzi
July 14, 2009

There is another stall at Jln Berseh FC. The stall is on the upper floor and directly opp the one selling tonic soups, Lucky something?.

As a aside, my mum cook it without the trotters but with the belly cut and lot of pig skins. If not enough pig skin is available, she will sneak in agar agar strips which is a no no for purist (my dad). (I think the stall at Jln Berseh does this as the pieces are still whole toward the end of our meal.)

As for it being unavailable in future, never fear for there is a variant (italian?) being sold at the Butcher house and Espiranto Santos. Ping is right, these two butchers label it as pork aspic.
Reply
Nicholas
August 11, 2009

Now this is not a usual dish or at least one I’ve heard of. Pardon me but mum’s Teochew so I thought I should have known better.

Anyways, I’m going to be in the Chinatown area on Friday so I guess I should check it out. Haven’t been to the food complex since they closed it for renovations. Used to go there for the massive bowl of fishhead beehoon.
Reply
- Veron
  August 11, 2009
  
  These two dishes are not that common to begin with even in our parents’ days. The pork trotters would take a lot of work to prepare. And I’m sure it’s not that easy to acquire wholesale shark’s meat! Hope you aren’t as squeamish as I am when you get to try it out :) For me, I’m just glad to have been there, done that.
  Reply
  - Nicholas
    August 11, 2009
    
    If it’s trotters and sharkfins… Shouldn’t be too sqeamish… I had pig trotters similar to this when I was in Hanoi. Think it’s served with some young papaya if I remember correctly. See picture here.
    
    At the same place (Quan An Ngon a Vietnamese styled Marche), I had something slightly more exotic. Not recommended for the faint-hearted. See pictures here, here and here.
    Reply
    - Veron
      August 12, 2009
      
      Okay those pictures made me gag! You can totally tell that I’m not as adventurous as you when it comes to novel food. Even if it’s escargots, I wouldn’t go near with a ten-foot pole! The trotters are as far as I can go I think. lol! I can never understand how people in Thailand can munch on fried insects and various creepy crawlies like a regular snack! *screams*
      Reply
      - Nicholas
        August 12, 2009
        
        LOL! I guess for me, I take the been there done that statement with perhaps slightly more fervour. To be honest, the little ones in the noodles soup (bun) wasn’t too bad. little crunchy. The big ones had a stench (visualise the smell from the standing monsson drain). I guess the sauce was to mask it. But alas, with all the fervour… I had but 2-3 pieces and just couldn’t take it anymore.
        
        Haven’t tried crickets or any other insects…. Not that I wouldn’t try. For me when I travel for business or leisure, I tend to ‘localise’ myself when it comes to food. To local for some of my colleague’s liking though.
        
        That said, your bangkok photos are nice. For a moment… I thought they were selling live dog meat… Thank goodness as pets…
        Reply
        
        Veron
        August 12, 2009
        
        Hahaha that’s so funny! Kudos to you for getting past that terrible stench and actually eating the… flesh? GAHHH!!! How soft was it? You made my cold pig trotters here seem like child’s play. To be frank, these actually taste good. I just can’t swallow the thought of eating that thick layer of gelatin that I know was all formed from part of the trotters. Like they say, it’s all in the mind.
        
        Oh I love “localising” myself when traveling too, just not when it comes to exotic food. Hahaha! I can’t do it!!! Hey if you like what you saw in my Bangkok posts, you should check out my travelogues to other cities. I chickened out of eating crocodile meat in Siem Reap, too, and had chicken instead.
        Reply
        
        Nicholas
        August 12, 2009
        
        Thanks! I will definitely check out the photos from your travels. I arm myself with my 40D when I travel since I got it last August. Unfortunately, I don’t like travelling for work cos’ I never have time to visit much. Was in Phnom Penh last year but couldn’t make it to Ang Kor Wat in Siem Reap cos’ I had to catch a flight. For leisure, I really prefer a partner which I don’t have so what to do?
        
        I have some photos on my mediablog too. Some from travels some from other stuff. The crappy photos were from my previous iPhone 3G. Horrible prime lens. The better ones from my old Exilim EX-S600, a borrowed Exilim S10 and my current EOS 40D.
        Reply
chaozhouzi
October 17, 2009

Hi Veron,
I found another stall selling the pork aspic and shark meat at a coffee shop called See Bay Ho at Blk 704, Bedok Reservoir Crescent. The stall sells teochew “muay”, cold crabs (but today was not available), braised duck/trotter, steamed fish etc.
Reply
- Veron
  October 17, 2009
  
  Thanks for letting us know! Stalls selling pork aspic and shark meat are rare and I know many people would be happy to hear of another option :) This Bedok stall offers a larger variety of food, too.
  Reply
Wendy
May 28, 2010

There is an Authentic Teochew restaurant in People’s Park Centre #03…Tai Seng Teochew Restaurant… serving Damn delicious Pork Jelly…:)
I only started out trying this dish 1 mth ago and since then i got hooked on it completely!!
It is simply delicious when u dipped that pc of “jelly” into their sour spicy chilli… Wow… u wont stop eating that when u start to try it.. trust me!
Reply
chaozhouzi
July 12, 2010

Hi,

An update on the stall at See Bay Ho at Blk 704, Bedok Reservoir Crescent. The stall no longer sell the pork aspic and shark meat due to hygiene issues. Cold crabs also temporarily suspended due to high cost of the crabs. These according to the stall’s serving staff.
Reply