Manitas de Cerdo a la Andaluza

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy pot with lid, about 6 litres
• •Wide heavy casserole, 28 to 30cm
• •Skimmer or large slotted spoon
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Kitchen tongs

Instructions

1. 1

   Blanch the trotters

   Check the prepared trotters for stray bristles or bone dust, wiping away any dust with damp kitchen paper. Put them in a 6-litre pot with 3 litres of cold water and bring to a full boil. Boil for 5 minutes, then drain. Rinse the blanched pieces under cool water and wash the pot. This first water carries away loose blood and scum, giving you a cleaner cooking liquor and a clearer sauce.

   Have the butcher cut through the bones. A home knife will slip before it cuts a trotter cleanly, and there's no prize for wrestling one across the chopping board.
2. 2

   Simmer until tender

   Return the trotters to the clean pot. Add 2.5 litres of cold water, the halved onion, carrot, leek, 1 bay leaf, peppercorns, cloves, and 10g salt. The liquid should cover the meat by about 2cm; add no more than 500ml extra water if your pot requires it. Bring up slowly, skim the grey foam during the first 20 minutes, then lower the heat until only an occasional bubble breaks the surface. Cover slightly ajar and cook for 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours. Start checking at 2 hours 30 minutes. They are ready when a small bone wiggles easily and a skewer passes through the thick skin without springing back.

   Do not mistake softness at the surface for tenderness at the joint. If the skin yields but the joint still holds tight, give it another 15 minutes and test again.
3. 3

   Start the sofrito

   While the trotters finish cooking, warm the olive oil in a wide, heavy casserole over medium-low heat. Add the chorizo and cook for 4 minutes, just until its red fat colours the oil. Add the jamón and cook for 1 minute. Lift both out with a slotted spoon and reserve. Add the diced onion and green pepper to the flavoured oil. Cook gently for 25 minutes, stirring often, until the vegetables are dark gold, soft, and almost jammy. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.

4. 4

   Concentrate the tomato

   Add the grated or crushed tomato to the sofrito. Cook over medium-low heat for 15 to 18 minutes, stirring more often near the end, until it turns brick-red, loses its raw smell, and leaves a thin line of oil around the pan. Take the casserole off the heat. Stir in the pimentón and the whole guindilla, if using, for 20 seconds. Pimentón scorches quickly, and burnt pimentón makes the whole pot bitter.

5. 5

   Add the fino

   Return the casserole to medium heat and pour in the fino, or the measured white wine and vinegar substitute. Scrape up the darkened sofrito from the bottom and boil for 3 minutes, until the sharp smell of alcohol has gone and the liquid has reduced by roughly half. Return the chorizo and jamón to the casserole.

6. 6

   Braise in the sauce

   Lift the tender trotters from their pot with a slotted spoon. Strain and reserve 750ml of their cooking liquor, discarding the vegetables and spices. Arrange the trotter pieces in the sofrito and add 650ml of the reserved liquor with the remaining bay leaf. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 40 to 45 minutes, turning the pieces carefully every 10 minutes. Add the remaining 100ml liquor only if the pan threatens to dry before the sauce is ready. The finished sauce should coat a spoon lightly while warm, with small pools of red-gold oil at the edges.

   Do not reduce the sauce until it looks thick in the pan. The gelatine tightens as it rests and tightens again in the cold, so stop while it still moves freely around the trotters.
7. 7

   Rest and serve

   Remove the bay leaf and guindilla. Rest the casserole off the heat for 20 minutes, then taste the sauce before adding any more salt; the jamón and chorizo may have given it all it needs. Add up to 3g salt only if necessary. Serve one whole trotter per person in deep plates, with plenty of sauce and sturdy bread. There are small bones, so this is food for a fork, patient fingers, and no ceremony.

Chef Tips

• •Buy pale, clean-smelling trotters from a butcher with good turnover. Ask for them singed, scraped, split lengthwise, and cut once across the joint. Frozen cleaned trotters are a sound substitute; thaw them overnight in the refrigerator and expect a little more scum during blanching.
• •Use a firm, paprika-cured cooking chorizo, not raw fresh chorizo. Raw chorizo dissolves into a heavily spiced mince and changes both the texture and the balance of the sauce.
• •Fresh tomatoes are welcome when they are ripe. During the rest of the year, use good canned whole peeled tomatoes and crush them yourself. They taste slightly rounder after cooking, and they are better than a hard, pale tomato pretending it has seen the sun.
• •Salt at the end with care. Jamón, chorizo, and the reduced cooking liquor all bring salt, and once this sauce has gone too far there is nowhere sensible to hide it. Pésalo, no lo adivines.
• •Serve with plain fried potatoes, boiled potatoes, or bread strong enough to carry the sauce. A glass of dry fino, manzanilla, or a dry Montilla-Moriles cuts through the richness without fighting the pimentón.
• •The sauce will set firmly in the refrigerator. That is the natural gelatine, not a fault. Reheat it covered over low heat with 30 to 60ml water, turning the pieces carefully once the sauce loosens.

Advance Preparation

• •The butcher can clean and cut the trotters a day or two before cooking. Keep them covered in the coldest part of the refrigerator and use them by the date given.
• •Make the entire dish 1 or 2 days ahead. Cool it in a shallow covered container within 2 hours, refrigerate for up to 3 days, and keep the trotter pieces beneath the sauce so their surfaces do not dry.
• •Reheat gently until the sauce is bubbling throughout and the centre of the meat reaches 74°C. Add water 30ml at a time if the chilled gelatine makes the sauce too tight.
• •The finished dish can be frozen in its sauce for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator; the skin will be a little softer, but the flavour holds.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 500g)