Distinguish between front and rear pig feet when buying pork
Pig’s feet are the ingredients of many delicious dishes such as boiled, braised, stewed, soup… with countless attractive variations. However, if you are not a culinary connoisseur, you will not know how to distinguish between front and rear pork legs and which type to buy.
Is the front or back pork leg better?
These two legs have different characteristics, suitable for different dishes.
Pigs are quite lazy animals, most of the time they just eat and lie down, only occasionally getting up to walk a few steps. When moving, they mainly use the force of their front claws, so this part is larger than their back claws. The front leg meat is also relatively firm, has more tendons, and is sweeter.
Therefore, if you intend to cook stewed pork leg, imitation civet, or soup, you should choose the pork leg first, it will be easier to cook and the dish will be more delicious.
The pig’s hind legs mostly have the role of maintaining balance and supporting movement, so the meat here is quite loose and has a lot of fat. The meat is also not as fragrant and sweet as the previous pig’s leg. With the hind leg, you should use it to cook stir-fried dishes, braise, make minced meat or cook porridge…
How to distinguish between front and back legs
Below are the main differences to help you easily distinguish the front and back legs of a pig when going to the market.
The front leg has more tendons
The tendon is one of the most delicious parts of the pork leg that many people like to eat. The front hoof usually has very thick tendons. When cooked, it will be fragrant and crispy.
When choosing to buy pork leg, you can look at the cross section. If you can see the tendon clearly, it is the front leg. In contrast, the pig’s hind legs are less active, so the muscles, tendons, and ligaments are poorly developed, and the muscles and tendons are not clearly visible.
The front leg of the pig is leaner
Pigs move and move mainly with their front legs, so the front legs usually have firm, lean, rich, and low-fat meat. On the contrary, hind legs often have more fat and looser meat.
It’s not difficult to distinguish between the front and back legs if you look hard enough. (Photo: Istock)
To distinguish the front leg from the back leg when choosing to buy, you should not look at the size but observe its cross-sectional surface. If the leg meat is lean, it is the front leg, and if the meat looks fat but loose and has a lot of fat, it is the hind leg.
How to buy delicious pork feet
You should keep in mind a few tips below when going to the market to choose the most suitable pork leg:
- Check whether the pig’s feet are new or old by touching them: If they are fresh or new, when you touch them, you will feel a tight, dry feeling; Old pork feet feel sticky and sticky, so don’t buy them.
- You should choose pork feet that have a slightly ivory color. White pig feet may have been treated with cleaning chemicals, which are not good for health
- You should choose to buy pig’s feet that are small and medium in size. Don’t be tempted to choose pig’s feet that are too big because it may belong to a pig that has been raised with growth enhancers or is the hind leg, which is less delicious.
Pig feet are a favorite dish of many people, however you should not eat too much and too often because it will cause nutritional imbalance, excess fat, leading to overweight and other health problems.
