- Hi, I'm Juliette.
Today, I'm going to the market to get some pigs' trotters,
to make a dish that my mother makes for me.
This dish is really, really simple.
It's just pigs' trotters,
braised in sweet vinegar with lots and lots of ginger.
The most important part of the Asian butcher
is the pork section.
You have all the things, like the pork feet and the hock.
I thought it would be fun to Zoom with my cousin today,
Jessica, she's Chinese.
And we spent a lot of time together when we were young
with my grandmother in Hong Kong.
And I really miss her.
I got some pigs' trotters from the market.
I got them to chop them up a bit for me as well,
'cause I'm not very good with the Chinese chopper.
My mum's good at waving a Chinese chopper around,
but I need my fingers.
My cousin, Jessica, in Canada, she's about to give birth,
and I've been thinking about her
because she has an Australian husband.
They can't get back to Australia.
We can't get to Canada,
and I want to make this dish
because it's something that
people who've had babies in Chinese culture eat a lot.
So you know the dish I'm making today?
Have you had it before?
- (Jessica) Oh gosh, it's been a long time.
More and more dim sum places in Canada.
They have it, but it's not as common anymore.
This particular dish, yeah–
- (Juliette) Do you think that, like,
people are starting to, like younger generation Chinese,
are starting to not want to eat things
like the feet and the trotters and stuff like that?
Is that why they're not having it, you think?
- (Jessica) I think so.
I think the new generation here is into
the more, you know, fashionable food.
- (Juliette) Instagram food!
This isn't Instagram food?
- (Jessica) No, no.
- (Juliette) So you've probably done this, you know,
with soup bones and you cook them for a little bit
to make them clean.
So I've done that, I've pre-done that,
like a professional chef.
Yeah, pretending I am.
There's two types of vinegar that I bought.
There's a sweetened vinegar,
and then there's a Chinkiang vinegar,
which a lot of people in Australia know
because you use it for dumplings.
It's the alternative to soy sauce.
And lots and lots of ginger.
I'm going to put even more ginger in.
I love ginger.
One of the reasons I don't cook this dish
is that my family object to the smell,
I'm the only person that wants to eat it,
so I have to make small quantities.
And it is a very strong, kind of vinegary smell
that permeates the house for the whole day.
We just put these in here,
and then just braise them together for quite a long time.
And then all of the bits of the trotter,
it's kind of like jelly, kind of comes out,
and it all gets really gelatinous and delicious.
One of my big connections to my mother is through food.
Cantonese parents don't tend to say, "I love you,"
and be very, you know, touchy-feely,
but the way they show emotion is through food.
Chinese parents, ah, I miss my parents so much!
Not just for the food.
- (Jessica) Yes.
But I mean, the food is great. (laughs)
- (Juliette) We're one of those families
where we're all over the world.
I guess having a global family is, at the moment,
is not being able to
–just seeing each other on screens, like this.
One of the reasons I am really looking forward
to seeing my mum is that we can have food like this.
We can go, and we'll order chicken feet, intestines,
deep-fried intestines, believe it or not,
are really delicious.
- (Aya) Hi!
- (Juliette) Hello!
So we want you to come to Australia on an aeroplane sometime.
- (Jessica) Hopefully some time soon!
(Aya laughs)
- (Juliette) Aya, I'm going to show you something.
I cooked this special dish.
- (Jessica) Wow, look! Look what she's making!
- (Juliette) If Po Po was here,
she would make your mummy eat it after she has the baby.
- (Jessica) That looks amazing.
You better send some to me!
- (Juliette) I was hoping to come over, and like,
I haven't met Aya yet, like in person, and she's so cute.
- (Aya) And we love you!
- (Jessica) Aw, that's nice.
- (Juliette) Aw, aren't you sweet!
- (Jessica) And my dog might have to come up as well.
- (Juliette) Oh, cute!
- (Jessica) Well, it was great seeing you.
- (Juliette) Yeah, you too.
And good luck with the new baby!
I can't wait to come and meet her.
- (Jessica) Enjoy!