At the table
Taste the broth first, then lift small pieces of skin and meat from the bones and dip to taste. To keep the dip separate, ask 蘸料单独放: “Please serve the dipping sauce separately.”
Contains pork; the dip includes soy sauce and chicken seasoning. Soy sauce may contain wheat, and seasoning blends vary. Ask about allergens. Watch for small bones and hot broth; the dip can be chili-hot.
This entry describes the whole-trotter, plain-water Angu preparation, with seasoning in a separate dip. Greens are optional; bean-based soups and other dip mixtures are different preparations.
The soft, unspiced pork can suit children who like gelatinous textures, if an adult removes bones, cools a small portion and leaves off the chili dip.
Recipes vary. Ask the restaurant about ingredients and serving before you order.
GET TO KNOW THE DISH
What goes into it?
Explore some key ingredients below. Preparations may use additional seasonings and ingredients.
Chinese cabbage or leafy pea vine tips may accompany the soup. These optional greens are separate from the plain-water simmer described here.
Typical ingredients
In some versions
Recipes vary by restaurant.
How does it taste?
The broth is rich and savory, while the separate dipping sauce brings salt, Sichuan pepper and chili heat.
- Chili heat
- Texture
- The whole trotter is cooked until the skin and meat are very tender; the broth is thick and rich.
- How it’s made
- A whole fresh trotter is singed over a flame, soaked, cleaned and trimmed, then covered with water and simmered uncut without seasoning for about three hours. The cook skims the foam and lets it rest in the hot broth. A separate dip combines salt, ground Sichuan pepper, MSG, soy sauce, chicken seasoning, scallion and red chili oil made with local rapeseed oil.
Chinese cabbage or leafy pea vine tips may accompany the soup. These optional greens are separate from the plain-water simmer described here.
A CONNECTION TO PLACE
Origin & regional roots
Associated with Sichuan.
About this regional connection
Sichuan: NamedlocalAngucraft inLeshan; noexclusiveinventiondateorlocationclaim.
Ask if they have it first
请问你们有安谷蹄花吗？
Do you have this item?
A LITTLE SOMETHING TO READ
Story & history
Plain broth, lively dip
This account describes a tradition or story, rather than an established historical fact.
Here 蹄花 means pork trotter, not a flower. In Angu, south of Leshan, a whole trotter softens slowly in a simple pot of water. The separate chili-oil dip supplies the salt and spice, letting diners alternate between the gentle broth and richly seasoned bites of skin and meat. This contrast is central to the local way of eating it.