Dongguan Pig Trotter Rice

Pig trotter rice tops white rice with trotters slow-braised until melting and savoury, then drowned in rich gravy; the meat falls apart, the rice drinks up the sauce, and it is one of the commonest quick meals in Dongguan's factory districts and back lanes.

Pig trotter rice has roots in eastern Guangdong's Chaoshan region, but as Dongguan became a manufacturing powerhouse after reform and opening and millions of migrant workers arrived, the cheap, bold-tasting and filling dish spread through the factory zones and street stalls, becoming the city's emblematic fast meal.

Trotters are chopped to order at the stall, laid over rice and soaked in braising gravy, served with pickled greens, vegetables and a soup of the day; eaten hot with the gravy mixed through, prized for melting meat and separate distinct grains.

The gelatin-tender braised trotter skin and meat, the thick savoury gravy and the big bowl of rice that drinks it all in are the hearty, warming marks of pig trotter rice.