cookwewill
Senior Cook
Hello fellow foodies
I would like to show you something very European today, a dish that is not really known or popular in the States but it's a huge thing in Germany, Slovakia, Czech republic etc...
It's an oven baked PORK KNUCKLE... quite an underrated cut of pork in my opinion. Based on the feedback I have, it's not even common to find this cut in regular grocery stores, but the good butchers should be able to get some for you.
German style pork knuckle is cooked with beer, dark one is preferred, and even though it takes a good while to prepare, the recipe itself is very simple.
Baked pork knuckle is something like the ultimate dish to order in a beer pub and pretty much any solid beer restaurant in Germany simple MUST carry these on their menu.
What makes this dish typical is the crispy skin and fall apart tender meat on the inside.
Enough intro, this is how the finished "thing" looks like
When cooking a pork knuckle, you have two choices... slow cooking on low, or pre-cooking it in seasoned water and then baking. The later option takes a bit less time and that's what I'm usually going with.
I've shot a video of the process for my cooking blog some time ago, so here it is if you wanna have a look. BTW: it's the most popular video on my channel so far, so looks like people are enjoying it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3vCXHqbmqk
And now a text version of the recipe.
Ingredients first:
1 large rear leg pork knuckle
3 large onions
6-8 garlic cloves
4-5 bay leaves
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
5 allspice corns
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt
ground black pepper
As you can see, it's all pretty basic stuff. I'm pretty sure you have all these at home already.
And now some instructions:
- Start by boiling the pork knuckle in a large pot. Bring the water to a boil first, then add the knuckle.
- Season the water with a large onion, 2 tablespoons of salt, 1 tablespoon of caraway seeds, 1 tablespoon of black peppercorns, 5 allspice corns and 4-5 bay leaves.
- Simmer on low heat for 60-90 minutes, based on how large the pork knuckle is.
- Once the knuckle becomes tender, transfer it to a deep baking dish. Use a sharp knife to make cuts into the skin, do not cut into the meat itself.
- Prepare a marinade by mixing 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of black pepper and 1-2 crushed garlic cloves. Brush the pork knuckle with the marinade from all sides, including the cuts.
- Roughly cut 2 onions and 3 garlic cloves and add them to the dish. Pour in a pint of dark beer and 2-3 ladles of the broth we made while boiling the knuckle.
- Add 3 stalks of rosemary to get some aroma in.
- Start baking the pork knuckle at 150C / 300F. This large knuckle will take about 2 hours to bake fully. Keep basting the meat with the juices at least every 30 minutes.
- Flip the pork knuckle after one hour to make sure it bakes evenly from all sides.
- For the final 30 minutes, turn the knuckle skin side up again and increase the oven temperature to 250C / 475F to make the skin nice and crisp.
- Once the skin becomes deep golden brown and lightly charred, we are done.
- Serve with bread, horseradish, pickles, mustard and spicy peppers.
That's it
If you want to see more pcitures and get some more tips, check this pork knuckle recipe on my blog.
Have you ever had this or maybe even cooked it? Lemme know
I would like to show you something very European today, a dish that is not really known or popular in the States but it's a huge thing in Germany, Slovakia, Czech republic etc...
It's an oven baked PORK KNUCKLE... quite an underrated cut of pork in my opinion. Based on the feedback I have, it's not even common to find this cut in regular grocery stores, but the good butchers should be able to get some for you.
German style pork knuckle is cooked with beer, dark one is preferred, and even though it takes a good while to prepare, the recipe itself is very simple.
Baked pork knuckle is something like the ultimate dish to order in a beer pub and pretty much any solid beer restaurant in Germany simple MUST carry these on their menu.
What makes this dish typical is the crispy skin and fall apart tender meat on the inside.
Enough intro, this is how the finished "thing" looks like
When cooking a pork knuckle, you have two choices... slow cooking on low, or pre-cooking it in seasoned water and then baking. The later option takes a bit less time and that's what I'm usually going with.
I've shot a video of the process for my cooking blog some time ago, so here it is if you wanna have a look. BTW: it's the most popular video on my channel so far, so looks like people are enjoying it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3vCXHqbmqk
And now a text version of the recipe.
Ingredients first:
1 large rear leg pork knuckle
3 large onions
6-8 garlic cloves
4-5 bay leaves
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
5 allspice corns
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt
ground black pepper
As you can see, it's all pretty basic stuff. I'm pretty sure you have all these at home already.
And now some instructions:
- Start by boiling the pork knuckle in a large pot. Bring the water to a boil first, then add the knuckle.
- Season the water with a large onion, 2 tablespoons of salt, 1 tablespoon of caraway seeds, 1 tablespoon of black peppercorns, 5 allspice corns and 4-5 bay leaves.
- Simmer on low heat for 60-90 minutes, based on how large the pork knuckle is.
- Once the knuckle becomes tender, transfer it to a deep baking dish. Use a sharp knife to make cuts into the skin, do not cut into the meat itself.
- Prepare a marinade by mixing 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of black pepper and 1-2 crushed garlic cloves. Brush the pork knuckle with the marinade from all sides, including the cuts.
- Roughly cut 2 onions and 3 garlic cloves and add them to the dish. Pour in a pint of dark beer and 2-3 ladles of the broth we made while boiling the knuckle.
- Add 3 stalks of rosemary to get some aroma in.
- Start baking the pork knuckle at 150C / 300F. This large knuckle will take about 2 hours to bake fully. Keep basting the meat with the juices at least every 30 minutes.
- Flip the pork knuckle after one hour to make sure it bakes evenly from all sides.
- For the final 30 minutes, turn the knuckle skin side up again and increase the oven temperature to 250C / 475F to make the skin nice and crisp.
- Once the skin becomes deep golden brown and lightly charred, we are done.
- Serve with bread, horseradish, pickles, mustard and spicy peppers.
That's it
If you want to see more pcitures and get some more tips, check this pork knuckle recipe on my blog.
Have you ever had this or maybe even cooked it? Lemme know