Handle-Style Braised Pork Hock

Ingredients

• whole pig knuckle with foot and hoof1250 g
• fermented red bean curd10 g
• sweet bean paste150 g
• fine salt15 g
• red soy sauce35 g
• white soy sauce25 g
• cooking wine25 g
• sliced garlic50 g
• minced ginger10 g
• star anise3 pieces
• cassia bark5 g
• scallion200 g

Directions

1. 1

   Scrub the knuckle clean and lay it on the board with the knuckle end pointing outward, the foot and hoof toward you and the skin down.

2. 2

   Cut the skin open down the center from the knuckle end to the foot along the leg bone, trimming the meat away from the bone on three sides while leaving the bone joined at the base, so the bone is exposed. Then break the two leg bones across the middle with the back of the knife, or an axe if you prefer.

3. 3

   Boil the knuckle to about seventy percent done, lift it out, wipe it dry with a clean cloth and rub the skin with the red soy sauce while it is still hot.

4. 4

   Take a steamer and put the star anise and cassia bark in the base. Break the joint at the foot by hand without tearing the outer skin, then place the knuckle in the steamer skin side down, arranging it so the foot rests against the side of the pot and the whole thing sits in a ring.

5. 5

   Scatter over the fine salt, cover the meat with a scalded clean cloth, and spread sweet bean paste, fifty grams, scallion, seventy-five grams, fermented red bean curd, red soy sauce, white soy sauce, ginger and garlic across the cloth. Steam over a high flame for about three hours, until it gives way completely.

6. 6

   When it is done, lift it out, remove the cloth, turn it out onto a plate, pick out the star anise and serve with separate dishes of scallion segments and sweet bean paste, or spread the paste over the knuckle and bring the scallion alongside.