Crispy Braised Pork Shanks Recipes

GERMAN PORK KNUCKLE (SCHWEINSHAXE) - SLOW ROASTED WITH CRISPY CRACKLING!

Steps:

• Prick skin: Poke lots of small holes all over the pork knuckle's skin, using a small sharp knife or even a pin (eg. safety pin, sewing pin). Take care not to pierce through the fat into the flesh (Note 7).
• Vinegar: Brush (or rub) 1 tbsp of the vinegar on the pork flesh only, including inside cracks / crevices and meat under the skin where it meets the flesh (but do not peel skin back). Avoid getting vinegar on the skin.
• Stud with garlic: Make shallow incisions in the pork flesh (only) with a small knife then stuff with the garlic slivers.
• Seasoning rub: Pound the rub ingredients in a mortar and pestle until it's a coarse powder (or use a Nutribullet, spice grinder or similar).
• Rub seasoning on pork: Rub pork skin with olive oil. Then rub the seasoning mix all over the pork - on the flesh, skin, and getting into all the cracks and crevices.
• Skewer skin (secret for crispy skin! Note 8): Pull the skin down to stretch it tight so there's no creases. Then thread through 2 metal skewers in a "X" formation near the base of the knuckle. Pierce through skin 2cm / 0.8" from the base of the pork knuckle to hold the stretched skin in place.
• "Marinate" overnight: Place pork standing on a plate, then leave uncovered in the fridge overnight (Note 9).
• Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan).
• Beer gravy: Put all beer gravy ingredients in a roasting pan (deep enough to hold all liquids and vegetables).
• Rack on pan: Place a rack over the pan. Place pork knuckle on rack, sitting upright. (Note 10)
• Slow roast: Roast for 2 hours 10 minutes, rotating tray half way. (If the liquid in the pan is getting too low and in danger of drying out, top with 1/2 cup of water at a time.) Roast until the internal temperature in the thickest part of meat reaches 85°C / 185°F.
• Remove knuckle from oven, transfer knuckle to a tray.
• Increase oven: Increase oven to 260°C / 500°F (240°C fan) (Note 11)
• Brush skin with vinegar: Brush skin with 1/2 the remaining 1 tbsp of vinegar. Place in oven for 30 minutes, rotating tray halfway and brushing with remaining vinegar.
• Skin should be crispy, dip golden and mostly bubbly.
• Rest: Rest 15 minutes before serving with German Beer Gravy!
• Strain liquid: Strain roasting pan juices into a saucepan. Ideally you should have around 1.5 - 2 cups.
• Thicken: Bring liquid to a simmer. Mix cornflour and water, then pour into liquid while stirring. Add sugar and salt to taste.
• Simmer: Simmer for 2 minutes or until it becomes a thin syrup consistency (German beer gravy should not be as thick as normal gravy, but quite runny). If it's too thick, add a touch of water. Too thin, simmer to reduce - it will thicken. Serve with pork knuckle!

BRAISED PORK SHANK

Steps:

• For the brine: Bring the water to a simmer in a large non-reactive pot. Turn off the heat and add salt, sugar, coriander, peppercorns, rosemary, bay leaf and garlic and bring to a simmer. Whisk until the salt and sugar is dissolved, and then let it cool in the fridge or an ice bath until the brine hits a temperature of 35 degrees F.
• Add the shanks to the cooled brine and weigh down with a plate to ensure that the shanks are completely submerged. Refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours.
• After brining, remove the shanks from the brining liquid to a baking sheet lined with a clean kitchen towel to dry off a bit. Discard the brining liquid.
• For the braise: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Heat a large Dutch oven or roasting pan over medium-high heat. Pour in enough oil so that it covers the bottom of the Dutch oven or roasting pan completely. Put some flour in a shallow dish. Add a heavy pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper to the flour and whisk to combine. Dredge the shanks in the flour, shaking off the excess, and add them to the pan. In order to get a nice even golden-brown sear, you don't want to overcrowd the pan. (Do this step in two batches if necessary.) Brown the shanks on all sides, a few minutes per side, then remove to a plate while you sear the rest.
• Add the celery, onions, carrots, garlic, rosemary and thyme with a large pinch of salt. Sweat the vegetables until tender, about 5 minutes. Deglaze with the white wine and reduce by three-quarters. Add the apple cider and reduce by half. Add half the chicken stock and bring the braising liquid up to a simmer. Taste it for seasoning, adding additional salt and pepper if necessary. Place the shanks back into the pan; the liquid should go about halfway up the shanks. If it does not, add the rest of the liquid until it reaches the desired half. Put the pan in the oven and cook until the meat is tender, about 200 degrees F when checked with a meat thermometer, 4 to 5 hours.
• Remove the shanks from the oven and carefully transfer the shanks to another large pan. Then strain the braising liquid over the shanks. Cool them in the liquid overnight in the refrigerator.
• The next day, reheat the shanks in their liquid. Then remove them to a large serving platter. Spoon some of the braising liquid over the meat.

BRAISED PORK SHANKS WITH MUSHROOM DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• In a shallow 9 by 9-inch baking dish, add the flour, salt, pepper, and paprika. Mix well. Dredge each pork shank into the flour until evenly coated. Shake off excess flour.
• In a large heavy casserole dish or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the grapeseed oil. Sear the shanks on all sides until evenly browned, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the seared shanks to a platter. Add onions, celery, carrots, garlic, rosemary and thyme to the Dutch oven. Cook stirring frequently until vegetables soften, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the sherry and allow the wine to reduce by half. Stir in the chicken broth and beef stock. Bring to a boil and add the shanks back to pan. Cover and put into the oven. Braise until the meat is fork tender and pulling away from the bones, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Turn oven off. Remove the shanks from the pot and arrange on a quarter sheet tray, cover with foil and keep warm in the oven. Skim off any excess fat and strain liquid into a large mixing bowl, discarding the solids. Put the strained liquid back into the braising pot and bring to a simmer over low heat.
• Sift the flour, salt, garlic powder and pepper into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Combine the butter into flour with your hands until well incorporated. Add the chives and the soup. Mix together well with your hands to form a soft dumpling dough. Drop the dumpling dough by the tablespoonfuls into the strained liquid with an additional 1 cup of chicken stock. Cook the dumplings for 8 to 10 minutes. Arrange the pork shanks on a platter and ladle the sauce and dumplings over top.

CRISP BRAISED PORK SHOULDER

Steps:

• Put oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 350°F.
• Pat pork dry and sprinkle all over with salt. Heat olive oil in pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown pork on all sides, about 10 minutes total. Transfer to a plate. Add carrots, celery, and onion to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 10 minutes. Return pork to pot, along with bay leaves, spices, and water, and bring to a simmer. Cover pot with lid, then transfer to oven and braise, turning pork over once, until center is tender but not falling apart when pierced with a paring knife, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
• Transfer pork to a cutting board and keep warm, loosely covered with foil. Pour braising liquid through a sieve into a bowl, discarding solids. Skim off fat and keep liquid warm, covered.
• Cut meat across the grain into 6 slices (each slice may break into 2 or 3 smaller pieces, depending on part of shoulder you have; discard string if necessary). Heat vegetable oil in a 12-inch heavy nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sear pork slices in 2 batches, turning over once, about 3 minutes per batch. Transfer to plates as browned and spoon some braising liquid over pork. Serve with remaining braising liquid.