To make family meals more delicious and appealing, let’s join TasteVN to see 2 simple and quick ways to make pickled pork knuckles that will surely enhance your meal and make it more diverse. Let’s get cooking and immediately prepare this pickled dish!
1. Pickled Pork Knuckles
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Preparation
15 minutes
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Cooking
35 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Pickled Pork Knuckles Serves 4
Pork knuckles 1 kg (1 piece) Chili 4 pieces Ginger 1 piece Lemon 1 piece Garlic 5 cloves (peeled) Shallots 3 bulbs (sliced) Peppercorns 1/2 tablespoon Fish sauce 250 ml Common spices a little (salt/sugar/seasoning powder)
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How to Prepare Pickled Pork Knuckle
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Prepare Fish Sauce
Combine 250ml of filtered water, 100gr of sugar, and 250ml of fish sauce in a pot, stirring with a spoon over medium heat for about 3 minutes until the fish sauce boils and the sugar dissolves completely, then turn off the heat and let it cool.
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Boil Pork Knuckle
To eliminate any unpleasant odor, after cutting the meat from the pork knuckle, use salt and 1 sliced lemon to rub all around the meat, then rinse it with clean water and let it drain.
Once the pork knuckle is drained, roll it up, use a string to tie it tightly around the meat, and secure it with a knot.
Next, add about 500ml of water along with 1 sliced red onion and sliced ginger into a pot, place it on the stove, and boil on high heat. When the water boils, briefly blanch the pork knuckle for about 4 minutes over medium heat until the meat firms up, then turn off the heat.
Discard the blanching water, then add 400ml of water along with the pork knuckle, the remaining red onion, and 1 teaspoon of seasoning, and boil over medium heat for about 25 – 30 minutes until the pork knuckle is tender enough to easily pierce through, then remove the pork knuckle.
Immediately soak it in a bowl of cool water to quickly cool down the pork knuckle while also helping the skin to become crispier and tastier.
Soak the pork leg in fish sauce
Prepare a clean glass jar washed with boiling water and let it dry completely. Use a knife to cut off the tie and arrange the meat in the jar.
Then pour in the cooled fish sauce, add 1 chopped chili, along with 5 peeled garlic cloves and 1/2 tablespoon of whole peppercorns alternately around the jar and cover tightly.
Soak and store in the refrigerator for 2 – 3 days for the meat to absorb the seasoning. When eating, just take the soaked pork leg out, slice it thinly, and arrange it on a plate to enjoy right away!
Cooking method for Sweet and Sour Pickled Pork Hock
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Prepare and Boil the Pork Hock
To make it easier, you should ask the seller to chop the pork hock into bite-sized pieces about 2 finger lengths long. At home, you just need to eliminate the smell of the pork hock by mixing and soaking it with 2 tablespoons of salt and the juice and rind of 1 sliced lemon for about 10 – 15 minutes, then rinse it with water.
Next, place a pot on the stove with 250ml of water, the cleaned pork hock, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate, and sliced 1/2 piece of ginger in it.
Cover the pot and boil on low heat for about 15 – 20 minutes until the pork hock is tender enough to pierce with chopsticks, then turn off the heat, remove the pork hock, and immediately soak it in a bowl of ice water to cool down and keep it crispy and delicious.
Tip: To keep the pork hock white and not discolored, while boiling, you should frequently skim off the foam that rises to the surface.
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Making pickled fish sauce
First, prepare the ingredients by: washing the lemongrass, slicing it, using a spoon to scrape the skin off half a ginger root and then slicing it, and taking 3 chili peppers, slicing them after removing the stems.
Next, add 3 tablespoons of fish sauce, 1.5 tablespoons of rice vinegar, 2 teaspoons of monosodium glutamate, 4 tablespoons of cooled boiled water, 1 tablespoon of chili sauce, and 4 teaspoons of sugar into a container.
Stir well until the seasonings dissolve and blend together, then add all the sliced lemongrass, chili, and ginger, mixing well.
Tip: To make the dish tastier, you should adjust the seasonings according to your family’s taste!
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Soaking the pork leg
After soaking the pork leg in ice water for about 5 minutes, take it out to drain and place it into the pickled fish sauce container, mixing well, cover it, and soak in the refrigerator for about 5 – 6 hours for the pork leg to absorb the seasonings, and then you can take it out and enjoy!
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Final Product
The sweet and sour marinated pig’s trotters will have an enticing aroma of lemongrass and ginger once completed. When eaten, you will experience the crispy and delicious trotters on the outside, sweet and fatty, infused with the rich flavor of fish sauce on the inside.
The spicy taste and fragrant aroma of ginger and lemongrass in each bite of the trotters also make the dish more appealing and attractive. This dish is perfect for enjoying as a snack with friends, so give it a try!
How to choose fresh and delicious pig trotters
- To make the pickled pig trotters tastier, you should buy the hind trotters of the pig, as this part is less active than the front trotters, resulting in more meat.
- When buying pig trotters, you should choose those with rosy and fresh meat and skin, good elasticity, and when you touch the surface, it should feel moist and soft, dry, without any unpleasant or pungent smell.
- Additionally, when purchasing, you should select trotters with intact hooves that are not loose. This is because trotters with loose hooves are likely from sick pigs.
- You should also avoid buying trotters that show signs of water retention and have yellow fluid after each cut, as this is typically a sign of pigs being fed with lean-meat enhancers.
How to remove the fishy smell of pig trotters
- Method 1: Use white alcohol and salt to rub evenly around the pig trotters about 2 times, then rinse thoroughly with water.
- Method 2: Use a blowtorch to roast around the pig trotters before cooking, which not only enhances the flavor of the dish but also thoroughly removes any remaining hair.
- Method 3: Blanch the pig trotters in boiling water for 2 minutes, then take them out and rinse them with clean water.
Tips for preserving pickled pig trotters
- The longer you soak, the more the meat will absorb the spices, becoming more flavorful, but you should not soak for more than 5 to 6 days as the meat will become too salty and spoil easily.
- If making pickled pig trotters in winter, you do not need to store the meat in the refrigerator during the soaking process. All tools and ingredients must be clean and safe.
- If you cannot finish, you can cut the meat into smaller pieces and store them in the refrigerator for later consumption.
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Finally, we have learned 2 ways to make marinated pork legs that are delicious and perfect for a family meal. Be sure to save this for when you have free time to show off your skills! Wish you success!
