Preparation
15 minutes
Cooking
1 hour
Difficulty
Easy
Pork knuckle is loved for its fatty, fragrant, chewy, and soft texture, allowing for generous portions without feeling overwhelmed. Let’s get cooking with TasteVN to make a delicious, nutritious soup that is very effective for health, which is the herbal pork knuckle stew!
Ingredients for Herbal Pork Knuckle Stew Serves 4
Pork knuckle 1 piece Onion 1 bulb Shallots 3 bulbs Green onion tops 5 stalks Cooking oil 1 tablespoon Herbal stew mix 1 packet (jujube/ goji berries/ Chinese yam/ job’s tears/ lotus seeds/ …) Common spices a little (salt/ sugar/ seasoning powder)
How to choose fresh and delicious ingredients
How to choose good pig trotters
- Depending on your preference and the characteristics of the dish, you can choose front or back trotters. Front trotters are softer and sweeter but have less meat. Back trotters have more meat but also more fat and are tougher.
- Choose trotters that are bright pink, firm, have high elasticity, dry meat, and no foul smell.
- Do not buy if you see trotters with unusual colors like dark bruises, blue or purple, have a foul smell, or are leaking strange fluids.
How to buy quality and delicious medicinal herbs
- The medicinal herbs for stewing pig trotters can be bought in pre-packaged forms at grocery stores, supermarkets, etc.
- However, to buy the highest quality medicinal herbs, visit traditional medicine shops and choose based on your preference for some types like jujube, red dates, job’s tears, Chinese yam, goji berries, etc.
How to choose fresh and delicious onions
- Good onions have thin, shiny skin, even color, and feel dry and firm when held.
- Prioritize onions with long roots and skin tightly attached to the bulb, as these are fresher and will taste sweeter.
- Do not buy if you find the onion bulb soft or sprouting, as it has been stored too long and lost nutrients and flavor.
How to prepare Braised Pork Leg with Medicinal Herbs
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Prepare the Pork Leg
After purchasing the pork leg, use a razor blade to scrape clean the dirt on the foot and between the toes, soak the pork leg in diluted salt water for about 10 minutes, then rinse it with clean water, and cut the pork leg into bite-sized pieces.
Boil a pot of water, add the pork leg and blanch for about 3 minutes, then remove it and rinse under running water until clean, and drain.
How to clean the pork leg thoroughly, without odor- Step 1: After cleaning the pork leg, use coarse salt, lemon, or crushed ginger to rub it well, then rinse it clean.
- Step 2: To make the pork leg white and eliminate the odor, place the cut pork leg into boiling water and blanch for about 3 – 5 minutes.
- Step 3: Next, take out the pork leg, soak it in an ice water basin for about 2 minutes, then rinse again, this way the pork leg will be white, crunchy, and free from unpleasant odors.
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Prepare Other Ingredients
Peel the onion, wash it clean, and cut it into large wedges. Wash the green onion and cut it into pieces.
Peel the shallots, wash them clean, and cut them in half or into thirds.
Put the medicinal herbs into a sieve and rinse with water until clean, then drain.
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Cook the herbal braised pig trotter
Place a pot on the stove, add 1.5 liters of water and the herbal ingredients, turn on high heat to boil. Then, add the pig trotter, lower the heat and cook for about another 30 minutes.
Season the pot with 2 tablespoons of seasoning powder, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, stir well, and continue to cook for another 30 minutes.
Next, add the onion, shallots, and green onion tops, cook for about another 15 minutes, taste and adjust the seasoning as needed, then turn off the stove.
Tip:- If you want the pig trotter to be softer, you can continue cooking until you are satisfied.
- To keep the broth clear, regularly skim off the foam during the braising process.
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Final Product
The herbal braised pork leg has a tender and fatty pork leg, blended in a sweet and clear broth, with a hint of fragrant herbs that are both delicious and very nutritious.
To avoid getting tired of the dish, you can cook and enjoy it with various vegetables such as pennywort, napa cabbage, enoki mushrooms,… which makes it very tasty like a hot pot.
Above, TasteVN has guided you to make the dish herbal braised pork leg very simply and deliciously, making family meals warmer. Wish you success!
*Source of the recipe and images shared from Facebook: Dạ Thảo
