Schweinshaxe

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy lidded pot large enough for two hocks
• •Roasting rack and roasting pan
• •Sharp knife or clean utility blade for scoring rind
• •Fine sieve for the sauce

Instructions

1. 1

   Score the rind

   Pat the hocks dry, then score the rind in a diamond pattern without cutting into the meat. Cut only through the skin and fat, because deep cuts leak meat juices while shallow cuts give the fat a path out. Rub with the salt, pepper, and caraway, pushing seasoning into the cuts.

2. 2

   Brown the vegetables

   Heat the oil or lard in a heavy pot and brown the onions, carrots, celeriac, and garlic until the cut sides are dark gold. Brown vegetables give the sauce its backbone; pale vegetables give you boiled beer water, and nobody needs that.

3. 3

   Simmer the hocks

   Set the hocks on the vegetables, add the beer, stock, bay, and juniper, and bring the liquid just to a gentle simmer. Keep the rind above the liquid if you can, or turn the hocks once halfway through. Simmer covered for 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours, until a skewer slides into the meat without a fight. Runter mit der Temperatur: a hard boil tightens the meat and roughens the skin before its work is done.

   If the pot is narrow, stand the hocks upright with the bone end down. The meat cooks in the broth while the rind stays drier, which helps the crackling later.
4. 4

   Dry before roasting

   Lift the hocks onto a rack set over a roasting pan and let them stand 20 minutes while the oven heats to 220C. Blot the rind dry again. This pause matters: moisture is the enemy of blistered skin, and wet rind turns tough before it turns crisp.

5. 5

   Roast hard

   Roast the hocks for 35 to 45 minutes, turning once or twice, until the rind is blistered, deep golden, and crisp all over. Spoon a little beer broth into the pan if the drippings threaten to burn, but keep it off the skin. The meat is already tender; this stage is for the rind, so don't be timid with the heat.

6. 6

   Make the sauce

   While the hocks roast, strain the simmering liquid into a saucepan and press on the vegetables to take their flavour. Reduce it hard until it tastes like pork, beer, onion, and salt in balance, then whisk in the mustard. Thicken with the cornstarch slurry only if the sauce is too thin; the better thickener is time and reduction. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss: taste at the end, after it has reduced, or you'll salt it twice.

7. 7

   Rest and serve

   Rest the hocks 10 minutes so the juices settle, then serve each one whole or carved from the bone with the sauce beside it, not poured over the crackling. Sauce on crisp rind is how a cook ruins their own work. Put sauerkraut or red cabbage on the plate for acid, and Knödel, dumplings, for the sauce. Schön ist, was schmeckt.

Chef Tips

• •Ask for fresh rear hocks, not smoked hocks and not cured Eisbein. The rear hock carries more meat, and the fresh rind gives you proper crackling after the final hot roast.
• •Dry the rind twice: once before seasoning, once after simmering. The simmer gives you tender meat, but the dry surface gives you crackling. Skip the drying and the oven can't save you.
• •Do not pour sauce over the rind. Serve it on the side or under the meat, because the crackling took you half the recipe to earn.
• •If your butcher splits the hock through the skin, cook it anyway, but don't expect the same dramatic rind. A whole skin surface blisters better because the fat renders under it instead of leaking away.

Advance Preparation

• •The hocks can be simmered up to 24 hours ahead, then cooled uncovered in the refrigerator. That cold drying time helps the rind blister, and the final roast brings the meat back hot.
• •The sauce can be strained and reduced a day ahead. Reheat it gently and taste for salt only after it is hot, because cold pork sauce lies to you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 430g)