Ever since eating pork knuckle on a stag do in Munich about 3 years ago, I’ve wanted to try recreating the dish. It is a bit of a heart attack on a plate type dish and feels like your consuming the Sunday joint in one go, but I love the slow cooked tender fatty meat and the contrast of it with the crunchy sauerkraut.

 

The pork knuckle (or ham hock) is from the hind leg of a pig and a piece of meat that requires long, slow cooking. Unfortunately for me, the 2 hours I boiled it for was not enough and even though it looked pretty good, especially after a slathering of mustard & brown sugar and crisping up in the oven, it tasted horrible. The meat was chewy and gristley and was just about the worst piece of meat I think I’ve ever cooked. I was even glad to chuck it into the bin, which happens about as often as a blue moon in my house.

 

On checking recipes afterwards, I saw that the knuckle should be cooked for about 3-4 hours, which I obviously wasn’t anywhere near. What it does go to show is that the hundreds of pork knuckles they serve in the beer houses in Germany must be on the go most of the day in order to get done in time. They certainly earn the feather in their funny German hats!