Slow cooker pork hock - Chinese-style authentic recipe with the best result

soy sauce

🥗Healthier: low-sodium soy sauce

💰Cheaper: tamari

Low-sodium soy sauce reduces sodium intake while maintaining flavor.

rice wine

🥗Healthier: apple cider vinegar

💰Cheaper: white vinegar

Apple cider vinegar provides acidity with fewer calories.

sesame oil

🥗Healthier: olive oil

💰Cheaper: vegetable oil

Olive oil offers a healthier fat profile.

Thoroughly clean the pork hock and check for any hairs, removing them with a tweezer or by burning them away with a blowtorch.

Place the pork hock in a pot of water, ensuring it is completely submerged.

Add a few slices of ginger, sections of spring onion, and rice wine to the water for flavor.

Bring the water to a boil and blanch the pork over medium heat for about 10 minutes, turning it over at least once.

Remove the pork from the pot and let it sit for 10 minutes to drain excess water.

Refrigerate the pork for at least half a day or overnight to dry the skin.

Before roasting, mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and apply it to the skin of the pork.

Preheat the oven to 240 degrees Celsius and roast the pork on the middle rack until golden brown and blistered, turning it over occasionally.

In a pan, sauté spring onion, garlic, and ginger until aromatic.

Add 1 tablespoon of Zhu Hou paste, light soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, and sesame oil to the aromatics.

Add dry spices: bay leaves, cinnamon, black peppercorns, and star anise to the mixture.

Place the pork in a slow cooker with the aromatics, seasonings, and some water.

Slow cook the pork until tender, about 3 hours.

Remove the pork from the slow cooker and strain the braising liquid to get a clean broth.

Cook down the braising liquid to make a gravy, reducing it to about half the original volume.

Thicken the gravy with cornstarch slurry and drizzle it over the pork.

Serve the pork with some vegetables, such as broccoli.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Dietary

Allergens