Published: 16-Sep-2012 (13:28); Viewed: 4151; Difficulty: 2 out of 10
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Pork shank is a very popular food in all Europe. The common way of cooking of any shanks consists from two major steps, they are salting and cooking. Of course it is possible to buy salted pork shanks, but .... The shank salted by our recipe will be much less salted and more rich in flavours, i.e. more suitable for further cooking. If you want to have higher quality food, use raw hog shank and salt it by this recipe.
step-by-step instructions
Everything in this recipe is given for one large pork shank, or two small shanks:
Large hog shank, or two small shanks. The shanks should be raw.
Water – 3 litres. The amount of water is quite important, because the amount of salt will be given for this volume.
Garlic – 1 bulb
Bay leaves, 4-5 leaves
Salt – 3 tbsp
Spices:
Caraway seeds, ½ tsp
Black, or mixture peppercorn, ½ tsp
Allspice seeds, 1 tsp
Cloves, ½ tsp
Crudely grind all spices. It is enough just break seeds, but not make fine powder. Press the garlic, it is enough just break it.
At this step we will prepare the brine. Preheat water to 60 °C (use thermometer!!!) in a large stainless-steel or enamelled pan. All salt, and all spices, and slowly chill down to the room temperature. Check, that salt is dissolved completely.
Carefully wash the pork shank. Place pork shank into the brine, make sure that all the meat is covered by the brine. Store marinated shank in the fridge for 4 days. This time is necessary to marinate the meat thoroughly.
Remove meat from the brine and wipe out all excessive liquid. The shank is now ready for further cooking.
tips and tricks
It is very important to put shank into a cold brine, not in hot!!!
Marinated shank can be friezed for future use.
Keep marinated shank before cooking in the fridge no longer than 3-4 days.