Pork Hock Stew with Worcester Sauce (炖猪肘子)

炖猪肘子(Dun Zhu Zhou Zi)

Pork hock with skin on is one of my favorite cut of the meat.  The easiest way to cook it is to make a soup with it. However, the pork soup method will not give it a lot of flavor, the meat is usually tasteless and need soy sauce or chili sauce to add flavor. Well, I tried this pork stew recipe that is simple enough, yet yields a meat with rich flavor and soft texture. See more recipes using worcester sauce.

For more fun cooking ideas, see Recipes by Category.

Ingredients

• 2 lb. Pork hock with skin on
• 2 tablespoon canola oil
• 4 tablespoon soy sauce
• 4 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoon Worcester Sauce
• A few slices of ginger
• 1 green onion (why buy from store? grow your own green onion)

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time:  4 hours
Servings: 4

Cooking Steps

1. Get 2 lb. Pork hock with the skin on. Rinse clean.
2. Heat a non sticky wok, add 2 tablespoon canola oil, place the pork hock onto the oil, cover, use medium heat to pan fry for 10 minutes.
3. Flip the hock to pan fry the other side for another 10 minutes, make sure cover the wok to avoid oil spill. Always turn on fan when pan frying.
4. Turn the heat to low, add a few slices of ginger, 1 coarse chopped green onion to the wok, stir and let it pan fry for 1 minute to let the aroma come out.
5. Add 4 tablespoon soy sauce, 4 tablespoon sugar, 2 tablespoon Worcester sauce, 1 cup of water, boil.
6. Get a medium size pot, move all ingredients in the wok to the pot, cover, use low heat to simmer for 3.5 hours. Flip the hock a few times in between to let all sides immerse in the stock.
7. Pay attention to the sauce amount, with low heat, and pot being covered, majority of the evaporated steam will come back to the wok, even after 4 hours, however, add small amount of water if needed to avoid burning the meat.
8. Use medium heat to boil the stock, do not cover, boil for 15 to 20 minutes to thicken stock, until it becomes syrup kind of fluid. Take out the hock, place on a large plate, use a spoon to pour the final sauce evenly onto all sides of the hock, place cilantro for garnish.

Tip: If you like eat healthier version, you can use a spoon to scoop the top layer oil. Or let the pot cool down, place in fridge to let the top oil harden, which makes it easy to remove the fat.
Tip: Make this dish on the night before, for example, after dinner time, you can prepare and let the meat simmer for 3 hours. Second day morning, place the cooled down pot inside fridge. After work on the second day, take the pot out, easily remove top fat using a spoon, boil to thicken the stock. It only takes a little bit planning, you will have a festive dinner entree that will impress everyone around the dining table!

Enjoy your gourmet dinner while looking at spectacular fall colors!