SHOP ONLINE >
Ham hocks are an exceptionally wonderful cut of pork that can bring so much flavour to a recipe, whether they are used to soups, stews, or legume dishes, or eaten with a side of vegetables and some cornbread. There are several methods to cook your ham hocks, and this thick cut of pork is cheap and simple to make. To create a great, cosy dish with incredibly delicate meat and fantastic flavour, use braised, smoked, or raw ham hocks. The secret is to crisp them up and then bake them in broth for a few hours. Every time, the outcome will be precisely cooked ham hocks.
What is Ham Hocks?
Where the calf joins the ankle at the bottom of the pig’s leg is where the ham hocks are produced. This cut is common in the American South because they give food a tonne of salty, smokey flavour. Hocks are rich in protein, iron, and other minerals, but they also contain a lot of salt.
Cooking Ham Hocks
Cooking the meat is really easy. To create the greatest homemade ham hocks, cook it in a skillet over medium heat until they are crispy and brown. Cover the skillet, add some vegetable broth and any additional seasonings, and bake it for two to three hours. After a few hours of baking, the meat will come off the bone and be filled with amazing flavour.
Our Tips for Cooking Them:
You can season your hocks with fresh herbs, spices, and seasonings for easy variations. You can experiment with paprika, garlic powder, fresh rosemary, Italian spice, taco seasoning, creole seasoning, and taco seasoning, to name a few.
After the ham hocks have completed baking in the oven, broil them for a few minutes to create an even crispier skin.
The ham hocks are fairly salty, so if you use standard broth, the salt may overpower the dish. Low sodium broth is excellent for this recipe.
If you’re concerned about the salt content, soak them in water for at least 30 minutes prior to cooking. Some of the salt will be eliminated as a result.
4 Amazing Recipes:
Now that you have a general understanding of how ham hocks may add flavour to any dish, let’s discuss a few specific recipes. 4 of our all-time favourite ham hock recipe suggestions are listed below:
- Bean Soup
You desire a hearty winter dish that is like a warm hug in a bowl. Try this bean soup recipe, which combines a variety of beans for different textures with ham hocks for a hearty, meaty broth. After a long afternoon of sledding or shovelling snow, this substantial soup is the ideal treat because it is rich in flavour and plant protein.
- Ham Hock Soup with Creamy Potatoes
This comforting, delectable, and incredibly simple smoked ham hock and potato soup dish simply leave everything in the slow cooker to simmer together until the mixture becomes a creamy soup. This soup goes best with crusty bread that may be used for dipping.
In contrast to many other ham hock soup recipes, this one uses the meat as well as its seasoning for the broth. The meaty chunks added to the soup give it a pleasant texture while maintaining the general smoothness of the meal.
Remember that you can still make this recipe work even if you don’t have an immersion blender. Simply pour half of the soup from the slow cooker into a standard blender, and mix until smooth. Pour the pureed soup back into the pot with the remaining soup after blending is complete.
- Dumplings with ham hock
What else is superior to hock soup? Of course, this soup with dumplings! It’s understandable why dumplings are a Pennsylvania Dutch favourite for topping soup dishes given their fluffy and airy nature.
With this recipe for ham hocks and dumplings, you can up the ante on your soup by adding fluffy handmade dumplings to a deliciously straightforward broth-based soup. Plus, making these dumplings is entertaining and simple; all you need to do is cover them and boil them.
- Ham Hocks with Collard Greens
These collard greens are unlike any other vegetables you’ve ever had, with a tinge of sweet cane syrup and a smokey pork flavour. By giving your greens a taste boost, you may enjoy the process rather than dread eating them. This recipe is for you whether you’re from the South or just want some homestyle comfort food.
So this was all about ham hocks. Hopefully you will like the post and will treat yourself to one of these delicious recipes.