Sweet and Sour Pork Hock

Name: Sweet and Sour Pork Hock
Yield: Serves 8 as Part of a Banquet
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 200 g (7 oz) soy paste; coriander (cilantro) leaves, to garnish; 300 ml (10½ fl oz) tomato ketchup; vegetable oil, for deep-frying; 300 ml (10½ fl oz) Chinese red vinegar; 100 ml (3½ fl oz) fish sauce; 2 spring onions (scallions), thinly sliced; fried shallots (Essentials), to garnish; 6 pork hocks; 2 onions, coarsely chopped; 10 garlic cloves; 5 cm (2 inch) piece ginger, roughly chopped; 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) caster (superfine) sugar; 3 small long red chillies, thinly sliced into rounds

Preparation info

Serves
8
as Part of a Banquet

Difficulty
Complex

Appears in

Mr Hong

By Dan Hong

Published 2014

About

Sweet and sour pork was pretty much a staple for Aussie families that grew up between the 1970s and the 1990s. My version is inspired by Longrain’s caramelised pork hock dish with Chinese five-spice and chilli vinegar. Start this recipe a day ahead if you’re going to go the whole hog and make the terrine.

Ingredients

Pork Hocks

8 litres (280 fl oz/32 cups) Chinese masterstock (Essentials)

Asia
China
Main course
Starter
Gluten-free

Method

Day 1 Pork Hocks

Add the masterstock to a large stockpot and bring to the boil. Add the pork hocks. Simmer for about 5 hours, or until the hocks are completely soft and gelatinous, and the bones can be removed easily. Transfer the hocks to a tray and leave them until cool enough to handle. Remove all the bones and knuckles, trying not to break up the meat a