A traditional recipe for braised Korean pork hocks. Tender, flavorful, and super convivial to enjoy with family or friends

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5/5 (8)

If you like Chinese hong shao rou or the famous Vietnamese braised pork, then you’ll love this little spin-off from Korean cuisine. Braised pork belly is well-known by now. But what’s less common (yet just as popular in traditional Asian cuisine) is the braised pork hock.

Chinese red pork Hong shao rou — Chinese Hong Shao Rou, Also Known as Red-Braised Pork

Due to the nature of the cut of meat (very thick, high collagen content), the way it’s eaten differs from pork belly. You get a beautiful piece that, despite the slow-cooking making it very tender and juicy, can be sliced thinly and then dipped in a delicious homemade sauce.

In short, it’s very convivial, can be enjoyed as an appetizer or main course, and promises an intense pleasure for your taste buds.

As a bonus, it’s a slow-cooked/braised dish, so you don’t need to spend hours watching over it in the kitchen

What Is Jokbal?

Jokbal (족발) is a braised pork dish made with hock and feet. It belongs to the Anju family, which refers to dishes consumed with alcohol. Other dishes in this category include japchae or samgyeopsal.

Korean Samgyeopsal Gui on a Wooden Background — My Samgyeopsal Recipe

You’ll find the deboned pork pieces after cooking, cut into thin slices and served with a dipping sauce. You can (optionally) wrap it in a shiso leaf or lettuce, add some ssamjang sauce, and dip it in the sauce.

You really have to imagine a sort of appetizer platter served on a high round bar table with glasses filled with soju. In France, they give us peanuts; in Korea, it’s slices of braised pork, haha

The Main Ingredients for the Jokbal Recipe

Ingredients for Korean Jokbal on a Wooden Background

The pork: Here, the hock or knuckle (unsalted) is almost mandatory. As a highly recommended option, pork feet bring even more collagen to the whole dish, which gives the sauce a better texture

Rice syrup: can be found in Asian grocery stores. In a pinch, you can substitute with corn syrup, or even homemade invert syrup, but the latter has a higher sweetening power I believe, and I haven’t had the chance to test it. So be careful with the quantities.

Oyster sauce: doesn’t taste like oyster but is a fundamental aromatic component of the dish, not to be neglected

“Star anise:” brings a welcome hint of anise flavor. Can be replaced with fennel seeds, but then it’s better to put the seeds in a small spice bag, otherwise they’ll go everywhere and it will be unpleasant to eat

Light soy sauce: salty soy sauce found in all supermarkets

Gochugaru: Korean chili powder used to spice up the dipping sauce

Fish sauce: adds salt to the dip

Mirin: used to sweeten the sauce with subtle sake notes

Authentic Jokbal – Korean Braised Pig trotters

A traditional recipe for braised Korean pork trotters. Tender, flavorful, and super convivial to enjoy with family or friends

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5/5 (8)

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 1 40

Total Time: 2

Course: Main course

Cuisine: Korean

Servings: people

Author: Marc Winer

Ingredients

1 Pork shank or ham hock, unsalted
2 pig trotters optional
240 ml light soy sauce
120 ml of rice syrup
220 g of brown sugar
600 g of oyster sauce
550 ml water
10 star anise
White sesame seeds for garnish
Green onions thinly sliced, for garnish

Dipping sauce

4 Cheongyang green chili peppers washed and sliced (widthwise). Use any green chili pepper as a substitute (not green bell pepper!)
75 g of salted shrimp finely chopped
10 g of gochugaru
4 g white sugar
20 g of mirin
0.5 teaspoon of fish sauce
25 g garlic sliced
100 g of Chilsung Cider or a Sprite-type soda
10 g of sesame seeds lightly crushed

Procédé

Bring water to a boil in a large pot and submerge the pork shank and pig’s feet for 7 minutes to remove impurities and odors
1 Pork shank, 2 pig trotters
Rinse the meat thoroughly with cold water after the initial cooking
Use a disposable razor to remove any remaining hair if necessary
Place a wok on the stove and pour in the soy sauce, rice syrup, sugar, oyster sauce, and water
240 ml light soy sauce, 120 ml of rice syrup, 220 g of brown sugar, 600 g of oyster sauce, 550 ml water
Mix until the sugar is completely dissolved
Add the star anise to the mixture
10 star anise
Add the meat
Bring to a boil and let the mixture boil over high heat for 10 minutes
Reduce to medium heat and cook the meat for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Cover
Turn the meat every 30 minutes to thoroughly soak it in sauce and even out the color. Cover each time.
When the meat is tender, don’t hesitate to uncover and increase to high heat to reduce and slightly caramelize the sauce for a nice color (don’t forget to turn the meat regularly and be careful not to burn it). The sauce should remain slightly liquid
Move to a cutting board and cut the ham hock into thin slices (with the rind visible). You can also debone the feet.
Serve on a large platter, pour some of the remaining sauce over it, and garnish with sesame seeds and green onions
White sesame seeds, Green onions
Serve with the dipping sauce

Dipping sauce

Place the sliced chili peppers in a bowl
4 Cheongyang green chili peppers
Add the chopped salted shrimp to the bowl
75 g of salted shrimp
Add the gochugaru and mix well
10 g of gochugaru
Add the sugar, then mix again
4 g white sugar
Pour in the mirin and incorporate it into the mixture
20 g of mirin
Add the fish sauce and mix
0.5 teaspoon of fish sauce
Incorporate the minced garlic
25 g garlic
Add the Chilsung Cider (or Sprite) and mix everything well
100 g of Chilsung Cider
Add the sesame seeds and mix carefully
10 g of sesame seeds
Taste the sauce to adjust flavors if necessary