Braised Pork Shank Slices

A pork shank is basically the front leg of the hog and when I saw a dish on TV using the whole shank and I wanted to replicate it but the only shank I could find had already been sliced into soup bones, as they called them.

So, I decided to use them as a practice run for using the whole shanks later and making a dish that looks similar to this.

I looked at several recipes and combined them and added my own flavors to get the one below with a Mexican flair.

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/braised-pork-shanks,

https://www.sunset.com/recipe/salsa-verde-braised-pork

Braised Pork Shank Slices

Ingredients:

3 pork shank slices

¼ cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp. chile powder

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

3-4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

3/8 cup onion, chopped

3/8 cup carrots, chopped

3/8 cup celery ribs, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/3 cup dry white wine

2 cups chicken stock

1 tsp. Mexican oregano

1 tsp. ground coriander 

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 cup salsa verde plus more for serving

Directions:

1.Trim the pork, if needed, and salt & pepper both sides.

2.Stir the chili powder into the flour and dredge both sides of the pork.

3.In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil until shimmering. Add the pork shanks and cook over moderately high heat until browned all over, about 10 minutes.  Add more oil if needed.

4.Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic to the skillet and cook over moderate heat until softened, about 5 minutes.

5. Add the wine and bring to a boil. Simmer until slightly reduced, about 2 minutes.

6.Add the stock, oregano, coriander, and cumin, season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil.

7. Tuck the pork shanks into the liquid so that they're about half submerged and top with the salsa verde.

8. Cover and cook over low heat for 3½ hours, or until the meat is very tender. At the 2½ hour mark, they looked like this and we flipped them over.

Since this was a trial run for pork shanks, we had no sides and just ate the meat.  I added some of the broth to my plate, added the meat, and topped with more salsa verde.

The Verdict:

I thought it was outstanding and can’t wait to make the dish with whole shanks and serve it to company.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

05/28/22 event date