Crispy pork knuckle from the oven

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 2 pork knuckles
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• 1 tsp marjoram, shredded
• 1 tsp rosemary
• ½ tsp caraway seeds
• Fat for frying
• 1 large onion(s), quartered
• 2 tbsp, leveled tomato paste
• ½ liter meat broth
• 2 garlic cloves
• 250 ml beer, dark, preferably Franconian
• little cornstarch
• Water

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 3 hours; Total time approx. 3 hours 40 minutes

Wash the shanks, dry them, and score the rind with a finely chopped knife. Rub the pork shanks thoroughly with a spice mixture of salt, pepper, shredded marjoram, rosemary, and caraway. Tip: Rub the rind with a little coarse sea salt to enhance the flavor. Rub the salt well into the cut areas. Then brown the shanks in a little fat in a large pot. Add the chopped onion and tomato paste and fry briefly. Deglaze with the meat broth and bring to a boil. Add the garlic cloves to the pot, pour in the dark beer, and simmer the shanks on low heat for 90 minutes. Shortly before the cooking time is up, preheat the oven to 170°C (fan oven). Remove the shanks from the cooking liquid, drain, and place in a roasting pan. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 70 minutes. Then increase the oven temperature to 185°C (fan oven) and bake for another 20 minutes to crisp the rind. Meanwhile, let the meat juices continue to simmer and reduce. Strain the juices and thicken slightly with cornstarch, if desired. To do this, mix cornstarch with a little water and stir into the juices. During the cooking time, ladle a little of the juices over the pork knuckle several times. After the cooking time, remove the knuckle from the roasting pan and serve with the sauce. This goes well with bread dumplings or mashed potatoes with red cabbage.