Grilled Pork Knuckle with Dark Sauce

Knuckle:

1. First of all, it should be said that you can of course also use an uncured knuckle. Then the water should be salted more strongly for pre-cooking.
2. Wash the shank, dry it. Fill a large saucepan with 2 liters of cold water. Peel and quarter the onions. Add to the water with the spices and salt and pepper. Then put the knuckle in it. Bring everything – without the lid – to the boil. Then turn the heat down a lot, put a lid on the pan and let everything simmer for approx. 2 – 5 hours. The final core temperature of the meat on the bone should be approx. 80 – 82 ° at the end.

Sauce:

1. Do not (!) Peel the onion, but quarter it. Peel the carrot and cut into large pieces. Heat the clarified butter in a saucepan and vigorously sauté the onion with the skin and the carrot pieces. Sprinkle with the sugar, caramelize and let brown and then stir in the tomato paste. Briefly sauté a little until everything has turned a brownish color, and then deglaze with the stock and water. Season a little with pepper and salt and simmer over medium heat until the liquid has reduced to half.
2. Then pour everything through a sieve and pour the liquid back into the pot. But do not put it back on the stove just yet, but first stir in the ice-cold butter vigorously to bind and season again with pepper and salt. Then keep the sauce warm on the lowest setting. If you like, you can set the sauce with a little cornstarch. Mix this in cold water and carefully stir into the sauce little by little while boiling until it is creamy but not thick.

Completion of the knuckle:

1. Set the oven to grill function. If none is available, the highest level of top / bottom heat. Slide the grillage onto the lower shelf and the tray onto the bottom of the oven as a drip guard.
2. Take the shank out of the brew and let it evaporate a little. Salt the rind all around again and place the knuckle on the grid so that it browns well and can be crispy everywhere. This can take approx. 30 – 40 minutes (depending on the nature of the stove). The rind should have small blisters, then it is cross.
3. When the “rind really cracks”, take the knuckle out of the grill / oven, release the bone, divide into 2 equal portions and serve with the sauce and side dishes on 2 plates.
4. Great Bavarian cabbage and “green dumplings” (dumplings made from raw potatoes) are ideal accompaniments to this hearty roast. See my KB for both.
5. Note 9: A legume stew can be cooked from the pork knuckle stock ….. so don’t throw it away!
6. A knuckle of the above size is enough for 2 people. If you have several guests, the knuckles should be smaller so that you can serve them individually on the plate without dividing them. The amount of water for pre-cooking and the size of the pot depend on the number and size of the pieces. They must always be well covered and “swim” easily. Then adjust the amount of spices based on the amount of water specified here.