Braised Pork Knuckles With Mushrooms

 

Ingredients: (serves 2)

Half Pork Knuckle (cut into pieces, washed, blanched and drained)

5 pieces dried shiitake mushrooms (soaked, remove the hard stem and drained)

Few pieces of thick sliced ginger with skin (smashed)

5 cloves whole garlic (peeled)

1 piece cinnamon

3 cloves

2 star anise 

1 tbsp. oil

Water, to braise

Black Moss (optional)

Seasonings:

2 tbsp. light soy sauce

2 tbsp. dark soy sauce 

2 tbsp. oyster sauce

Methods:

1. In a clean heated wok, without oil, add ginger and garlic.  Fry for 2 minutes.  Add 1 tablespoon oil and sauteed until fragrant.  Add cinnamon, cloves and star anise, continue to fry until fragrant for a few minutes.
2. Add in blanched pork knuckle and mushroom, and stir to combine.
3. Finally, add in seasonings and give it a good stir to mix.  Add in a bowl of water, stir to combine and off the heat.
4. Since I am braising using claypot, I dish the pork knuckle into a claypot and add more boiled warm water to cover the pork knuckle.  Cover the pot and let it braised over low heat.  In between braising, I flip the pork knuckle, check on the amount of sauce, if needed, add more water.  Continue to braise until the pork knuckle has softened, according to your preference.
5. If using, add in the black moss during the last 15 minutes of cooking.
6. The pork knuckles are soft and ready to serve.

I adapted this recipe from 'Youtube by Shadajie Kitchen' with a slight adjustment to suit my cooking preference.