Jane’s crisp roast pork hock with spiced red cabbage and apple horseradish

‘Cooking this dish whisks me back to Munich where I tasted my first brutish Schweinshaxe in the nineties. Immediately I realised the need to recreate it in Australia where the cut, translating as pork knuckles or shanks, is under-utilised. My partially Germanic blood craves spiced red cabbage as a natural partner and the addition of apples and horseradish beautifully balances the pork’s richness. Low, slow simmering tenderises the well-worked lower leg muscle and chilling until dry before frying results in premium crackle.’

Jane Lawson, writer and chef

Feeds: 4 | Preparation time: 20 minutes | Cooking time: 1½ hours

4 x 750 g (1 lb 10 oz) fresh pork hocks from the hind legs, lightly scored around the hock

2 tablespoons sea salt

Spiced red cabbage

60 g (2¼ oz) butter

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1.5 kg (3 lb 5 oz/about ½ large head) red cabbage, core removed, coarsely shredded

65 g (2½ oz/½ cup) dried cranberries

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and grated

6 juniper berries

3 tablespoons red wine

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 bay leaf

½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

3 tablespoons brown sugar

½ teaspoon ground allspice

Apple horseradish

3 tablespoons apple sauce

2 tablespoons bottled horseradish

Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F). Place a large wire rack in a roasting tin. Stand hocks upright on the rack, balancing them against each other with the small end pointing up. Rub well with sea salt. Cook for 1 hour, then reduce temperature to 160°C (315°F). Pour a small amount of water into the tin under the rack and cook for 1 hour further. Increase the temperature to 220°C (425°F) and cook for a further 30 minutes, or until pork is very tender, dark golden and crisp. Remove from the oven, cover, and rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

While the hocks are cooking, make the spiced red cabbage. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium–high heat. Add onion and cabbage and stir for 10 minutes, or until cabbage has wilted slightly. Add the rest of the ingredients, except allspice, and stir to combine. Cover with a lid, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is tender and there is very little liquid left. Stir in allspice and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Turn off the heat and cover to keep warm.

Combine apple sauce and horseradish and mix well.

Serve hocks on top of some cabbage with the apple horseradish sauce on the side.