Braised Pork Shanks for Family Meal at Untitled in NYC

It’s always fun and interesting for us to see what the chefs in our network are cooking up for their off-the-menu Family Meals.  Our chefs from Untitled in NYC have provided the first recipe for our new Family Meal series. Although brining before cooking is not absolutely necessary, we have added their instructions on how to brine the shanks for incredible flavor and texture!

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

For the Braise

  • 4-6 pork shanks
  • water or chicken stock
  • 1 head of garlic, split
  • 1 knob of ginger, smashed

For the Sauce

  • 1 cup soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • ¼ cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 bunch scallions, sliced
  • 1 tsp chili flakes
  • 2 pc. shallots, sliced
  • 1 small knob ginger, smashed & chopped
  • 5 cloves garlic, chopped
  • ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
  • 2 cups water
  • Lime juice to taste

For the Slurry (optional)
2 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp water
Stir together until consistency of heavy cream

Preparation:

Braise
1. Preheat the oven to 275ºF.
2. Place shanks in a roasting pan or cassoulet dish and add enough water so that it comes halfway up the meat.
3. Cover the pan with foil and place it in the oven.
4. Cook for about 6-8 hours until the meat begins to fall off of the bones.
5. Remove the pan from the oven and allow the shanks to cool.
6. When cool enough to handle, remove the shanks from the liquid and pull the meat off of the bone into bite sized pieces.
7. Mix with sauce (recipe below) and serve over rice, cabbage, or in a bun!

Sauce
1. In a medium pot, add a little oil and sweat the shallots, garlic, and ginger until soft for about 6 minutes.
2. Stir in scallions, sugar, and chili flakes. Cook for 2 minutes.
3. Add the water, vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame.  Continue to cook for about 10 minutes.
4. *Optional: make the slurry (see above) and stir it into the simmering sauce and cook for another 5 minutes.
5. Let the sauce cool down and add some lime juice and salt if needed.

Enjoy!

*Optional: Brine the pork shanks before braising

For the Brine
8 cups water
2 cups salt
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 head garlic, split
1 knob ginger, smashed
2 tbsp chili flakes
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup rice wine vinegar
4 cups ice

Brine Procedure
1. Combine all of the ingredients except for the ice in a pot. Bring the mix to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
2. Pour the liquid over ice and stir so that it cools to room temperature.
3. Pour the brine over the pork shanks, making sure they are completely submerged. Brine for at least 6 hours (up to 12 hours).
4. Remove the shanks from the brine and pat dry.

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