Recipe: Pickled Pork Hocks #3 (Frugal Gourmet)

From The Frugal Gourmet On Our Immigrant Ancestors

PICKLED PORK HOCKS (EISBEIN)
A Bavarian dish

Method of Corning:

2 gallons water
1 pound pickling salt
1 teaspoon saltpeter

Mix this solution well.

10 fresh pork hocks, cut in half crosswise

Marinate the hocks in the corning solution in the refrigerator for 10 days. Keep a heavy plate on the top of the meat so that all pieces are under the solution at all times. Check them each day to be sure this is still the case.

At the end of the 10 days drain the meat and discard the liquid. Rinse the hocks and place in a large pot.

Add:
2 celery stalks (ribs), chopped
1 carrot, chopped (don't bother to peel)
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
2 bay leaves
8 whole allspice
8 black peppercorns

Just barely cover with fresh water.
Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 2 1/2 hours. You may have to add a bit more water.

When the pork hocks are very tender, remove from the pot and serve over sauerkraut. I must have mine with a good German mustard.

This is just a wonderful dish.

Note - there is no vinegar used in this recipe.

Note from author:
This dish is from Bavaria and it is basic. Believe me, it is basic! What you wind up with here is corned pork, corned just like beef, but the flavor is much richer than beef. When I first made these at the television studio, my other right hand, Marion, was very suspicious. Her husband of some forty years was a German, but she had never tasted Eisbein. I pleaded and then I insisted that she try them. She came back for a second helping and took the remains home that night. "I don't know what you are doing to me, Jeff, but these are delicious!"
I ate these often years ago when I was in Germany...