ham hock and pig hock bargain food!

davetaylor

suzybloo wrote: »

Hi there I use this recipe here for my pea and ham soup. Soak the shank in cold water to start with to take the salt out of it. Half packet of yellow split peas, two onions, four carrots and half a small turnip all chopped and diced. Drain the shank ,Put all in to slow cooker and leave for 5-6 hours, take out the shank blast the soup with a hand blender, skin the shank and slice the meat, adding the little bits back to the soup and using the bigger bits for chicken and ham pies, omolettes, etc. Add a wee bit chopped parsley and black pepper and serve with lovely crusty bread! ENJOY!!!!

Thanks, how long should I soak the ham for, would overnight be ok?

whatatwit

Yes, overnight will be fine, it shouldn't need any longer.

Olliebeak

I usually soak mine overnight. I'd double check the water though. Sometimes they're not too salty and if you pour it all away, it can leave the soup a bit tasteless.

I've also done mine in the pressure cooker - if you decide to cook it on the spur of the moment.

davetaylor

OK, thats great. I'm not sure what you mean about double checking the water. Are you suggesting that I use the water as soup stock?

Olliebeak

It would depend on how salty it is - sometimes I only throw away half of it.

davetaylor

Just peeled all the fat off my ham hock (which is actually a pork knuckle) and discovered there is not that much meat. I might want to add more meat to it. If, I went to my Tesco Express tomorrow, what should I buy? Would bacon do? This soup is going to be a mammoth affair and will last me all week so I don't mind spending a few quid.

foreign_correspondent

have you cooked it now? personally I would cook the fat in with the meat and just remove it or fish it out later.

I regularly make pea and ham soup with just the cooking water from a gammon joint (boiled for sandwiches etc) and no real meat, as the pulses are full of protein and very filling. I tend to fry an onion or two, chopped small, a few carrots, likewise, maybe some celery or a chhopped spud or two and any other soupy veg I have in, then chuck in a whole bag of marrowfat peas, bung the ham stock in and let it cook for ages!!

However, with your hock I would chuck the bits of meat in whilst the soup is cooking (perhaps towards the end as the meat is already well cooked) - if you wanted to add any other meat, and bacon-y type stuff would do (offcuts, value rashers, cubed bacon etc) - chop it up, fry it and lob it in at the end!

ps. i tend not to soak gammon for more than a hour as I like my soup to be a bit salty and a lot of porky things arent over salted now!

Olliebeak

davetaylor wrote: »

.....which is actually a pork knuckle.......

I've never made soup/stew with a pork knuckle.

Is that the same as a 'pork shank' - my old aunt used to use those for a midweek roast for her and her husband in the late 70's.

davetaylor

Yes, it's a pork shank. Morissons sell them The butcher pointed me towards it when I asked for a ham hock. It cost £1.49!

sarah_2-2

Just to revivie an old thread, I've just bought a large pork hock from the farmers' market. He was also selling gammon hock, and when I asked what the difference was, he said you could only make ham from the gammon hock because the pork hock couldn't be eaten cold. Does anyone know why this is or if it's true? I thought all meat could be eaten cold once cooked!