Can I Use A Different Cut Of Pork For The Beer-Braised Pork Knuckle?

Our answer

Nigella's Beer-Braised Pork Knuckle With Caraway, Garlic, Apples And Potatoes (from FEAST is a hearty one-pan dish that actually requires very little hands-on work. The pork knuckles braise slowly in the oven, surrounded by the apples and potatoes.

Cured ham hocks are popular in the US south, particularly as they add a lot of flavour to other dishes, but you may need to ask your butcher for uncured hocks. Hocks usually come from the lower part of the hind legs of a pig and are the same as a pork knuckle used for this type of dish. However, you may be able to use pork shanks as an alternative. Pork shanks usually come from the lower part of the front leg, just below the shoulder and also need long, slow cooking. You may also need to ask your butcher to order this cut for you. Unfortunately, there isn't really another suitable alternative as none of the other cuts of pork have the same level of gelatinous connective tissue that slowly cooks out of the knuckle or shank to give a rich, unctuous gravy and no other cut will give such a generous quantity of crisp crackling.