Since childhood, many have been familiar with the taste of pork shank soup. This dish was often treated by our grandmothers, who prepared such a soup very rich and fragrant. There was a magic in grandmother’s food. But now there are so many recipes for this dish that it is really easy to get confused in choosing the most relevant recipe. Here are some ideas for preparing your little culinary masterpiece.
The main thing
The most important part of this aromatic dish is, of course, pork shank. Unfortunately, not everyone knows what kind of pork this is and why it is so valuable. It is worth shedding light on this issue.
So, judging by human standards, the pork knuckle is the part of the leg that is between the knee and foot. They appreciate the shank because there is practically no fat and an abundant amount of meat.
For a truly delicious dish, it is important to choose the right shank. Why? The fact is that the front shanks are too stranded and are suitable only for aspic or aspic. For soup, the back shanks are needed. Moreover, they must meet certain criteria.
- As fresh as possible. The easiest freshness test is to press the meat with your finger. If the resulting hole is restored slowly and the meat does not have enough elasticity, then this is not the best option for meat, it is not recommended to buy it, even if you take meat not for testing the recipe for pork shank soup.
- Appearance. The meat should not be stained or damaged in any way.
- The aroma. Fresh shank has a sweet smell. If you feel some other aroma, most likely, the product can no longer be called fresh and is not recommended for use.
- The appearance of the slice. The meat should not be weathered. This will indicate that it is no longer as fresh as required. The amount of fat should be minimal.
These four options should help you choose the freshest meat that will be the perfect base for pork shank soup.
Smoked meat soup
The most delicious and popular option that will make your family look forward to dinner with a special look is a soup based on smoked shank. It should be at least one kilogram.
As for the remaining ingredients, they include:
- 2 liters of chicken stock.
- One medium onion.
- Two small carrots.
- Stick of tomato paste.
- Head of garlic.
- A celery stalk and half of its root.
- 400 grams of red beans.
- Two teaspoons of fennel seeds.
If you use canned beans, then the total cooking time of the soup is about 2 hours.
How to cook
To start making soup from smoked pork shank stands with dressing. While the meat will be infused in a hot chicken broth, onions and garlic should be fried in a heated pan. They should be finely chopped so as not to attract excessive attention in the soup.
As soon as the appearance of the fried products becomes transparent, they add diced carrots and a few minutes later celery. When the vegetables become slightly tired, they put tomato paste, a couple of spoons of the broth, mix thoroughly and cover for five minutes.
The hardest part of this recipe is to dry the fennel seeds. This must be done exclusively on a dry frying pan. Never add water or oil. For the seeds to dry completely, they must be constantly stirred, keeping on fire, for 5 minutes.
Now is the time to mix everything. Fennel seeds, red pepper, beans and dressing are carefully immersed in a pan where the shank already filled with broth is already lying. Cooking this soup is better in dishes with thick walls, as it will be cooked for about 2 hours.
From time to time, you will need to add boiled water to the pan. This must be done until the meat is soft. After that, the pork knuckle is taken out, cut into small pieces and laid back in the pan. Serving such a pork shank soup is better with fresh herbs.
Pea soup
This option is more popular and has two options. The first is the preparation of pea shrimp soup not smoked. Its main feature is a pronounced pork flavor. Those who are not particularly fond of such smells should use a recipe for pea soup with smoked meat.
For a dish in which pork is clearly audible, you will need:
- 1 kg shanks.
- 1 cup dry peas.
- 1 celery or parsley root.
- 2 onions.
- 2 carrots.
- 3 potato tubers.
- Bay leaf.
- Spices and herbs to taste.
Before you start cooking soup, you need to prepare all the ingredients. First of all, peas. Pour it in a glass of cold water and leave to soak.
Then you can start cooking the broth. To do this, completely immerse the meat in water and send to the fire. In the water, it is better to add the washed parsley root and one whole carrot. Thus, the meat and broth will be more spicy and aromatic. All this should be cooked for at least 1.5 hours. It is believed that everything is ready when the meat is easily behind the bone.
Cooking soup
When meat and greens with carrots are removed from the broth, peas are dipped into it and cooked until half ready. It is important to stir regularly to avoid burning.
When the peas reach the desired state, finely chopped onions are added to it. After boiling, supplement the soup with grated carrots on a fine grater and diced chopped potatoes. When the latter becomes soft, add meat to the soup, which is cut into small pieces. Pork shank soup with peas is served with a few leaves of greens, allowing it to infuse for at least half an hour.
Smoked Pea Soup
The difference between this recipe and the previous one is that peas are poured overnight. Less in this option and ingredients. In addition to a glass of peas and shanks, you only need one carrot and three potatoes.
Cooking such pea soup with pork knuckle begins the same way as the previous one, with the only difference being that peas are immediately put into the water, in addition to meat. When the latter is almost ready, the meat is removed from it, and potatoes and carrots are sent to the soup.
Five minutes before cooking, put the shaved shank into the pan and season the soup with spices and salt. This dish is 30-40 minutes after removing it from the fire.