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Ham Hocks and Cabbage
Boil ham hocks tender in a big pot. Cut a cabbage in quarters, add to the pot, with a little water, if necessary. Do not cover the camp kettle, but let it boil rapidly about 20 minutes, until everything's tender. 3 PORK CHOPS
A camp-kettle dish that depends almost entirely on how long the hocks get before the cabbage goes in. The instruction that matters is the uncovered pot for the cabbage stage.
- Cook the hocks first, and longHam hocks generally need something like 1.5 to 2 hours at a bare simmer before they are tender; the 20 minutes in the recipe applies only to the cabbage stage. Rushing the hocks leaves the meat tight on the bone and the broth thin.
- Leave the lid offAs the recipe directs. Cooking cabbage uncovered is generally held to let the volatile sulphur compounds escape rather than build up in the pot; covered cabbage tends to smell stronger and to lose its colour.
- Cabbage timingQuarters of a firm green cabbage want 15 to 20 minutes in the boiling ham broth. Test the core with a knife tip; the outer leaves will be soft well before the stem gives.
- Salt last, if at allCured hocks throw a great deal of salt into the liquid over two hours. Taste the broth before adding anything, and add water rather than salt if it has reduced hard.
- Fresh versus smokedHocks are commonly sold smoked and cured, but fresh (uncured) pork hocks are also available and behave differently: less salt and a milder broth. The recipe does not say which is meant.
- YieldThe recipe gives no quantities beyond 'ham hocks' and one cabbage, so the amount is left to the cook. Much of a hock's weight is skin, fat and bone.
- The brothWhat is left in the kettle is the point as much as the meat. Serve it in the bowl with cornbread, or keep it for beans.