EISBEIN 
Eisbein is a pork cut of german origin, and refers to the shank section, which can be fresh, but is usually pickled and smoked.

1 pork shank / Eisbein per person

The trick of cooking eisbein is to boil it in plenty of water, as you would cook ham or corned beef.

When it's meltingly tender, you could roast it in a very hot oven, brushing it with a mixture of honey or brown sugar and butter.

This will caramelise it nicely. Serve Eisbein with sauerkraut and boiled potatoes.

Note: The name Eisbein is Nordic in origin and means "pork knuckle". In Swedish this is "islaeggor" and in the Norwegian it is called "islegg".

recipe reviews
Eisbein
   #153535
 Maren (Norway) says:
The term Islegg is old-norwegian for leg of animal, its from the language "Norrøn" so its not wrong to say the name has origin in Norway. Kind regards, a Norwegian girl ;)
   #153110
 William Thomaz (Brazil) says:
In Southern Brazil Eisben is known to be of German origin and highly appreciated.
   #93824
 Wonder (California) says:
The Berliners are correct: in the old Prussian Berlin the bone was used to make ice skates - eis (ice) bein (bone). Originally had Eisbeing in East Berlin and found it to look very scary: pig hair sticking out of the fat; but once you cut away the fat covering you get the best slices of tender pork you can imagine. It is best with some authentic German senf (mustard). Prost!
 #67876
 Peter Waesch (Oklahoma) says:
Eisbein makes reference to the bone that is inside the ham hock. Many years ago, the Berliners, I am one of them, made ice skates from that bone, therefore the name.
 #64610
 Tourist (Germany) says:
In Swedish it's more commonly known as "fläsklägg". A theory presented to me over dinner in Berlin by a swede from Gotland was that the reference to ice had to do with the fact that ice-skates were made from that bone way back.
   #58436
 Knitter4years (California) says:
Eisbein is a completely German word. Eis is ice in German, and Bein means leg. I thought the name had to do with the curing of the hock. It certainly isn't a Nordic word as the previous Norwegian chef pointed out.
 #21812
 Chef from Norway (Norway) says:
Hi. In Norwegian its called "svineskank". "svin" being "pork" and "skank" meaning "knockle". I know I know "skank" is something else in english but trust me on this.. Look it up.

 

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