the world is your acorn

As per Syd‘s request…

There’s lots of things that I grew up eating that I really miss, to my utter surprise. I often try to recreate them, sometimes with help from my mom. Recently I picked up ham hocks from the new Publix down the road (which is not shy about selling animal parts), so I asked my mom how to make the stew that I love so much.
Here’s what she told me:

* Put the hocks perpenticular in the pot if you can (so the skin won’t touch the pot and won’t burn)
* Add water just to barely cover the hocks
* Add ginger, garlic, small amount of green onion if you like, soy sauce, sugar, a tiny pinch of five spice powder (not required)
* Cook to tender. You may want to turn the hocks from time to time to prevent burning

Like me, my mom doesn’t cook with recipes or measurements. But I think they turned out ok. The Little Red Haired Girl, of course, will not eat them.

Before:

After:

Edit: We used to eat this in a bowl over spaghetti with a squirt of ketchup mixed in.