Kholodets (Meat Aspic) from Pork Hock and Trotters
A great party appetizer — kholodets made from pork hock and trotters. This pork-trotter-and-hock aspic is very easy to make: just pick up the right cuts of pork and set them to simmer. The next 3–4 hours are free, since the aspic needs no attention while it cooks. After that, all that's left is to pick the meat, grind it, and pour it into dishes. That's it! Kholodets is traditionally served with mustard, horseradish, hot sauces, pickles, and marinated vegetables.
Cooking method
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Step 1:
Gather your ingredients. Wash the trotters and hock well and scrape them with a knife — mine are from the supermarket, so there's almost no work. Have the tubular bones cut through. Cover the meat with water and bring it to a boil.
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Step 2:
Add an onion, a chunk of carrot and celery, and some herb stems. Cook covered at a gentle simmer for 3 hours. Then salt to taste, add the bay leaf and peppercorns, and cook about another hour.
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Step 3:
Turn off the heat and let it rest about an hour. Lift the meat out of the broth and discard the aromatics.
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Step 4:
Wearing gloves, carefully pick all the meat off the bones by hand.
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Step 5:
Some of the meat you can simply pull into shreds and add to the aspic.
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Step 6:
Grind the rest of the meat, skin and all, in a food processor or meat grinder. That's what gives the aspic its firm set.
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Step 7:
Divide the meat among bowls or aspic molds.
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Step 8:
Add grated garlic to taste.
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Step 9:
Pour in the broth and stir gently so the meat is evenly distributed. Chill until completely set.
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Step 10:
If your aspic freezes (on the balcony, say), it'll go runny as it thaws — just bring it back to a boil and chill it again, and it'll set up once more.
- Pork-trotter-and-hock kholodets is a wonderful Russian appetizer and a New Year's table staple. You can make it ahead — it keeps well for several days. Serve it on the appetizer table alongside cold cuts, garnished with berries, herbs, and lemon. It's also a weekday dish: a hearty one that's right at home on the dinner table with boiled potatoes and mustard.
Caloric content of the products possible in the composition of the dish
- Carrots - 33 kcal/100g
- Dried carrots - 275 kcal/100g
- Boiled carrots - 25 kcal/100g
- Garlic - 143 kcal/100g
- Bay leaf - 313 kcal/100g
- Black pepper peas - 255 kcal/100g
- Salt - 0 kcal/100g
- Water - 0 kcal/100g
- Onion - 41 kcal/100g
- Pork leg - 234 kcal/100g
- Pork knuckle - 294 kcal/100g
- Celery root - 32 kcal/100g
