German Pork Knuckles

Yesterday, Mr Tofu surprised me by suggesting to go Werner's Oven for dinner. It wasn't any special occassion, but I just agreed as it was one of the rare times that he expressed an idea on what to eat (usually, I'm the one who is full of ideas).

Opened since 1998, Werner's Oven is a German restaurant owned by a Singaporean lady and her German husband. In the restaurant, you can see many photographs of the restaurant in its older days.  I remember one of my ex-colleague, Mr EL, telling me how he was a good friend of the boss's son and how the guys used to go to the restaurant for free lunches during their teenage days.
















The pork knuckles are usually marinated for a week before they are boiled and roasted. Boiling softens the meat and roasting creates a crisp skin for the knuckle. I could feel the tenderness of the meat as I cut through it. The skin was crispy too. But I got the feeling that they deep-fried the knuckle to achieve that texture. I couldn't find the smell of wine and herbs that I read on the Internet on Werner's pork knuckle. To me, it tasted more like Chinese roasted pork belly or shio bak (烧肉).

The knuckle was served with sauerkraut (German sour cabbage) and mashed potatoes. Sauerkraut helps to take away some of the greasiness from the meaty kunckle. As for the mashed potatoes, I guess provides carbo to make you feel full.

Also decided to have green pea soup, after hearing the waiter say that most Germans who visit the restaurant will order it.