Maloney & Porcelli

I recently returned from a long overdue trip to New York and there just weren’t enough meals in the day to eat everything I had on my list. I did manage to fit in quite a bit though and have lots of photos to share but here’s the best thing I ate that week:

(Crackling Pork Shank)

I couldn’t take the picture fast enough before my dining companions and I fell upon this giant hunk of meat like hungry cavemen but holy heart disease - this was the most delicious thing I’ve eaten in recent memory. Maloney’s signature dish, the Crackling Pork Shank, starts with two pound-plus pork shank that is cooked very slowly, confit-style in lard, until the meat is meltingly tender. The whole shank then gets deep fried so that the skin becomes shatteringly crisp. It’s served with spicy applesauce and poppy seed-sprinkled sauerkraut. The dish should be illegal but it was so good! I’ve tracked down the recipe in case anyone wants to attempt to make something that calls for 4 pounds of lard. (If you do, let me know!)