🍖 Eisbein
Eisbein is a cured pork knuckle simmered for hours until the meat is meltingly tender beneath its soft, gelatinous skin. In Berlin it is traditionally served with sauerkraut, a mound of pea purée and sharp mustard to cut through the richness. It is a substantial dish, usually shared or eaten as a single large main.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cured pork knuckles (about 1.5 kg)
- 500 g sauerkraut
- 400 g dried split peas, soaked
- 1 onion, halved
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 peppercorns
- 4 tbsp mustard
- Salt
Method
- Cover the knuckles with water, add onion, bay leaves and peppercorns and simmer 2.5 hours until tender.
- Cook the split peas in fresh water for about 1 hour until soft, then mash into a purée and season.
- Warm the sauerkraut with a ladle of the cooking liquid for 15 minutes.
- Lift out the knuckles, remove excess skin if desired, and serve with sauerkraut, pea purée and mustard.
How to make it lighter
- Remove the skin and visible fat before eating; most of the fat sits there.
- Share one knuckle between two people and fill the plate with sauerkraut.
- Keep the pea purée to a modest scoop and add a green salad.
History
Eisbein is a long-standing specialty of Berlin and northern and eastern Germany. The name is often linked to the bone once being used to make ice skates, but this explanation is not certain.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →