As the “first and only” restaurant specializing in jokbal in Toronto, we made the trip up the 1 subway line to North York in Toronto, Ontario (Canada) as the veritable dish worth commuting to. Maybe we should have driven. But just what is jokbal? Well, it’s pigs trotters or feet, aka, from the ankle knuckle down. As in, the very connective tissue and collagen-rich area, that by nature is very tough. Maybe I lost part of the audience there. But if braised for hours, jokbal becomes gelatinous and tender, and is an experience worth trying.
At Hanyang Jokbal, they offer a number of options for their signature dish: original, spicy, garlic, BBQ, roasted, cold, and mala. Not willing to step away from the “extra-spicy” challenge, we opted for a saucier version of the meal (featured pic). Jokbal is served with Romaine lettuce, pickled daikon, green onions, ssamjang (dipping sauce), garlic, and jalapenos to make the taco. On the side is beef broth (as a palette cleanser).
Rather than just plain rice, we opted for jumeokbap, which is a more savory rice with gim (seaweed), carrots, and green onions (which you the patron mix in with a glove), then portion into little balls. That completed our jukbal tacos!
We did not go wrong with the extra spicy jokbal. It registered as spicy for me, and at the top of the limit for my dining partner. The jokbal itself was tender yet chewy, and incredibly delicious. Really melted in the mouth. Coupled with the rice, lettuce, and daikon, it made one hell of a bite. We didn’t quite finish our portion for two, it was so generous. I’m beginning to wonder why this dish hasn’t been made more popular in the US!
Hanyang Jokbal also offers bossam and spicy bossam (boiled pork), pork soup, pollock soup, and half bossam/half jokbal options. When a restaurant has a hyper specialization such as this, you know the food is really cooked with love and to its peak of delicious and savory.
The staff recommended the roasted jokbal, which takes an additional half hour to cook, for the next visit. Not nearly as spicy, but even juicier. Will keep that in mind!
After this preparation of jokbal, I’m on a mission to re-create the recipe from sources here in the US. I imagine there’s a lot of time and patience that goes into braising the pork, and trial-and-error to come up with a sauce that complements the gelatinous, chewy nature. Stay tuned!
