Crispy Pata (Filipino Ham Hock)

Crispy pata is a Filipino dish you'll find at celebrations or at your local drinking establishment as pulutan, something you order when you're out drinking with friends. It translates to crispy leg, more specifically the ham hock, aka pig's knuckles.

Legend has it that the dish was created at a restaurant outside Manila called Barrio Fiesta. The owner's son would bring in his friends after school and feed them without charging them. One day his mother noticed ham hocks in the kitchen not being used for any menu items and fried them in an effort to save money. And so a new fried delicacy was born.

• 1 fresh pork leg (the hock down to the foot), 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 pounds
• 3 stalks lemongrass, crushed
• 2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• 2 to 4 quarts water, or enough to cover hock
• 2 to 4 quarts vegetable oil, for frying, or enough to come 3/4 of the way up the sides of the pork leg

• 1 cup cane vinegar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 3 Thai chilies, sliced