9. Ham hock – Rodded

Ham hock – Rodded

This Chinese-influenced Thai restaurant from the Komenkul family has been a key tenant in Thai Town for over four decades, and they serve a very different take on ham hock. Tender chunks of pork leg luxuriate in soy sauce and chiles. The skin absorbs deeply savory flavors. Mint lightens up matters, and sliced jalapeño, including seeds and stem, bring fire to the plate. Be sure to order a fluffy fried egg, since the yolk acts as a fire extinguisher. Of course steamed white rice is another must, so none of that sauce escapes.

10. Pork belly porcetto – Sotto

Pork belly porcetto – Sotto

Plenty of Italian restaurants now offer porchetta, but most places can’t reach the height of Sotto, the southern Italian restaurant that chefs Steve Samson and Zach Pollack run in Beverlywood. Pollack first encountered porchetta’s cousin, porcetto, while working for a Sardinian agriturismo. There, they spit-roasted suckling pigs over burning wood embers. In Beverlywood, larger beasts factor into Sotto’s porcetto, which centers on slabs of belly that are seasoned with finely chopped Kosher salt, rosemary, thyme, sage and garlic. The skin gets crispy thanks to a boiling oil bath, and fennel pollen serves as a finishing spice on the luscious slabs. Seasonal accompaniments may include black plum mostarda. Considering all the labor involved, Sotto’s porcetto is only available on Sunday nights.

11. Cold cuts - Superba Snack Bar

Cold cuts - Superba Snack Bar

Sure, Superba Snack Bar chef and co-owner Jason Neroni now crafts progressive pastas with ingredients like smoke and wakame. Thankfully, he still practices the dark pork arts in Venice with tantalizing, atypical cold cuts. He tops wood planks with chicken liver mousse with black pepper strawberry gelee, plus fairly traditional pate de champagne. Still, it’s his bacon and coppa di testa pastrami that leave the biggest impressions. For “pastrami,” Neroni cures the Franken-meat, crafted from chunks of cured pig head, with spices including black peppercorns, brown sugar, smoked paprika, Indian coriander, and two types of salt, pink and regular. From there, slices join tart dill pickles on crusty rye bread. Bacon is bombed with wood smoke and braised in a broth of chicken stock with bay leaves, onion brulee, garlic, parsley, and peppercorns. The slabs roll in juniper sugar and are bruleed before appearing with sweet-tart apricot mostardo on planks.

12. Tsukemen - Tsujita Annex

Tsukemen - Tsujita Annex

Ramen has proliferated across L.A. County, but Little Osaka is ground zero for any tour thanks to Tsujita LA. Japanese owner Takehiro Tsujita started serving ramen at lunch in 2012, and expanded across the street with a totally different take on ramen in April 2013. At the Annex, as they’re calling the spinoff, they’ve somehow managed to pack even more pork action into their tonkotsu broth, which bobs with flavorful globs of fat. Their tsukemen features a tangy, savory broth loaded with peppery bean sprouts, fat-rimmed char siu, and a soft-boiled egg. Instructions advise adding spoonfuls of fresh garlic and onikasu (red chile flakes) for added pop. Al dente noodles appear in a bowl on the side and are designed for dipping in the intoxicating broth.