Place pork knuckles into a large pot and fill with water so that water covers the pork knuckles. Bring to a boil using high heat. When water boils, turn heat down to medium and cook for 5 minutes

Rinse pork knuckles with cold water

Strain in colander

Soak peanuts for 30 minutes

Place peanuts into a pot and add water. Bring to a boil using high heat. Turn heat down to medium and cook for 30 minutes. Drain and set aside

Prepare 4 cubes of red fermented bean curd and 2 tbsp of the red yeast rice liquid that is in the jar of red fermented bean curd

Add 1 tsp sugar, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp dark soy sauce and 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine. Mix and break apart the bean curd. Set aside

Prepare ginger, garlic and green onions

After pork knuckles have cooled, pluck any hairs that are still on with a fish bone tweezer (or any kind of tweezer) and set aside

In a wok, on medium high heat, add 2 tbsp oil, add ginger, garlic and green onions. Stir-fry until aromatic

Add red fermented bean curd mixture to the wok. Mix well

Add pork knuckles to the wok and mix with the sauce

Add peanuts, star anise, bay leaves, cinnamon stick and rock sugar to the wok

Add enough water to almost cover the pork knuckles

Turn heat to high. When the liquid boils, turn the heat to low and cook for 50 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes

After 50 minutes, do not remove the lid and turn off the heat. Let it sit for 15 minutes

After 15 minutes, remove the lid. Use a chopstick to test the texture. The chopstick should be able to go through the meat easily. If you want the meat softer, turn heat on low and cook for another 15 minutes and check again

Once texture is right, turn heat to high to evaporate some of the liquid. Continue stirring so nothing sticks to the bottom of the wok. You can turn off heat when you reach your desired sauce consistency. If the liquid is too much to evaporate, you may also choose to add a cornstarch slurry with equal parts cornstarch and water

Taste test. Add sugar, salt, soy sauce if necessary. Add more dark soy sauce if you would like a darker colour

Serve over rice or noodles