It's the shank or ankle of a pig that has been smoked. You can also find it called 'pork knuckle' in certain regions. Ham hocks have a distinctive meaty flavor and are tough with tons of fat, connective tissue, and more often than not have the skin still wrapped around the meat of it tightly. All of this is good, it means that it imparts tons of collagen into your potlikker, and the meat becomes fall-apart tender after going in the slow cooker.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eYou can find ham hocks at many local big box supermarkets, but you can also find them at butcher shops and ethnic markets for dirt cheap. They can come in giant knuckles or in horizontal slices.