My kids have an aversion to smoked/pickled meat so I tend to cut them out. I assume people who have never had real red beans need the same “simple” version my kids are happy with. But yes, ham hocks and the hot sauce is where we get the vinegar from.

Soak one pound of red beans in water(and a cap of crab boil) overnight. Rinse in the a.m. and drain. dice one yellow onion, one green bell pepper, 2 sticks of celery, 5 large cloves of garlic. Set aside. Brown one pound Cajun sausage in large Dutch oven until caramelized, remove from pot. Add veg and 1 T oil to pot and cook down 25 minutes on a low setting until very soft and cooked through. Add drained beans to the pot along with sausage and enough water to cover beans by 2 inches. Add 1 T Cajun seasoning, 1 t salt, 1t black pepper and 3 bay leaves. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cover and cook stirring often for 5 hours or until bean skin and beans are tender. Mash 1/3 of the beans and continue cooking until thick and creamy. Adjust seasoning with hot sauce and Tony’s. Serve over rice

Yikes… a swing and a miss