Smokey Pulled Pork

Pulled pork is pretty much everywhere these days, from On-trend US inspired eateries, restaurants, pubs even fast food joints are doing it, so safe to say it must be pretty tasty right. Too right it is and I love the stuff, I've made it a few times now and over time I have developed this recipe

The great thing is, pork shoulder being a tough old joint, it’s fairly cheap but as with all cheaper cuts, the right cooking method combined with spices and assorted flavourings can be a thing of joy.

This recipe in particular gives you soft, meltingly tender meat, that is, Smokey hot from the chipotle and sweet yet sharp, almost the perfect combination

You can serve it with a salad, potatoes of some sort, or like this in a bun with coleslaw.

I have in the past made coleslaw which goes perfectly but short of time used shop bought.

The buns are important and if bread weren't my nemesis I would have made some, if you don’t want to make bread then the best I've found are M&S ultimate burger buns, any other relish, well that’s up to you really

Finally you’ll need to plan as the best results are found if you apply the rub and leave overnight. Plus the oven time is 7 hours, seems a lot but really once it’s in you don’t need to do much,

Ingredients

1Kg Pork Shoulder

1 Red onion peeled and halved

1 Bay leaf

Rub

2 Chipotle Chillies

2 Teaspoons Cumin Seeds

2 Teaspoons Peppercorns

2 Tablespoons Paprika

2 Tablespoons of caster Sugar

2 Tablespoons of Soft Dark Brown Sugar

1 Tablespoon of Salt

Sauce

750 Ml Chicken stock

3 Tablespoons of Tomato Ketchup

About 100ml of Coke

2 teaspoons of red wine vinegar

Large Freezer Bag

Middle sized oven dish with Lid

Right then, the night before you want to eat, take the chillies, cumin seeds and peppercorns and using a pestle and mortar or a grinder if you have one, grind to a powder, then tip into the freezer bag, add to this the sugars, salt and Paprika, grab the bag at the top and shake well, so that all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Remove any packaging from the pork and with a sharp knife stab all over, then place the meat into the bag. With the bag sealed gently rub the mixture into the meat, place in the fridge overnight

Next day, take the bag from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature, heat the oven to 120 degrees, place the onion halves cut side down in the base of the oven dish, along with the bayleaf. 

Remove the meat from the bag and spoon out any of the rub onto a small plate or bowl, add 2 tablespoons of the mixture to the stock and stir well. Pour the stock over the onions, place the meat on top. Put the lid on the dish and place in the oven. 

Cook for 7 hours, returning to baste every 30-40 mins, if the liquid looks like its running dry, top up with water from the kettle.

After 7 hours the meat should be cooked, lift out the meat and place on a plate and cover with foil, leave to rest for about 15-20 mins. Meanwhile remove the onion and bayleaf from the sauce that’s left in the pan. Add to the sauce the ketchup, coke and vinegar, if you pan is heat proof place on the stove, if it’s not transfer the contents to a reasonable sized saucepan.

Bring the sauce to the boil. Now for tasting, it should sweet, tangy and hot. If it’s lacking flavour completely, add some more of the mixture you spooned from the bag, if its lacking sweetness try a bit more coke and/or ketchup, if it’s not sharp enough add a little more vinegar, it shouldn't need more salt or pepper. When the sauce is to your liking leave to simmer

Put the pork on a chopping board, use a knife to remove the top, thick layer of fat. Now with two forks begin to pull apart the pork into string like strands, when complete add to the sauce and stir well, leave to very gently simmer. Keep an eye on it and again if its dry add a little water, the flavours already there can take a little extra water

Almost there, prepare whatever accompaniments you want. In this case lightly toast the buns, lather the pork on top with some of the sauce, dollop on the coleslaw, and dig in. Oh and you’ll definitely need a napkin.