Spicy Pulled Pork – hard to resist!

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13 June 2017 BY Julie Biuso
SERVES: 8 or more

It might be a tad difficult to spit roast a whole beast where you live, but you can always cook pulled pork in a slow cooker. Now there's an idea for a chilly weekend ...

Ingredients

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1.5 -1.7kg (3 lb 4oz / 3 lb 12oz)- pork shoulder with bone in 1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped 2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped 2 Tbsp peeled and roughly chopped ginger ½ cup chicken stock Flaky sea salt Dry rub 1 Tbsp smoked Spanish paprika 1 Tbsp ground cumin 1 Tbsp dried oregano 1 Tbsp flaky sea salt 1 tsp allspice 1 tsp crushed or ground coriander seeds ½ tsp chilli flakes

Method

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1 Bring the pork to room temperature. Preheat slow cooker on high for 20 minutes. (See instructions for cooking pork in an oven below in Recipe Notes.)

2 Put the onion, garlic and ginger in the bowl of the slow cooker. Trim any excess fat from pork, but leave skin on. Mix dry rub ingredients together on a plate, then rub mixture all over pork. Put pork on top of onions skin side up, adding any dry rub left on the plate. Pour chicken stock around the side, not over the top, of the pork.

3 Cover with a lid and cook for 4 hours, or until the meat can easily be shredded with two forks. The meat will hold like this and stay nice and hot for at least an hour (turn slow cooker off, or on lowest setting).

4 When ready to serve, transfer meat to a board or large plate, season with sea salt, then shred with two forks. Use a little of the juices to keep meat moist. Use immediately in tortillas or tacos.

Recipe Notes

I am confident the pork can be cooked in the oven, though I haven’t tried it. Use a heavy base casserole and cook for around 3 hours in a preheated oven at 170°C, or until the meat shreds easily with two forks.

This pork is massaged with spices and seasoning and cooked slowly until it falls away from the bones and can be shredded easily with two forks. There are plenty of ways to use it …

Shred and serve in soft buns and on tortillas as featured here, or served atop a potato mash, or squishy sort of bean purée (cooked white beans, roughly squashed with a large fork). Utilise the juices for these last ideas, pouring them off and running them through a fat separating jug if you have one, or scoop off the fat. Alternatively, transfer the pork to a spicy tomato-based sauce and serve on rice.