Pulled pork sandwiches anyone?

You can slow-cook a tough cut of pork, such as pork shoulder, over a barbecue, in a slow-cooker or even in an oven and it will become tender enough for you to pull apart with your fingers.

Living in Hong Kong, I don’t have the luxury of a barbecue and my kitchen is too tiny to have the storage space for a slow-cooker so I tried an oven-roasted version of pulled pork.  You might think I’m crazy to roast a 2kg pork shoulder for 2 people, but I really wanted to try Tyler Florence’s recipe, so I went for it!

Making pulled pork is much simpler than you think.  First you slather your pork shoulder with a dry rub, marinate it overnight and then oven-roast it on a low temperature for 4-6 hours…and voila, you have melt-in-your mouth, tender and juicy pork shreds!  You would then need to douse the meat with your favorite BBQ sauce (another Tyler Florence’s recipe) slather over a bun and top with a creamy cole slaw, dill pickles or pickled onions.

We were eating pulled pork as leftovers for a few days (I did freeze some of it as well), but neither of us minded.  I changed it up a bit on the last night and served the pulled pork in a taco with salsa, sour cream, coriander and a squeeze of a lime.  Just as yum!

A word of caution, the original recipe calls for way too much salt in the rub ~ 3 tbsp!  If you have a low salt tolerance, I would suggest you halve it to 1.5 tbsp.  But if you love salt as much as hubby and I do, go ahead and use 2 tbsp.  FYI – this recipe is absolutely delish!

If you have trouble finding a nice piece of pork shoulder in Hong Kong, I suggest you try ordering it online at Pacific Gourmet.  I ordered the chilled meat online on Thursday evening and it was delivered to my door Saturday afternoon.

Enjoy~~

 

Tyler Florence’s Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Serves 8-10

1 pork shoulder (2 kg)
10 hamburger buns
pickles

Dry Rub
3 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp dry mustard
2 tbsp coarse salt

BBQ Sauce
1 1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 cup yellow mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Cole Slaw
1/2 head of green cabbage, shredded
1 carrot, grated
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp whole grain mustard
1 tsp yellow mustard
1/2 lemon, juiced
pinch of sugar
1/4 tsp celery seed
several dashes of tabasco sauce
salt & pepper

In a bowl, mix the paprika, garlic powder, brown sugar, dry mustard and coarse salt. Rub the spice blend all over the pork, cover with cling wrap and marinate overnight in the fridge.

Pre-heat the oven to 300°F.

Place the pork on a roasting pan and bake for 4.5 hours* until the pork is falling apart or when the thickest part of the roast is 170°F.

Prepare the coleslaw while the pork is roasting. Combine the cabbage, carrot, red onions in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice and sugar. Pour the dressing into the large bowl and toss the cabbage mixture to combine. Season the cole slaw with celery seed, tabasco sauce, salt and pepper. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Make the BBQ sauce by combining all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer gently over medium heat. Cook for 10 minutes and stir continuously until all the sugar dissolves.

When the pork is done, remove from the oven and rest for 10 minutes. While the pork is still warm, shred the pork by using 2 forks. Pour in about half of the BBQ sauce over the pulled pork and mix.

Toast the hamburger buns for 2-3 minutes. Then spoon the pulled pork mixture on the bottom half of the bun, top with cole slaw and serve with a side of extra BBQ sauce.

*For every pound of pork, roast for 1 hour in the oven.

Source: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/oven-roasted-pulled-pork-sandwiches-recipe.html
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/spicy-slaw-recipe.html