Put Some South in your mouth.
I adore pulled pork. I am obsessed, besotted even, with it. Having driven along highways in Mississippi and Tennessee in search of it and prowled the wilds of Soho and Clapham (for Bodean’s, natch) to get my mouth around it, it’s fair to say I am gaga for the smoky, sweet, finger-licking gorgeousness of it. I never knew I could make pulled pork at home, or rather Josh could, and this is very dangerous knowledge indeed.
For my birthday this week (I hit the big 3-0!) one of my gifts was a slow-cooker and another was a birthday meal from him-indoors that was fit for a king. Probably actually The King. He produced a platter of beautiful, sumptuous, pulled pork baps and you should too. They are tasty, cheap and crazily easy to make. So what’s stopping you?
To buy:
*you need a slow cooker *1.5kg boneless shoulder of pork
For the dry rub: *1 tbsp black pepper * tbsp white pepper *1 -2 tsp cayenne pepper *1 tbsp chilli powder *4 tbsp paprika *1 tbsp oregano *2 tbsp dark sugar *1 tbsp white sugar *2 tbsp salt.
Lovely meat from Ginger Pig
For the sauce: * an onion, finely chopped *2 tbsp Jack Daniel’s BBQ sauce *Half a cup of Heinz tomato ketchup *2 tbsp mustard *one third of a cup of vinegar – cider/white wine *2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce *2 tbsp tomato puree *2 tbsp brown sugar
To serve: * lots of fluffy white baps or brioche *creamy coleslaw *a beer or some coca cola (to drink)
To make:
1. Make your rub by combining the dry rub ingredients in a bowl and mixing really well. Wet the pork with water and then pat and rub the spices all over the meat. Place in a container, cover with clingfilm and store in the fridge overnight or until you want to get cooking.
2. Mix the wet sauce ingredients and the chopped onions in the slow-cooker and then place the pork on top. Roll the pork around so the sauce gets into every nook and cranny.
3. Turn the slow cooker onto low and cook for at least 10 hours. We popped it on before we left for work and it was ready (and making the flat smell DIVINE!) when we got home.
Many many many baps.
4. If the sauce looks too watery then turn it up to High for a little while.
5. You can either serve it at this point or pop it in the oven at a very high heat to slightly burn the meat and caramelize the sauce. If using the oven then you don’t need to cook it for too long.
6. When you’re ready pull the pork apart with a couple of forks and pile high on sliced baps. Add coleslaw and a generous dollop of BBQ sauce (I like Jack Daniel’s BBQ sauce of Bodean’s hickory sauce).
The recipe made a stonking 10 baps so if you want to make friends and influence people I suggest you don’t eat them all but share them with your nearest and dearest. Life will never be the same again.
(Recipe adapted from this one by James Holland, which he pinched from someone else).
