Pulled Pork

Elena Butuc

I had Pulled Pork for the first and, to be honest, the last time at a popular fast-food restaurant. I was drawn to the idea of it and the photo in the ad looked appealing, so it was mere culinary curiosity :) But what I got was just not so good looking and kind of tasteless. Since then, I've been testing the Pulled Pork recipe and I've tried many versions of it, both classic and original. Eventually, I decided to stick to this one, which is adapted to our taste.

Pulled Pork, or shredded pork, is actually slow cooked steak in the oven, seasoned with specific spices and sauce. It usually has a slight smoky flavour and a somewhat sweet taste, like the Barbeque sauce kind of sweet. I don't like this combination, so I got rid of the sugar in the sauce right from the start. The smoky flavour comes from the smoked paprika, I'm not too fond of that either, so I often replace it with sweet paprika, especially that smoked paprika is so hard to find.

This is a simple low-carb, no sugar recipe, but you are free to create the version you like. You can play, adjusting the salt, sugar and smoky flavour to your own taste. One more important thing - you'll get a lot of food if you use these amounts. I was a bit buffled at first, but then I decided to freeze the rest. When thawed, the meat doesn't lose its taste and texture, so you can always keep it for when you are in the mood for some pita bread sandwiches or just plain, but you don't have the time.

Oh, and you can use chicken, turkey or any other meat you like, but keep it in the over for less time, I'd say 2-3 hours.

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Ingredients

Metric US

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Pork leg meat

1.5 kg

choose a fatty cut, like the pork shoulder

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Tomato paste

200 g

it has to be slightly more liquid, you can use water to dilute the tomato paste

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Onions

1 piece

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Garlic cloves

2 pieces

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Chilli pepper

1 piece

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Smoked paprika

2 tsp

I normally use sweet paprika

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Ground coriander

2 tsp

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Ground black pepper

0.5 tsp

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Salt

2 tsp

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Brandy or cognac

2 tbsp

optional

Step by step

Step 1

In a small bowl, mix tomato sauce, cognac (if you want), salt, paprika, black peper and coriander (adjust to your taste).

Step 2

Finely dice the chilly pepper, onion and garlic - add them to the sauce and stir well.

Step 3

I used this meat, but next time I will choose a fattier shoulder cut.

Step 4

Place the meat in a bowl or even in the casserole dish in which you will cook it. Coat the meat with the sauce, covering well every part of it.

I have a deep Jena baking dish with lid which I use mostly for cooking pork steak. I marinated the meat in it.

Step 5

Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and leave in the fridge to marinate for 5-6 hours, or even 1-2 days.

Step 6

After this time, cover with a lid or aluminium foil and place in the oven for 5-6 hours to 125 degrees C.

If you used a different bowl to marinate meat, transfer it in a casserole dish together with the sauce. There is no need to add any other liquid, as there is plenty and covering it with a lid while cooking will prevent the meat from getting dry.

Step 7

This is what it looks like after 4-5 hours in the oven.

Step 8

Now it's the time to shred the meat, using 2 forks.

Step 9

Keep it in the oven for another 30 minutes, same temperature.

Step 10

It's nicely roasted now, let it cool for 15-30 minutes.

Step 11

While still warm, use 2 forks to pull the meat apart and blend it well together with the sauce.

Step 12

Now, just enjoy pulled pork with: pita breads (I spread cream cheese on, I added in the pork, pickled cucumber, cabbage, tomatoes and corn), sandwiches, pasta, patatoes, vegetables etc.