This pulled pork is my best “I’m cooking for a crowd of meat-eaters” recipe. And that’s saying something, since I grew up in a house of meat-eaters, but didn’t really cook or enjoy eating barbecue until my late 20s. Hey, that house of meat-eaters was also a house of Brits – we ate curry aplenty, but it took me a really long time to appreciate root beer, anything cinnamon (I know), peanut butter, and BBQ, amongst many other classic American flavors. I’m making up for most of these lapses now (except root beer, shudder), and this recipe has successfully made it all the way back home to family in the UK, so everything has come full circle at last.
Just in case you aren’t familiar with pulled pork and are wondering, this is a barbecue recipe by association, and not by any time spent over coals or in a smoker. I mean, you can pull pork that has been slow smoked or roasted over a barbecue, but many home cooking recipes now involve a slow cooker or a heavy covered pot over low heat. Which is where I come in.
Incidentally, my little sister M also has a famously good slow-cooker pulled pork recipe, apparently made with the addition of Coke or Dr. Pepper or something, (which she still hasn’t made for me, hint hint) and which is probably more in line with the American standard for non-coals-related pulled pork. My version is a little eccentric – I started with this excellent recipe by Todd and Diane of whiteonricecouple.com for a kind of Asian-themed pulled pork, and it kind of grew from there, the way recipes often do, based on what I had on hand in my pantry. I’m so happy with the current version that I hope it never changes.
- 2-3 lb pork shoulder or tenderloin (I like tenderloin here, even though it is not traditional)
- salt and pepper
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic, crushed
- a 15 oz can of crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce
- ¼-1/2 cup of hot sauce, to taste (I used a combo or a citrusy yuzu sauce and tabasco)
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- a splash of fruit juice or sugar (I like apple or orange, and have also used mango smoothie here!)
- Heat the oil in a large cast-iron or heavy-bottomed & lidded pot over medium-high heat. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Sear the pork until it is browned on all sides, then remove to a plate.
- Add the onion and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes or until softened and starting to color. Add the tomatoes, hot sauce, soy sauce, and juice/sugar. Bring the sauce to a simmer.
- Add the meat and any juices back to the pot, and spoon sauce over the top of the meat. Cover the pot and reduce heat to low. Cook for 1-2 hours, or until the pork is falling apart or yields easily when you try to pull it apart.
- Remove the pork from the sauce, and pull to shreds with two forks. Add the pulled pork back to the sauce and mix thoroughly to combine. Bring to a simmer and serve.
- This recipe keeps well, even improves, in the fridge. It also freezes well.