A firm favourite in the Americas, pulled pork is a succulent and tasty dish which can often be found at Mexican fiestas, taco stations and inside burgers.
Often served with hand made slaw and grilled corn on the cob, pulled pork is cooked very slowly and then effectively pulled apart using forks. Hence the name pulled pork.
Give your dish even more flavour with liquid smoke. Created from the smoke of flavoured wood, liquid smoke can help give your pulled pork a more traditional smoked flavour, without spending hours waiting for it to be smoked authentically.
Here’s everything you need to make your own American style pulled pork.
Ingredients
- 2 ½kg boneless porkshoulder, all skin removed
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp Spanish paprika
- 2 tsp mustard powder
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tsp onion salt
- 1 tbsp liquid smoke – your own preferred flavour
To serve
- Brioche buns
- Selection of toppings – down to preference. Can include homemade house slaw, pickles or cabbage.
Method
Step 1
Pre heat the oven to 150C / 130C fan assisted /gas mark 2. Use 2 tbsps of the olive oil and rub in to the pork. Heat up a large non-stick frying pan until very hot and then sear the pork on every side until all the pork is golden brown in colour.
Step 2
Place the pre cooked pork on to a wire rack inside of a roasting tin or tray. Mix together all the paprika, mustard powder, garlic and onion salt. Add some black pepper to go with the liquid smoke, if you are using it. Use a brush to apply all over the golden brown pork.
Step 3
Pour a cup of water in to the roasting tin surrounding the pork joint. Then cover tightly with foil across the whole tin and then cook in the oven for 5 hrs or until it is almost falling apart. Check at the 4 hour stage to see whether the pork has reached this stage.
Step 4
Remove the pork from the oven and then drain all the juices from the tray or tin into a measuring jug. Using two forks, normal kitchen forks will do, pull apart the pork and remove all of the fat.
Step 5
Skim off all the fat from the juices collected in the measuring jug. Mix up 125ml of the remaining juices with 4 tbsp BBQ sauce (either home made or shop bought) and then pour over the shredded meat. Keep the pork warm until serving in a cooler oven or hotplate, or reheat for later use.
Step 6
To assemble the pulled pork burger, pile up the pulled pork into each of the halved brioche buns. Next spoon over your chosen BBQ sauce, and then top off with coleslaw and pickles.
Pulled pork is an ideal dish to serve at a family BBQ or party and can also be considered as an appetising alternative at a wedding reception.
