Spicy 卡罗来纳州 Style Crock-Pot Pulled Pork

I should preface this one by noting that I’m sick today. Part cold, part sore throat, part achy dopiness. Which is why I kind of screwed up some key parts of this recipe.

If you look below at the recipe, you’ll see it calls for 5lbs of pork shoulder.

On Monday afternoon, when I bought and initially prepared the piece of pork, I didn’t look at the size or weight or cut. I just bought a reasonably sized piece, fit for a household where one person doesn’t really eat meat (me) and the other doesn’t really like pork (Doug). However, I really like the pulled pork sandwich at Boxing Cat Brewery (about 80rmb) and thought it would be worth attempting at home.

This is what I bought.

This is a, um, ‘pork leg butt sk–‘, whatever that is. It is certainly not a shoulder.

This is about a pound, or half a kilo. Not 5 pounds. No.

Did I make a note of that when I prepared the spice rub? No.

Did I even think about it when preparing the marinade and veggies for the crock pot? No.

But you know what? Even though I super-sized the seasoning, it turned out just fine. Better than fine, actually. It was lovely.

I’m not very well versed in cooking meat. I have a few dishes that I’ve been working on in the 8 or so years since I gradually stopped being a vegetarian.  Pork never figured in any of them, as I was living in Turkey for most of that time and pork was barely legal there.

To get a few thin slices of rare and pricey prosciutto back in 2005, I used to have to trudge down to the lone Armenian butcher who was licensed to own pigs and to sell piggy things, in his tiny little deli in a rather rough neighbourhood in Istanbul, at the bottom of the Tarlabaşı hill. He was hidden behind a gas station, semi-ironically located not far from the site of the Dolapdere neighbourhood annual Kurban bayramı sheep-killing depot.

Here in Shanghai, pork is the meat of choice. The beef is pretty leathery and often waterlogged. The chicken is meh. I don’t care for duck or pigeon or bull frog.

I thought I’d see what I could do with pork. It just makes sense.

I had no idea how to prepare southern style pulled pork. I’ve done shredded beef and chicken in soups and stews but that isn’t quite the same. I needed that slow cooked, vinegary barbecued effect. I looked up a few recipes online but they all said impractical ridiculous things like ‘add barbecue sauce’ as if I could just go out and buy it.  Ha!

Then I found this one.

Spicy Carolina Style Pulled Pork

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper [added 2 by accident, and 1 tsp Sichuan numbing peppercorn]
• 5 lbs pork shoulder [mine was, um, 1lb?]
• 1 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon powdered cayenne pepper
• 2 red onions, quartered
• 2 yellow onions, quartered

Directions

1. combine the brown sugar, paprika, salt and pepper, and rub the mixture over the roast. wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate a few hours, overnight is best.
2. in a bowl, combine the vinegar, worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, sugar, mustard, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. mix well.
3. place the quartered onions in the bottom of the crock pot. unwrap the roast, and place on top of onions. drizzle most of the vinegar mix over the roast, reserving some to add to the shredded meat at the end.
4. cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, or high for 4 to 5 hours.
5. remove the meat and onions to a cutting board. remove skin and set aside. using two forks (or your fingers, if you have asbestos hands), pull and shred the pork. chop the onions, and mix into the shredded meat. using a fork, remove some of the fat from under the skin, mince, and add to the shredded meat and onions as needed for moisture and flavor.
6. serve on warm buns or crusty hard rolls, with the remaining vinegar mixture on the side.

Let me show you what I did and what I ended up with. It’s well worth a try.