Last week, our friend Lorna brought us a red casserole dish full of this pulled pork.
We like her. A lot.
Lorna is the author of The Cookbook Chronicles, a blog detailing the writing, editing, and completion of her upcoming cookbook. (The title isn’t set yet, which seems to be the way in publishing, but it’s a book about newlyweds who cook and eat together, to be published by Sasquatch Press in the spring of 2010.)
Lorna and her husband, Henry, met through eGullet, three years ago, where they both discussed the intricacies of food in great detail. (You can read the entire story here.) They had a whole roast pig at their wedding.
She also writes a regular column for Seattle Magazine called Key Ingredient, in which she chooses an unusual ingredient and makes something different with it. (You have to at least admire a woman who likes duck gizzards.)
But really, Lorna loves pork.
“For the Chinese, pork is basically a main food group. I can’t think of another meat that is more widely consumed, and adored. One of my favorite things to eat is Chinese BBQ pork, which bears no resemblance to American BBQ. For Chinese BBQ, the pork is rubbed with Chinese five spice, then roasted until the skin puffs up and crackles. I also love making red-cooked pork belly at home, a rustic Chinese braise where pork belly is cooked with ginger, scallion, soy sauce, rock sugar, Shaoxing wine, and spices for hours until the meat is incredibly silky and tender. And of course, Shanghainese soup dumplings are quite possibly one of the most perfect foods on earth–tiny, hand-pleated parcels of juicy, steamed pork filling and the richest pork broth imaginable. That is comfort food to me.”
Yeah. Sign me up, says Danny.
And why pulled pork?
“I always order pulled pork when my husband and I go out for BBQ, and it’s something I often make at home whenever I need something delicious and easy to prepare for a group of friends. The cookbook I’m working on is for newlyweds like myself, who might be a little tight on cash after the wedding, and who also might not have a lot of fancy kitchen equipment at home. You don’t necessarily need a big smoker to make pulled pork–it can be just as moist and flavorful cooked in a large pot, with the right blend of seasonings.”
Which seasonings?
“I used ketchup, molasses, apple cider vinegar, worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, mustard, liquid smoke, garlic salt, black pepper, sweet paprika, cumin, chili powder, chicken stock, and pork shoulder.
Everything was simply simmered together, then the meat was shredded and added back into the sauce. The sauce was then reduced.”
You know, I don’t even know how to describe Lorna’s pulled pork, other than to say that it tasted of days of making it, the care she took, the blend of tastes, the meaty bites of everything together. Subtle and bold both. Sweet and spicy and with a kick.
We started calling it the “…why don’t we have more of that around the house?” pulled pork.
Next year, you can buy Lorna’s book and find the exact recipe.
In the meantime, what do you think of pulled pork? And how do you like to eat it?
(thanks to Lorna Yee, so much)
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Yeah, I keep saying to Laurie, “Um, I want some more of that pulled pork. Is Lorna’s cookbook out yet?”
The pieces of the recipe Lorna shared sound intriguing; I like to have an excuse to use molasses in anything. In the meantime, I’m a big fan of Michael Mina’s pulled pork recipe from Esquire magazine. Last time I made it, I used the leftovers to make pulled pork pizza. It sounds wrong, and is in no way traditional pizza, but… oh my god.
I need to find me some liquid smoke!
I make something similar thanks to a recipe my mother sent me but I always felt like I was cheating in some way since I was using a slow cooker. But now I feel alright!
I like to eat the pulled pork piled on buns. Nummy.
Pulled pork is my favorite too…alongside with fresh cole slaw…heaven!
Pulled pork on a soft bun with homemade baked butter beans or a 3 bean Salad and Coleslaw with just enough sauce to keep the meat moist. Nothing better on a warm summer evening. Oh a whole Roast Pig I want some please.
I love pulled pork on a toasted bun with cole slaw on top! Mmmm. I have to say, I also love carnitas! This is how I’ve been eating my pulled pork recently…not bbq, I know , trust me I know, I’m from Kansas City, relocated to Denver and boy do I miss my bbq.
However, I take a pork shoulder in the crock pot, add 2 sliced onions, one orange quartered, seasoned salt (lots), cumin, pepper and let it go for at least 8 hours. Shred, pour the broth into pan and reduce, broil shredded meat with reduced sauce on it until it’s crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Serve with fresh lime wedges, cilantro, avocado, cheese, black olives, seasoned black beans, saffron rice, homemade tortillas and a good mexican beer!!! Mmmmm, heaven!
i got a fantastic recipe a couple of years ago from the homesick texan. it’s a failsafe recipe, and i think this is how it went:
trim the fat from a boneless pork shoulder or boston butt and cube the meat into 2″ x 2″ pieces. slice one large onion. pour 1 cup of orange juice (crucial to caramelizing the meat) over the pork and onions. fill the pot with water, until it just covers the pork.
leaving it uncovered, bring and keep the pot to a light (barely bubbling) simmer for around 4 hours or so, skimming fat from the surface and stirring once every hour. the water steams off, the onion dissolves into delicious, silky strands and the pork will cook down further and further until it’s shredded itself.
it’s an absolutely delicious, carnitas-style version of pulled pork and tastes great with fresh cilantro, green onions or salsa verde. throw a little queso blanco on top and you may as well vaya con dios.
What do I think about pulled pork? This is a subject near to my heart. See I’m a vegetarian in my adulthood, but I was raised on Southern pulled pork BBQ. I don’t miss meat very often, but when you put a BBQ pulled pork sandwich in front of me, well, something happens. Animal instinct might come close to describing it?
To wit, I’ve actually considered (and am still considering) moving to a town in North Carolina whose restaurants offer local, grass-fed, down home Southern pulled pork BBQ. On the face of it, I’d pack my bags and drop the vegetarian label in no time flat to be near that pork on a weekly basis, but my logical side is telling me to weigh in a couple of other factors as well. But if I do go, I’ll be sure to send back a report.
Thanks Shauna, for this lovely post!