If you are looking for something easy and delicious to cook for a larger gathering of friends and family, this is what you should make.
Pulled pork is simple and takes very little effort to make, the only thing that takes time is the cooking and you can basically leave that alone for 6-8 hours while you are at work.
If you don’t have a slow cooker you can use a large pot with lid that goes in the oven.
We made this recipe for pulled pork and the BBQ sauce based on ideas from a lot of different recipes found online. You can choose to be more or less creative with the ingredients, and sometimes less is more.
This is how we did it.
Ingredients:
2 kg (4.4 lb) pork loin (we didn’t have the bone in ours, but you can definitely keep it in since it will give you extra flavour)
1 large onion, chopped into large pieces
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
3-5 sprigs of rosemary
3-5 sprigs of thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon cloves, lightly crushed
2 tablespoons coarse mustard
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon pepper
75 g (1/3 cup) brown sugar
1 1/2 liter chicken stock
Mix all the dry ingredients, cut the onion and garlic.
Pour the chicken stock into a large pot or slow cooker. Add everything into the stock and mix till combined. Then place the pork loin into the pot and close with a lid.
Place the pot in the oven at 120 C (250 F) for 7 hours.
If using a slow cooker, set it for low temperature.
While the meat is slowly cooking and becoming juicy and tender, you can work on the BBQ sauce.
This takes a bit longer and if you are running low on time, you can always buy a jar in the supermarket.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 dl (1 cup) ketchup
1 1/4 dl (1/2 cup) apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 dl (1/2 cup) apple juice
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons hot sauce
1 teaspoon tabasco
75 g (1/3 cup) brown sugar
ground pepper
In a small pot bring the ketchup, vinegar, apple juice, soy sauce and honey to a simmer.
Taste as you go along.
Add the hot sauce, tabasco, pepper and brown sugar a little at a time and taste between each adding.
The sauce needs to boil down to become thicker which takes from 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours, so be patient.
Tip: If the sauce tastes too much of vinegar, add more sugar or soy sauce.
Once the meat is cooked remove from the oven and take the pork out and place in a large bowl. Use two forks to separate the meat into strips. Pour the sauce over and mix together.
Serve the pulled pork on freshly baked buns or ciabatta bread.
It is optional to add veggies and other ingredients, so here are a few ideas that we made:
Salad and tomatoes
Guacamole and melted cheese
How do you make yours?
-Enjoy!