How to Make Asian Pork Lettuce Wraps

Pulled pork is one of my go-to dishes for a crowd.  It is economical, requires minimal effort, and is popular among kids and adults alike. Having recently served both the traditional barbecue version and Mexican pulled pork, I was ready for some variety. I also wanted to lighten it up a bit; the chunky rolls associated with the Southern sandwiches tend to make me chunky, and the Mexican version with the tortillas, cheese, guacamole, chips, well, you see my dilemma. Lettuce wraps and Asian spices beckoned me, and I heeded their call.

Here's what I did:

 5 lbs pork loin

1 inch piece ginger, grated

2 TBSP chopped garlic

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

1 tsp Sriracha (more/less depending on your desire for heat)

Place pork in oven proof pot with cover.  Cover with remaining ingredients.  Place in 275 degree oven for 6 hours, or longer.  Baste and turn meat over once or twice during cooking.  Meat is done when it is easily pulled apart with forks.

Serve with thoroughly washed, large lettuce leaves and cooked sticky rice.  Pass a variety of Asian condiments.

Enjoy!

Sunday Dinner: Korean Pork Bo Ssam

My resolution to encourage my husband's commandeering of the kitchen every Sunday continues with glorious results.  He found a recipe for  Korean Pork Bo Ssam in the New York Times last week and he was determined to make it.   The lacquered coating on the fork-tender fall-apart pork was transformational, and the lettuce wraps gave the meal a lighter note, though the fare was plenty hearty on this chilly evening.

The homemade kimchi was a terrific accompaniment--he substituted red cabbage for the more traditional napa, which was a colorful alternative and quite tasty.

My contribution?  Garlic braised pea shoots, procured from the "Oriental Supermarket" (the owners are obviously not concerned with political correctness.)  We had a fascinating trip there to source ingredients, more on that in a future post.  Perhaps not ideal to visit for the first time on a Sunday afternoon the week before Chinese New Year, but we certainly stocked up.

Meantime, we'll be enjoying the leftover Bo Ssam.  Anyone hungry?

Pulled Pork Asian Style

Pulled pork is a standard dish in our household - regardless of the weather. 

We serve it in the Summer on a hoagie roll as it's great for parties on the beach; we serve it in the Winter during the football season when there's a crowd.

We tried a new recipe, Asian-style Pulled Pork, recently and it was a hit. 

This recipe is infused with Asian spices, leaning heavily on Chinese Five Spice Powder which gives off a heavenly aroma whilst cooking.  (I adore Five Spice Powder so I actually doubled the quantity of this ingredient, which is a bit naughty for not following the recipe).

I was in the mood to experiment and switched my normal BBQ sauce for a Raspberry Barbecue Sauce from one of the Pennsylvania Dutch merchants in Reading Terminal Market.   Hot, sweet and spicy, this jar of sauce was gone in less than a week.  Must head back for more...

My husband had requested a turkey chili for his friend's tailgate.  It was a home game, the Eagles versus the Jets.  Bored of chili, I found this recipe online and thought I'd surprise the menfolks. (Actually they were more surprised when the Eagles won, based on the team's crushingly bad 2011 performance.) 

After the victorious tailgate, my husband confided that they'd shared their pulled pork with Jets fans who were drawn to the smell of the pulled pork warming on a portable stove in the Eagles car park.

I dashed over to the Market and nabbed a pork butt from Giunta's

We managed to get two meals out of this pork butt.

I served the remaining pulled pork with with black beans and rice on a later date and pepped up some coleslaw with Beck's Cajun Cafe's cheerful Creole Mayonnaise, which has a dusky spiciness to it. 

The mayo is difficult to describe because it's not like any other mayo, but it is well worth trying.  See http://www.beckscajuncafe.com/ if you'd like to give it a whirl yourself.

Philly Food Lovers' Pulled Pork

Animal Kingdom, the winner of the Kentucky Derby may have been a long shot at 30-1, but this dish is a sure bet.  Pulled pork is the perfect dish for a crowd.  It is shockingly easy to prepare, can be done ahead, and is quite versatile.  This version has a southern bbq slant, since it was the centerpiece for our Derby Day Party Menu, but you can use the same cooking technique for a variety of flavors.  Go Mexican with salt, cumin, chili pepper,  lime juice and beer and serve the pulled pork on tortillas.  Douse it with garlic, salt, pepper and white wine for an Italian version and serve on chunky rolls with broccoli rabe and sharp provolone.    But whatever your preference, this foolproof method will produce tender, delicious meat every time.

Pulled Pork for 10

6 lbs boneless pork loin (or 9 lbs bone-in roast)
3 Tbsp Rub-a-dub-dub, or your favorite barbecue spice blend
1 Tbsp liquid smoke
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup beer (any variety)
1/4 cup barbecue sauce

1 large, oven-proof, covered roasting pan

Heat oven to 225.  Place pork in large roasting pan and drizzle pork with liquid smoke and vinegar, then rub with spice blend to coat.   Drizzle bbq sauce over top, and pour beer into bottom of pan.  Cover pork and place in oven for 8 hours.  Turn and baste once or twice during cooking.  (Cooking can be done overnight).  When pork is done, it will fall apart easily when a fork is inserted into it.  To "pull" the pork, take two forks and gently tear the meat apart.  Serve on rolls with your favorite barbecue sauce.  We recommend Down Home Barbecue Sauce, available at the Down Home Diner in Reading Terminal Market

For our Kentucky Derby Party, we plated the pork and served it with braised collard greens and Creamed Copes Corn with Rice.  Copes corn, a dried super-sweet corn, is available at the PA General Store in Reading Terminal Market, (see recipe in upcoming post).  Our party was on the formal side, so we served everything for knife and fork consumption.  But for a casual party, we recommend serving the pork on rolls with a side of potato salad or cole slaw.   In parts of North Carolina, the slaw goes right on the sandwich--and it's delicious.   Potato chips are also a traditional accompaniment in some areas; I recall a long ago visit to a friend's home in rural Tennessee when her Mama, who we all called "Miss Bonnie" served us pulled pork.  I started to eat my sandwich and she stopped me, horrified.  "Honey," she said, "we don't eat barbecue without chips down here!" and she dumped a generous pile of Ruffles on my plate.  Life was good.