We’ve finally found a butcher in town and they are awesome. They aren’t a fancy shop but their meat is fresh and delicious and they have lots of friendly butchers that are more than happy to help you. The homemade sausages they have is excellent, they have all types of varieties from spicy to lamb as well as chicken. With a free Saturday on our hands we decided to pick up some meat and get the grill back in shape for the summer. We decided on a pork shoulder but didn’t want to do a usual pulled pork recipe, we were in the mood for Asian flavors. Asian pulled pork it is!
This is a great recipe for entertaining because most of the work is done the night before. Season the pork, pickle the jalapenos and the onions, and make the BBQ sauce. Park them all in the fridge overnight. Cooking the pork is then the star attraction with all the other stuff out of the way in advance. If you prepare the meat on the grill it take a little babysitting to make sure the coals keep a steady temperature. If you opt for the oven it is a little more hands off. A cole slaw with a sesame oil rice wine vinegar dressing is a great side side. Leftovers, if there are any, are great too!
Asian Pulled Pork
Serves 8-10 people
5lbs pork shoulder, bone in and trimmed
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon Chinese Five Spice
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
Mix all dry rub ingredients together.
Pat dry the pork, sprinkle the rub mixture over the entire pork shoulder, rub into the meat.
Refrigerate overnight.
Asian BBQ Sauce
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
2 tablespoons ginger, minced
1 tablespoon white wine
1 tablespoon Sirachi
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 cup hoisin sauce
1 scallion, minced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, minced
Heat oil in a saucepan, add ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant – about 2 minutes.
Stir in wine, brown sugar, Sirachi, soy sauce and sesame oil. Cook for another 2 minutes.
Add hoisin sauce and bring to simmer.
Remove from heat and stir in scallions and cilantro.
Remove pork from fridge 15 minutes prior to cooking.
Cook pork shoulder at 275° covered in oven or over indirect heat on charcoal grill until internal temperature is 180°, about 4 hours.
Remove from oven and let sit covered, internal temp should reach at least 180°.
Let pork rest about 15 minutes and then shred with hands or two forks. (It will be extremely hot but your hands are the best tool for pulling).
Mix in the Asian BBQ sauce.
Serve on buns as pulled pork sandwiches (though great with no bun too).
Top pork with pickled jalapeno and red onion and cilantro.
Alternatively you can prepare this meat in a Crock-pot as well. Cook on low for 8 hours.
Shared on Tasty Tuesday and Tuesdays at the Table and Life as Mom Ultimate Recipe Swap and Mouthwatering Mondays and Friday Potluck and Make Food-“e”-Friend and Eat At Home
When I lived in the area, the Village was my go to meat market – I’ll have to check that place out the next time I am in OP – and of course, you had me at jalapenos (and I’ll pretend I don’t see the onions!) 😀
Um, I meant to say “Villager!”
I miss the Villager and Butch the butcher!
My girlfriend Lori has promised me at trip to restaurant warehouse, I wrote this recipe down so that I can pick up a few things for the recipe!
You will love it, this is a favorite recipe of the last year! And you know the boys like to babysit the meat and drink beer by the grill!
That sounds really good and it would use up some of those ingredients I don’t use often, like the chinese 5 spice and sesame oil.
Hi Jacky – How would you cook this in a slow cooker? With or without the asian bbq sauce?
Cook the pork in the slow cooker for about 8 to 10 hours on low, without the BBQ sauce. Add a water to fill cooker about halfway, line bottom of cooker with onions if you like. Once cooked, shred and mix in sauce and cook another hour.
Awesome…because of the time frame that i need the pork ready ( before 12pm) I may go with just slow roasting it at 225 for a 7lb roast. I will start at midnight tonight and hope it will be ready in the morning. I will definitely update this post with results. I plan to follow the pickled onions and jalapeno recipe as well. I’m Jaxed up and ready to rock.
Cool, let me know how you like it. I LOVE the BBQ sauce.
Excellent recipe. I had left out pepper and Sriracha ingredients to make it kid friendly. I think the spicy ingredients would totally balance the sweetness from the hoisin sauce.
I highly recommend making the pickled jalapeno and onions. It was a hit. The pickled ingredients balances the dish out with more texture and tartness. Only thing I did differently was bring the rice vinegar to a simmer and added the onions for 30 secs before letting it cool.
I cooked the pork butt at 225F and tried to get the internal temperature of meat to 195, but couldnt because it seemed like the temp wouldn’t go past 188. I read on another blog that cooking the pork past 190 would break up the tissue even more than temps of 170-180. The meat was very tender and was not dry.
I will definitely make this recipe again. Leftovers went in my Ramen and the following day, asian tacos. Yum!
Glad you enjoyed it! Good tip on simmering the vinegar first, I will try that.
I just made this BBQ sauce Jacky – winning! I plan on making a kinda bahn mi sandwich with the leftover pork that we smoked. I added just a bit of lemon juice and zest to the sauce, but it has a perfect sweet/heat balance. I am pickling carrots and diakon radish now for a garnish – I’ll let you know how it turns out! 😀
Yummy! I had the best bahn mi Saturday, they are my favorite. Can’t wait to see yours.
I’m going to have to try this! Looks amazing and right up my ally. YUM!
It is delicious, hope you give it a try and enjoy it.