Asian Pulled Pork

This weekend was youth hunting weekend in VT.  Every year I let my son pick one meal that he'd like to have, and this year he chose chicken and biscuits, so I decided to make that on Sunday.  It's nice for them to come home after a long day sitting in the cold out in the woods to a nice hot meal.  So for Saturday I decided to go with pulled pork.  It's a favorite for all of us, but this time I wanted to try a recipe for Asian pulled pork that I saw on the Gourmet website.  

So glad I gave this one a try.  It was delicious!  We all enjoyed it very much.  I paired it with coleslaw (click here for recipe) and macaroni salad (click here for recipe).  It was a satisfying and hearty meal, which they appreciated.  This also gave me an idea for another variation of pulled pork that I am looking forward to trying sometime in the next few months....stay tuned!  Unfortunately, my son didn't get a deer this weekend.....but there's still time.

Asian Pulled Pork (adapted from Gourmet)

For Rub:
8-10 lb, bone-in pork butt, skin removed
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp Chinese five-spice
2 tsp coriander
3 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper

For Sauce:
3/4 cup hoisin sauce
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup rice vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

Add all rub ingredients to a small bowl and stir to combine.  Rub spices all over pork, and let stand at room temp for 30 minutes.  In another medium sized bowl, whisk all the sauce ingredients together and place into the bowl of a large crock pot.

Add the pork to the crock pot and turn it on high.  After 2 hours, turn pork.  Cook for 5 hrs turning pork every hour, then turn crock pot to low and cook another hour.  Pork should be falling apart after 6 hours, but if not continue to cook until it falls apart when poked with a fork.  Remove pork from crock pot and shred it up.  

Remove juice from crock pot and skim off fat.  Place juice into medium pan and turn to medium high heat.  remove 1 cup of the juice and place in a medium bowl and whisk in 1-2 tbsp cornstarch until smooth, then add it back to the pan of juice and whisk to combine.  When juice thickens to a sauce-like consistency, remove from heat.  Add desired amount to pulled pork and serve on bulky rolls, topped with more sauce (optional).