Slow-roasted pulled pork shoulder is brined and then lathered in Sriracha hot sauce, yellow mustard and a flavorful spice rub. It is then cooked until it is melt-in-your-mouth fork tender.
Chef's notes
Sriracha Hot Sauce is a sweet, tangy paste made from sun-ripened chili peppers, garlic, vinegar, sugar and salt. Though most people associate Sriracha with the plastic bottle with the rooster on the front and the green lid, it actually originated from Si Racha, Thailand. Therefore, when buying Sriracha, try to find brands that say "made in Thailand" as these are generally more authentic, superior in flavor and contain no preservatives. Be sure to check the labels.
This recipe is adapted from "The Sriracha Cookbook" by Randy Clemens.
Before preparing the brine, first prepare the spice rub, by mixing together the first 6 ingredients. Reserve.
Next prepare the brine. Place the water into a suitable sized pot. Once it comes to a boil, add the salt, brown sugar, onion, garlic, bay leaves and 2 tablespoons of the reserved spice rub (keep the rest for later). Remove the brine from the heat and add 1 cup of ice cubes.
Once the brine has completely cooled, place the meat into a heavy duty plastic bag or a suitable-sized container. Pour the brine over the meat, making sure it is covered. Place into the refrigerator overnight.
2
Cooking the Pork
Ingredients
3 tbsp yellow mustard
1/3 cup Sriracha sauce*
1/4 cup cold water
*See note below for more information on Sriracha sauce.
When ready to start cooking, preheat your oven to 200˚F (95˚C). Alternatively, this can be cooked using a slow-cooker.
Next, mix together the yellow mustard and Sriracha sauce. Drain the pork from the brine, reserving the onions. Pat the meat dry and then liberally cover it with the mustard mixture. Next, sprinkle and press the reserved spice mixture all over and into the meat.
Place the reserved onions into a suitable-sized pot. Pour the 1/4 cup cold water into the pot and then place the pork on top. Cover and cook for 8 to 12 hours. Time will depend on what temperature you use to cook the meat, whether or not you use a slow-cooker and how big the meat was to begin with.
If necessary, and/or possible, turn the meat every few hours to ensure it cooks evenly.
In the meantime, you can prepare the dressing and even cut the cabbage and carrots for the coleslaw (see Step 4).
3
Finishing the Pork
Once the pork is fork tender, remove from the oven and let cool for approximately 45 minutes to an hour. This is just so it is cool enough to handle for shredding.
Note: You can make this dish up to this point and then refrigerated it overnight. You can shred it first but it presents nicer if shredded after it has been reheated the next day.
To finish the pork, pull the meat apart, using two forks. Don't get too carried away though, as the meat is nice with bigger pieces or chunks rather than it all being finely shredded. Discard any fat and then keep the meat warm while you finish up.
4
Preparing the Coleslaw
Here is the full text recipe for the Asian Coleslaw. This can be prepared, but not dressed, the day before.
5
Assembling the Buns
Ingredients
12 buns (preferably sweet Pan de Sal)
For the buns, sweet Pan de Sal buns go very well with this dish.
To assemble the buns, place a generous amount of pork onto each bun and then top with a good amount of coleslaw. Garnish with extra Sriracha sauce, if desired.
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I would suggest that you shred in advance (cold), then place in an over proof dish (covered with lid of foil) and a little bit of liquid/stock and slowly re-heat to 165 degrees or hotter.
Enjoy. Joe.
Made Sriracha pulled pork this weekend, it was great. The peanut based Asian Slaw matched will with the pulled pork. I was a little too lazy to make buns so I used Hawaiian Sweet rolls, worked great.
Yeah, glad to hear that you liked it Robb. And no worries about not making your own buns. Even I did not attempt that when I made this. Although, I am pretty sure all of the many guests were not sad at all :-) Cheers!
Correct on everything except perhaps the timing... that is still variable and it may still take 8 hours (maybe less). But the other ingredients can be halved to scale the recipe.
It's the same principle if you doubled the amount. The time would not double, the ingredients would. ~Ken
Hi Geoff - The preparation is not so conducive to browning first, as the rub has some sugar and the rub has a lot of moisture with the mustard and sriracha. You could, brine, dry it, brown it simply (no seasoning), then apply rub and slow cook... ~Ken
Few things are "absolutely necessary" - but brining will make a big difference to the texture of the meat as it cooks. If you are short on time, you can certainly skip this step - but brining does work favorably for this dish. ~Ken
Making this recipe for a big crowd, three large 8-10lb porks butts, not all of them will fit in slow cookers and I only have two slow cookers. Could I do this in the oven? Thanks!
Hi Ginnie and thanks for your question. You can definitely execute the pork butts in the oven as well as the slow cooker. I'd set your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit - I would estimate that it will take closer to 3 hours to complete but without knowing how your oven is calibrated, I would definitely check on every 30 minutes or so. Sounds amazing! Thanks for cooking with Rouxbe! Chef Kirk
Hi Jack- Short answer is no. The reason pork butt/shoulder is used for pulled pork (a dish applying braising technique), is because it comes from a part of the pig's body that gets a lot of use, therefore a tough piece of meat that benefits from dry and moist cooking methods, which is called a combination cooking method. The muscle use and its inherent qualities are the polar opposite of the pork chop, which gets little movement and is tender meat. The combination cooking method, braising, allows the connective muscle tissue to break down to fork tender which produces the pulled pork recipe (we love so much!).
Joe G • Rouxbe Staff •I would suggest that you shred in advance (cold), then place in an over proof dish (covered with lid of foil) and a little bit of liquid/stock and slowly re-heat to 165 degrees or hotter. Enjoy. Joe.
Robb B •Made Sriracha pulled pork this weekend, it was great. The peanut based Asian Slaw matched will with the pulled pork. I was a little too lazy to make buns so I used Hawaiian Sweet rolls, worked great.
Dawn T •Yeah, glad to hear that you liked it Robb. And no worries about not making your own buns. Even I did not attempt that when I made this. Although, I am pretty sure all of the many guests were not sad at all :-) Cheers!
Kalyn S •If my pork shoulder is only 4 lb would it be correct to say that I need to half everything in the recipe (brine, sauce, and cooking time)?
Ken R • Rouxbe Staff •Correct on everything except perhaps the timing... that is still variable and it may still take 8 hours (maybe less). But the other ingredients can be halved to scale the recipe. It's the same principle if you doubled the amount. The time would not double, the ingredients would. ~Ken
Mary B •Is this step absolutely necessary if your short on time and going to use a slow cooker?
Ginnie H •I am wondering if I need to trim any of the fat off of the pork or if that makes it all the better? Thanks
Kirk B •Hi Ginnie and thanks for your question. You can definitely execute the pork butts in the oven as well as the slow cooker. I'd set your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit - I would estimate that it will take closer to 3 hours to complete but without knowing how your oven is calibrated, I would definitely check on every 30 minutes or so. Sounds amazing! Thanks for cooking with Rouxbe! Chef Kirk
Demetra S • Rouxbe Staff •Hi Jack- Short answer is no. The reason pork butt/shoulder is used for pulled pork (a dish applying braising technique), is because it comes from a part of the pig's body that gets a lot of use, therefore a tough piece of meat that benefits from dry and moist cooking methods, which is called a combination cooking method. The muscle use and its inherent qualities are the polar opposite of the pork chop, which gets little movement and is tender meat. The combination cooking method, braising, allows the connective muscle tissue to break down to fork tender which produces the pulled pork recipe (we love so much!).