Since moving down South from Pittsburgh, I’ve discovered pulled pork. In NC, that usually means vinegar-based BBQ sauce (which I love). In SC, the BBQ sauce is usually mustard-based (which I also love). In other places, they do a BBQ sauce which is more akin to what people generally think BBQ sauce is..tomato/ketchup based (which I will eat but no longer prefer if I have a choice).
This pulled pork, which you make in the crock pot, is none of those. I got this recipe from the blog Fresh Slowcooking which is a great place for crock pot recipes that use fresh ingredients! Anyways, this pulled pork is fabulous over jasmine rice but you could also just serve it with some veggies. I also like it on a bun topped with some cole slaw.
Spicy Cinnamon Pork (Crockpot)
Ingredients
- 4lb pork butt or shoulder…I buy boneless “Boston Butt” (strange name for a cut of meat but whatever)
- 2 Tbsp coconut or vegetable oil
- 2 Tbsp minced garlic (about 4 cloves unless you are me and double or triple that)
- 2 Tbsp peeled and minced ginger (I buy the stuff in a jar now)
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cayenne (adjust to taste)
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 2 tsp ground mustard seeds
- 2 tsp ground cardamom
- 2 Tbsp ground cinnamon (I may have used a little more)
- 1 6cm cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
Instructions
- Heat oil in pan over medium-high heat.
- Trim excess fat from the pork and pat it dry (this is important for the browning).
- Combine garlic and ginger in a small bowl. Rub the mixture all over the pork and reserve any remaining rub.
- Brown all sides of the pork in the hot skillet…about 4 minutes per side. This step is optional so if you don’t have time for it, just throw everything into the crock pot and run. However, the browning adds a nice flavor so only skip if necessary.
- Place inside the crock pot and pour rice wine vinegar over it.
- Sprinkle the remaining spices on top.
- Wedge the cinnamon stick where it will get moistened by the juices as the pork cooks.
- Cook on low for 8 hours (or on high for 4 hours).
- Remove the cinnamon stick.
- Using two forks, pull the pork.
Comments
See, Rachel, the problem with a recipe like this is that I WOULD WA-A-A-AY OVEREAT!! Boy, does this sound good!
I have all of the ingredients except the pork which I will buy tomorrow. I am definitely going to make this! Sadly, I no longer have a crock pot, but I do have a wonderful cast iron dutch oven which works pretty much the same way over low heat (even better in the oven, but it is going to be very hot tomorrow and I don’t want to turn it on).
I’ve been comparing crock pots for the past few weeks. What kind do you have and would you recommend it? Thanks. Marsial