Pulled Pork Sandwich

When I first moved to Delhi, I remember my cousin ordering a pulled pork burger at The Garage in HKV. I loved the idea of a pulled pork sandwich but I have always been very skeptical about pork when it's not prepared at home, especially after watching the first episode of House 6 year back. (Love medical and criminal investigations), but that's just me. 

I had to try making it at home, my own version of it. Most people use smoked pork for this recipe but I don't have access to a smoker in Delhi. (maybe when I move back to my parent's  home I can post how to smoke pork )

Anyway, it turned out great and everyone should try it. I am not going to put up a list of ingredients since I myself just made up the recipe and kept changing it as it cooked. 

This Recipe calls for pork to be slow roasted over a long period of time, it cooks so slow and long that the meat becomes tender and you can pull it apart using forks...hence the name, pulled pork.

In a rice cooker, lay out some onion.

Important: you need to get pork butt ( part of the pig which comes from the shoulder region, why it is called butt confuses me too!! the shaded region called boston butt is what you need to buy)

Place the pork (I used half kilo cut) on top of the onion bed. With clean hands, rub in 2 tbsp of soy and 1 tsp of honey, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add in one mug of water and let it cook till it starts dries up and starts sizzling. At this point you pork has a good brown colour due to caramalization . After this add in 5 mugs of water  and cover and leave it for 3- 4 hours. I even managed to go to Deer Park for a jog and complete my Kimchi fried rice post.

This is what I saw after 4 hours!! Turn it off and let the meat rest for an hour with the lid on. This resting period is very important. It should cool down and all the flavours will get soaked in and you will have juicy meat. If you don't let it rest and cool down before shredding it, the hot steam will all evaporate and you will be left with dry shredded pork with no flavour (basic science)

After it has cooled down and rested, place it on a plate. You will now be able to see the shoulder blade sticking out.

If your meat has cooked well, you should be able to just pull it out as shown below!!

Now, use 2 forks to shred it !! 

Add in barbecue sauce...as much as you like... start with a small quantity and keep tasting :)

Now, shred some cabbage and add in mayo and mustard ( apples mixed with cabbage tastes amazing too )

Assemble the sandwich in a pan or in a sandwich grill. I don't own a sandwich maker as yet so I used the pan to lightly toast my bread in butter. (burger buns are good too but difficult to find whole wheat ones)

everybody loves cheese spread !!

Salad and meat on the bread and you're almost done.

Enjoy and remember to cook from your heart !!