The week before Memorial Day the weather is not cooperating for a low & slow rib barbecue. The 7-day forecast does not look promising. If I waited 2 days before the holiday to get the ribs, the meaty ones would be gone, especially the St. Louis and perhaps, even the baby back ribs with less meat. I decided to do pulled pork in a slow cooker. Unfortunately, due to a technical problem with my blog login, most of the support tekkies had gone on an early long weekend and it took a long wait to get a security code to be able to login.

As luck would have it, I saw the type of pork shoulder the weekend before the holiday weekend. The picnic shoulder I picked had minimum fat just right to keep the pork moist during the low & slow cooking, either in the oven or in a slow-cooker, spicy Asian style.

Middle of the week after Memorial Day, I finally got help but was mulled over about changing blog host to solve a login problem. The better option was a shoo-in, post this Spicy Asian Pulled Pork Banh Mi, too good to go by the wayside.

For a smoky flavor, even though the meat will be cooked in a slow cooker for at least 7 hours before serving time. If one does not have a stovetop smoker, the rack that came with the roasting pan can be used. Place the wood chips on top of the rack of the roasting pan covered with double heavy duty foil, then placing it on the bottom of the oven while placing the pork on the top oven rack.

Ingredients: Note: Tbsp/tablespoon – tsp/teaspoon – pcs/pieces

Dry Rub:
2 Tbsp Grill Mates Pork Rub
2 Tbsp 5-Spice Powder
1-1/2 Tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp ginger powder
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp salt
3-1/2 lbs pork shoulder, remove rind including fat attached to it

1-1/2 wood chips for smoking, optional

Pulled Pork Sauce:
1 can 12-oz tomato paste
1 cup Filipino hot banana sauce (Mafran or Jufran @ Filipino grocery stores)
1 cup Thai sweet chili sauce (like Mai Ploy @ Asian grocery stores)
1/2 cup gochujang (Korean red pepper paste @ Korean grocery stores)
2 cups 100% pure pressed pasteurized apple juice
1/2 cup Shao Shing cooking wine
3 star anise equivalent to 2 Tbsp star anise if whole ones not available (placed in a tea ball or wrapped & tied inside cheese cloth)
4 pcs dried Szechuan pepper, divided crosswise (also include in tea ball)
4 dried bay leaves
1 Tbsp salt
4 tsp 5-spice powder
2 Tbsp garlic powder

6 buns or hoagies

Instructions:

1. Prepare 24 hours before cooking time.
2. Mix all the rub ingredients in a small bowl. Spread over pork and massage until evenly distributed. Keep 24 hours in the refrigerator.
3. Next day if smoking, soak wood chips first for 30 minutes in water, to avoid setting it on fire while smoking the meat at 300F in the oven or medium low fire on stove top for an hour.
4. Combine the sauce ingredients in a slow cooker then transfer the pork into the cooker. Cook on high for about 1-1/2 hours then on low for 7 hours or so.
5. Test pork for tenderness if it can be easily shredded by 2 forks, then it’s done.
6. Take out pork from cooker, let it rest for 10 minutes.
7. Shred pork with 2 forks.
8. Remove star anise, Szechuan chilis and bay leaves, pour sauce on shredded pork and mix. Set aside some sauce for table side serving.
9. Place 1 cup shredded pork on each bun or more if desired.
10. Top with Spicy Asian Pulled Pork Banh Mi with Napa Cabbage Salad.
11. Serves 6 or more depending how much is place per hoagie.

Read the original on: The Chew Inn-NoVA