Tangy and Sweet Pulled BBQ Pork
Ingredients
- 4-5 pound pork shoulder butt roast
- 2-3 Vidalia onions
- 5-6 garlic cloves 1/4 cup minced garlic
- 3 cups of water
- 2 Tbsp. cooking oil
- ¼ tsp. Salt
- ¼ tsp. Pepper
- 1 full recipe of Carolina BBQ sauce
Instructions
-
Use pressure cooker. Put in medium-high heat and pour in oil.
-
When the oil is hot enough, put the pork shoulder and fry for 2-3 minutes or until the bottom portion is crispy brown.
-
Use grilling forks or cooking tongs to turn the pork shoulder to evenly brown three more sides.
-
While waiting for the meat to cook, remove the skin of garlic and onions. A single garlic head already has 5-6 garlic cloves so one is already enough.
-
Next, cut the onions. You won’t have to worry about the thickness as they will break down while cooking.
-
If the pork shoulder is golden brown in all parts, put the garlic and onion. Then, put water, pepper and salt. The amount of water you will pour into the pressure cooker depends on the size of the pork shoulder. The important thing is you have to cover up about 1/3-1/2 of the meat.
-
Cover with lid and wait for it to boil. When a steady steam escapes from steam valve, then toss the petcock closed but if separated, place it on steam valve.
-
Bring down the heat as you don’t want pressure to continue building.
-
For about 1 hour, pressure the meat. Next, switch off the heat and let it cool down and let the pressure drop.
-
When cooled, uncover the cooker and remove the juices but set aside about ½ cup.
-
Put the meat on a cooking sheet or platter. Take out the garlic and onion pieces or just shred and return them into the pan.
-
Pull the pork shoulder to shreds using two forks. Set aside the extra fats and bone. Once finished, bring back the meat to the cooker.
-
Set aside ½ cup of Carolina BBQ sauce for people who love sauce on their sandwich. Then, the remaining sauce is brushed to the meat.
-
If you think the sauce is a bit dry, then pour juices to smoothen.
-
The meat might cooled down as you pulled it. So, warm it up with the sauce in medium heat. In turn, you can boil it in low heat before serving it.
-
Grill hamburger bun, French bread, dinner roll or Texas toast. Pile every bread with pork and topped it off with BBQ sauce or coleslaw.
Recipe Notes
In this recipe, more onions and garlic are prepared than necessary as each garlic head contain many cloves.
Caution: Pressure cooker must not be overfilled. Read the model manual to know how much water it can take. Usually, the cooker must be at least 2/3 full to put up the steam.
Alternative Uses:
Pulled pork is perfect for sandwich and can be used in different ways.
If you like your meat sliced than pulled, then reduce the cooking time to 40-45 minutes and it is excellent for slicing.
You can serve it with or without sauce. You can serve it as a meat together with gravy and mashed potatoes.
Set aside the sauce, instead have a pork and apple sandwich by using lettuce, sliced onions, Swiss cheese, granny smith apples and tomato.
You may want to try Cantonese Char Siu Sauce as a finger-licking substitute. Serve together with steamed rice.
Using Leftovers:
If you have leftovers, then you can use them for carnitas, enchiladas or taco salads. You can also serve it with cooked pasta or steamed rice.
If you haven’t covered it with sauce, then make omelettes, pulled pork hash and breakfast burritos.
You can also make casseroles like lasagne, shepherd’s pie or top the layer of meat with diced potatoes or cornbread mix.
