Holy cow! This chicken meal is fantastic. The combination of ingredients may sound strange, but the result is fantastic and well worth the wait!
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 2 hrs 25 mins |
| Chill Time: | 8 hrs |
| Total Time: | 10 hrs 45 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
Ingredients
- 2 ½ pounds pork shoulder roast
- 1 red onion, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- ⅓ cup bourbon whiskey
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 3 cups apple juice
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives, or to taste
- 8 sesame seed burger buns
- 4 cups finely shredded Savoy cabbage
- ⅔ cup thinly sliced green bell pepper
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
- 2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
Instructions
- Cut pork shoulder into 2-inch chunks. Transfer to a stew pot. Add onion, garlic, kosher salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and cayenne. Pour in bourbon whiskey, apple cider vinegar, and apple juice. Stir to combine.
- Place over high heat and bring to a simmer; stir and reduce heat to low. Cover and let simmer until meat is fork-tender, about 2 hours.
- Use a spider strainer to transfer meat mixture to a bowl and set aside.
- Turn heat back to medium-high and reduce cooking liquid to about 75%, skimming the fat off of the top if desired.
- Reduce heat to low, stir in reserved pork, and use a potato masher to break pork into smaller pieces. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, to heat through and make sure pork absorbs sauce, 2 to 4 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
- For best results, refrigerate for 8 hours, or overnight.
- Meanwhile, combine cabbage, peppers, green onions, mustard, mayonnaise, vinegar, salt, black pepper, and cayenne for slaw in a large bowl. Mix very well. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 12 hours.
- Reheat pork the next day over medium heat, stirring often. Stir in chopped chives.
- Mix mustard slaw well and drain off any excess moisture. Serve pork with mustard slaw on sesame seed buns.
- Use any kind of onion you prefer. You can use apple cider or part water, part apple juice for a less-sweet version.
- You can use hot peppers instead of sweet for the mustard slaw.
- You can serve the pork immediately instead of chilling overnight.
Reviews
Thank you, Chef John, for another wonderful recipe. Besides doubling the recipe and smashing the meat chunks with the back of a wooden spoon against the side of a bowl (I do not own a potato smasher), I followed the directions exactly. The meat was tender and sweet. I liked how this was quicker than an all-day pork shoulder in a slow cooker. If you’re short on time, you could probably skip cooking down the liquid because the meat tasted amazing before this step. But of course, Chef John knows how to make over-the-top dishes, so I follow his directions. Next time I am going to remove the fat from the cooked chunks of meat while the liquid is cooking down because my family is sensitive about fat texture. Made for 4th of July. My family loved it!