Get your coat, you’ve pulled! This slow cooker Mexican pulled pork, is a little spicy, a little bit easy, and every bit as delicious as you’d hope for!
The other passion in my life is music, particularly musicals, specifically Les Miserables. I have seen the stage show countless times since I was 10yrs old and listened to the soundtrack to the power of infinity. Each scene and song punctuates a special family memory for me, and I pity the person who tries to debate with me that it isn’t the best musical ever written. The eagerly anticipated film came out this weekend and naturally I headed to the cinema to see it as soon as I could – choosing a mid-afternoon screening at a local cinema and inviting my friends back for dinner after. The slow cooker came to the rescue for a freshly cooked meal served pronto on return.
Having conquered pulled lamb last week, for my next slow cooker challenge I decided to go for pulled pork shoulder, and found myself researching spicy tomato recipes along the Mexican line. The sauce I went for was a combination of various ideas. I was initially worried that the sauce would be far too spicy, but after a few hours in the slow cooker it mellowed substantially. If you like your food super spicy then don’t be afraid to add a little more spice.
Ingredients for my Mexican Pulled Pork Sauce
I’d have loved to have used chipotle for a smoky spiced flavour but couldn’t quite find any in the shops. I know it’s available on line so maybe I’ll try that next time. I served mine alongside coconut oil & paprika roasted plantain and sweet potato with a home-made guacamole.
Pulled Pork with Plantains, Sweet Potatoes and Guacamole
Les Miserables and a slow cooker in one blog post. I knew I could do it!
- 2 large tomatoes, de-seeded
- 1 chilli pepper, de-seeded (I used a Scotch Bonnet)
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- ½ tablespoon ground coriander
- ½ tablespoon onion granules
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- ½ tablespoon smoked Maldon salt (or just use sea salt)
- 1.4kg free-range pork shoulder joint
- 3 onions, diced into quarters
- fresh parsley / coriander to serve
- First make up the Mexican sauce. Put all the ingredients (bar the pork and onions) into a blender, and liquidise (see right pic above).
- Place the pork in the slow cooker, fat layer at the top. Take ¾ of the sauce (reserving the rest for later) and pour over the shoulder, working some of it into the flesh. Scatter the onion quarters over the joint add around 50-75mls of water to the bottom of the pan. Cover and cook on whatever setting you require for the length of time you have. (Mine was done on high for 5 hours).
- When ready to serve remove the joint from the slow cooker, place in a large dish. Take off the top layer of fat with a knife and discard (you could make crackling later if you like). Shred the pork with 2 forks, and pour over the remaining ¼ of the sauce reserved from earlier.
- Left in the slow cooker should be the onions and more sauce. First remove the onions and add to the pulled pork. Strain the rest of the liquid through a fine sieve - you will be left a rich spicy tomato sauce in the sieve - add this to the pulled pork too!
- Scatter with shredded fresh parsley or coriander to serve.
This sounds so good! Quite often it seems pulled pork is served with a lackluster BBQ sauce. I may have to try this recipe 🙂
Thanks Emma, I might try and do a non-lackluster BBQ one day myself! Sounds like a challenge!