What’s with all the pulled pork everywhere these days?!
Pulled pork. Shredded Pork. Slow Roasted Shoulder. You can even buy little packets of it at the supermarket now (yeah but don’t!). It’s really easy, inexpensive and versatile to make yourself and there’s often heaps left over, so here’s a few tricks.
Bbq Pork Sliders
Small buns, crispy slaw, juicy pork, bbq sauce. A certain crowd pleaser. You can find our favourite bbq sauce recipe here and how to make the pork here.
Taco Dog – as above except served in a hotdog bun and we’ve added a little guacamole , chopped tomato, cheese and lettuce. Perfect for grand final days, pool parties or other celebrations where you need food that says fun!
Rice Paper Rolls – Duh!! Perhaps you’ve never made them. We’ll cover them one day in a warmer season. I’ve had lessons in Vietnam you know 🙂 We rolled up leftover slaw and pork with a little coriander. Served them with some hoi-sin and life was happy!
Banh-mi – another Vietnamese staple using beautiful pulled pork. Instead of bbq sauce we’ve added a little hoisin and sweet soy to the pulled pork. Serve on a crusty roll (the best thing the French left behind in Vietnam) with cucumber, pickled carrots, green onions, coriander and hoi-sin. Fresh chilli gives it a good ‘Wow’, kids may beg to differ.
Noodley Soup. Ramen’s a good way to go but any kind of noodle soup will kindly accept some lovely, moist shredded pork into it’s hearty goodness. That’s a whole other post in itself
Fried Rice – A great way to use up left over pork AND rice. 2 cups leftover cooked rice, 1 cup shredded pork, 1 cup frozen peas – defrosted, 1 cup slivered broccoli, 1 cup chopped tomato, 1 bunch spring onions chopped, eggs. 1 tablespoon Dark soy, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, juice of 1 fresh lime, white pepper and coriander to finish.
In a hot pan add a little peanut oil then the rice and pork. Stir thoroughly, add the broccoli, peas, tomato and green onion. Finish with the remaining ingredients and serve with a fried egg on top.
Set into rissoles for the weekend bbq – whilst the pork is still warm and you’ve finished adding any sauce and seasonings to it, press it into a burger shaped mould on a sheet of grease-proof and chill. Re-heat when it’s time and serve with salad and bbq potatoes. Be gentle or they may crumble.
Empanada – place inside some empanada pastry or use a convenience product like puff or filo and bake until crispy. Serve with a salsa of chopped tomato, coriander and roast capsicum.
Croquettes – 2 cups cold mash potato, 1 cup shredded pork, 1 bunch chopped chives, 1 egg. Plus bread crumbs, milk and egg for coating. Mix the croquette ingredients with plenty of seasoning, shape and set in the fridge. Once set, you can crumb them, cook them and eat them. Eat them with garlic aioli even 🙂
Dumplings/Ravioli – you could take either the Asian or Euro path here. Fold the pork in some soft pastry, steam them and serve in an appropriate sauce.
Arancini – use last nights risotto or make some especially and chill. Fold some grated parmesan through the rice and form into golf balls. Stick your finger into the middle to form a hole and hollow out the middle a little. Stuff some chopped, pulled pork in there and mould the rice back into a round. Roll in fresh breadcrumbs and shallow fry.
Cooked in flat breads on the griddle pan – Serve with a little chipotle mayo.
Pork ‘n’ Beans – 1 tin of white beans, 1 cup of pulled pork, 1 tin of crushed tomatoes, 1 small onion diced, garlic, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 2 fresh bay. Sauté onion, garlic and spices then add the remaining ingredients. Simmer until yummy. Finish with chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon. Serve at breaky instead of as your own fancy-pants baked beans.
What Kids Can Do!
Kids can always be involved in what’s going on in the kitchen. The extent will vary. Sometimes Kid will even take her beans and prep them in front of the telly, which defeats the purpose of togetherness perhaps, but the beans get done and then we get back to the food. I’m always saying anything tactile – pastry rolling, folding and filling is awesome for kids (or grown-ups). Or a small task that they can own. A salad for example. ‘Here are all the ingredients and the dressing, I’d like you to make it look nice on this plate please’. And let go of it right there. Appreciate what they come up with. Ownership is a great part of learning, engaging and building confidence. Happy Cooking X
digellabakes
/ August 17, 2015Pork is King. The meat that just keeps on giving!
LikeLike
adamjclements
/ August 17, 2015Sure is, there’s nothing you can’t do with it… I don’t make it at home much, my partners vego so I often eat that way too.
But yeah, pork!
Great meeting you at PB the other day,
Checking out more of your blog too
🙂
LikeLike
Conor Bofin
/ August 17, 2015It is amazing how food trends can be so similar on different parts of the globe. We are suffering from pulled (almost) everything at present. Pulled pork, pulled beef and even pulled chicken. The trend is ridiculous. I have done pulled pork and it is wonderful. However, I am avoiding it now as I am a contrarian. The more I’m told I MUST try something, the less chance there is of it happening. I love what you are doing, particularly those rolls. \Hope all goes well well with you and the Kid.
LikeLike
adamjclements
/ August 18, 2015I blame the internet and globalisation, but I blame those for most things.
I also think the culture of the individual plays a part here.
The more you try to be unique, the more you just turn out the same.
I’m a fellow contrarian normally myself, but sometimes it doesn’t hurt to play the game a little.
The problem for me with everybody playing the ‘me too’ game is that it encourages a lot of cheap fakes.
On the positive side, it’s easy to set yourself apart by doing it properly.
Either way we had a lot of fun doing these posts and videos so there’s no cynicism required by us.
Those rolls were GOOD!
And we very much appreciate your comments as always Conor.
Thanks.
LikeLike
David Hawkins
/ August 20, 2015You are a God! I love making pulled pork but it only ends up in a good ol’ burger. Thank you for opening my eyes Adam to a world of porky wonder! The rice paper roll use is brilliant.
LikeLike
Bunny Eats Design
/ August 20, 2015Great round up! I love pulled pork especially since there’s only 2 of us in the house. Leftovers work very well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
adamjclements
/ August 21, 2015Thanks Bunny!! We had a great time making these, taking pics and eating them. Although what went from a bullet point post quickly grew into something else.Gotta make life hard for myself 🙂
LikeLike