Pulled pork

Pulled Pork

You will need:

Pork (durr) - A five- or six-pound boneless butt should do ya

Salt – a cup for the brine, plus a little more for the rub

Sugar – a half cup for the brine, plus a little more for the rub

Liquid Smoke – three tablespoons for the brine, plus a few drops for the rub

Mustard – about ¼ cup. I have tried fancy mustards, but yellow’s best

Pepper

Smoked Paprika

Cayenne Pepper

Onions – two or 3 medium-sized brown ones

Garlic – as many cloves as you like, each sliced in half

The Usual Suspects – Worcestershire, Tabasco, molasses, to taste

Here’s what you do:

Slice the pork butt in half horizontally – this gives you more surface area to develop that crunchy bark. Dissolve a cup of the salt, half cup of the sugar and three tablespoons of Liquid Smoke in a few cups of hot water. Add it to 3 or 4 quarts of very cold water and stir until everything is cool. Then sink the pork in the brine and fridge it for two hours

While that’s chilling out, mix the mustard and 1 or 2 teaspoons of Liquid Smoke in a bowl. Set that aside and combine two tablespoons each of sugar, black pepper and smoked paprika with a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and 1 or two teaspoons of salt in another bowl. Set that aside and just hang for a while

When the two hours are up, preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Take the pork out of the brine and pat it dry on all sides. Throw away the brine. Stab the pork here and there with a thin knife, and slip a piece of garlic into each hole. Rub the pork all over with the mustard mixture, and then with the dry spice mixture.

Cut the ends off your onions, slice them in half and peel them. Set a rack inside a roasting pan and place the pork on the rack. Toss in the onions and cover the pan with parchment and aluminum foil – tightly, to trap the steam. Roast for 3 hours.

After 3 hours, remove the foil. Pour off the liquid from the bottom of the pan and stick it in the fridge to let the fat separate. Roast the pork uncovered for another hour and a half, until it’s dark brown. Let the pork rest under a loose cover of aluminum foil for about a half hour

While the pork is resting, take your pan drippings out of the fridge, skim off the cooled fat, and make a bbq sauce. I kinda freestyled it, adding molasses, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco and tamarind paste to the drippings and a tomato puree. You know what you’re doing. Just taste as you go, a little salt and pepper here and there, boom.

Shred the pork with forks, toss it with some of the sauce. Hold a little sauce back, warm it up with the roasted onions, and serve it with the pork.