Smokey Pulled Pork with Apple and Fennel Slaw
This one is a double delight – make it once and enjoy 2 delicious meals out of it (or more depending on your serving requirements) The pork serves approx 8 -10 and the salad is enough for 1 night for 4-5. The leftover pulled pork makes for delicious nachos.
Ingredients
Pulled Pork
- 1.5 kg pork shoulder – skin removed (weight before skin removed)
- 1 tinned tomatoes – 400 g
- 1 cup sparkling apple juice
- 1 cup beef stock
- ¼ cup malt vinegar
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 4 garlic cloves -sliced
- 2 tsp vanilla essence
- 2 tbsp smoked paprika
- 2 ancho chilles – dried, sliced finely
- salt and pepper
Apple and Fennel Slaw
- 1 apple – large, sliced into matchsticks
- 1 fennel – small, finely sliced
- ¼ red cabbage – finely sliced
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp honey
- salt and pepper
- brioche buns – or crunchy white long buns
Instructions
- Remove skin off the pork and season with salt and pepper. (See tips below). Place in the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients and cook for 6-8 hours.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the sour cream, lemon juice and honey. Add apple, cabbage and fennel. Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.
- Once the pork is cooked, shred using two forks and stir to combine the liquid. Check the seasoning and add more salt/pepper if required.
- Serve pulled pork with slaw and brioche buns.
Tips and Variations
If you have an extra 5 minutes in your morning – for a deeper flavour, pop the pork in a pan over medium heat with 1 tbsp olive oil, garlic and smoked paprika and brown all over.
To make the slaw, you can use either a mandolin, grater or I often use a vegetable peeler on the fennel and cabbage to get fine slices quickly.
Dried ancho chillies are a wonderful addition to this dish and usually found in smaller independent grocers. They heat is hardly noticeable but they impart a sweet and smokey flavour to the pork. I love to add them to taco mince and burrito bowls too.
