but me no butts…

Alright, maybe that doesn’t quite work, but this week I am talking pork butt. Mmmm… every once in a while I get a “hankering” for pulled pork, and butt, which is actually shoulder (go figure), is just the ticket.

This time what actually got me going wasn’t wanting pulled pork as much as it was finding a few bottles (oh I should have bought them all, dang it!) of “sweet” soy sauce in the clearance basket at the Fiesta Mart. You just never know what will turn up in their clearance, and this kind of soy sauce, aka Indonesian or Thai soy sauce or Kecap Manis, was a great find.

love me some onions…

Actually, it is more akin to barbecue sauce than to soy sauce. It is a little salty, certainly, but it is thick and sort of molasses-y (if that’s a word). I love it. I can eat it on bread, or use it pretty much anywhere I would use ketchup or barbecue sauce. Mmmmmm….

So I bought a pork butt, chopped some onions, and that’s pretty much it. The house smelled great, and it turned out shiny, shreddable, and just the ticket to be rolled up in a flour tortilla for a true “fusion” of Mexi/Thai! It didn’t look like much at first, but the sauce penetrated the meat a bit so the final product was (I think) really beautiful with almost a mirror finish.

Here’s a more specific “how-to” for this dish, but honestly if you can get your hands on a bottle of this stuff, and especially if you have a sweet tooth like I do, try it with eggs, different vegetables in a stir fry, in rice, in a marinade for grilled chicken, maybe even over vanilla ice cream (ok, I haven’t tried that yet)…

Glazed Pulled Pork My/Thai Style

1 3lb(ish) pork “butt”
2 medium onions
2 T garlic powder
1 T Chinese 5-spice (optional)
1 T olive oil
1 C (about) sweet soy sauce
Fresh cilantro, chopped

shiny, sparkley…mmm!!

Slice the onions. Put them in a deep Dutch oven with the olive oil and sauté while you ready the pork. Make a dry rub of the garlic powder and the 5-spice. Rub all over the pork, add the pork to the pot and brown on all sides.

Once browned, add about 1/2 C of water to the pot (not over the meat) and 1/2 C of the sweet soy sauce over the meat, cover and cook low and slow for maybe 45 minutes. Turn the meat a couple of times to keep it from sticking.

Remove the lid and cook for an additional 1/2 hour, adding a bit more sauce and some water if necessary. Check for doneness with a meat thermometer. I find it stays nice and moist and should pull apart (pulled pork, right?) with a fork. Mmmm…

Finish it with a bit more sauce and top with fresh cilantro.
***

A butt this size will feed 4 if you don’t want leftovers for sandwiches…

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