Pulled Pork, the ultimate leftover pork sandwich!

In the American south there is a dish that is a bit of a process to make from scratch but if you have leftover pork butt or loin you are halfway done. Depending on where you order pulled pork you will get various adaptations. Some vinegar based and some with a tomato base. Either is typically served with sweet tea and cole slaw. They are both excellent and you will find recipes for each below.

We had the opportunity to make pork loin for a birthday party and the stage was set for making pulled pork. Another excellent use for various forms of leftover pork roasts is the Pressed Cuban, but that is a sandwich for another time. Today we are pulling the pork.

The most essential ingredient in preparing pulled pork, is of course, pork. We will be using about 1 pound of leftover pork loin cooked until the internal temperature was just about 160 degrees.

The term "pulled" may be a bit deceiving to someone not familiar with this preparation. You will be pulling the pork but you do it with a fork. We set the loin up on one end and begin stripping the meat into small pieces. Place the pulled pork into a bowl and prepare your sauce.

Vinegar Based Pulled Pork Sauce

1 Cup white vinegar
1 Cup cider vinegar
7 Tablespoon sugar or brown sugar
1 Teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 Tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 Teaspoons salt
1 Teaspoon black pepper

Mix together and let stand overnight. You can also put split fresh chilies in this recipe for really spicy sauce and you can add more sugar if you prefer it sweeter.

Tomato based pulled pork sauce

1 Cup ketchup
1 Cup chicken stock
1⁄4 Cup apple cider vinegar
1 Onion, chopped
3 Cloves crushed and minced garlic
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 Tablespoons molasses
2 Tablespoon dry ground mustard
1 Teaspoon cayenne or one fresh cayenne chili cut into ringlets with seeds

Mix together in a sauce pan and heat to simmer. Simmer 20 minutes and let cool.

Take about 1 cup of your prepared sauce and the pork you pulled and mix together. If you like it saucier add more sauce.
Pulled pork can be eaten as a sandwich or by itself with cole slaw on the side, with sweet tea, please.

When we made our pulled pork last week we made the vinegar based recipe. Next time we are going to try it but replace 1/2 cup or so of vinegar with apple juice and maybe use less sugar. We are also going to experimenting with pulled chicken. We will keep you informed.

Enjoy the summer! Knox's all natural gourmet barbecue rubs at your service!

Knox's Spice Company
http://www.knoxspice.com
info@knoxspice.com