Slow Cooker Five-Spice Char Siu Pulled Pork

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A whole pork shoulder goes into the slow cooker with hoisin, honey, ginger and five-spice in the morning, and by dinner it pulls apart into sticky, sweet-savoury shreds in its own glossy sauce. Nothing is browned, nothing is fussed over — you whisk the sauce right in the crock, add the pork, and close the lid. Pile it over rice with the scallions, or stuff it into steamed buns.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
• 5 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 inch fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into coins

• 3 1/2 lb boneless pork shoulder, cut into 3 large chunks
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Whisk the hoisin, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, sesame oil and five-spice powder directly in the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker, then stir in the smashed garlic and ginger coins.
2. Add the pork shoulder chunks and turn them a few times so every surface is coated in the sauce. Do not brown the meat and do not add any water — the pork releases plenty of liquid as it cooks.
3. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 5 hours, until a fork twisted into the thickest chunk turns with no resistance.
4. Lift the pork onto a board or plate. Spoon off and discard the fat that has pooled on top of the sauce, and fish out the ginger coins. Switch the cooker to HIGH and leave the lid off for 15 to 20 minutes to reduce the sauce until it coats a spoon.
5. Shred the pork with two forks, discarding any large fat pockets, then return it to the cooker and toss through the thickened sauce. Scatter with sliced scallions and serve over rice or in soft buns.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

More from Sprig Originals

One-Skillet Blackened Cajun Chicken Pasta

One-Pot Chicken Creole

Dark Roux Seafood Gumbo with Quick Shrimp Stock

Are you this recipe's original author or publisher? Report a problem