One of my go-to meals on a weekend is shredded pork with all the fixins. Pork shoulder cooked until very tender may sound like it takes hours, but they are actually easy to make and with some previously prepared condiments, you can prepare a tasty feast without tiring yourself out.
Tableware Used
For this shredded pork feast I’m using:
- Plates and glassware – Rectangular serving platter, margarita glasses, and hand painted Italian dinner plate are from Williams-Sonoma. They always have great selection of Italian dinnerware and glassware. These large margarita glasses are great for sauces and condiments.
- Brown yellow ware bowl – Yellow ware is an earthenware pottery that was produced in America until around 1930. I bought a set of these bowls from Restoration Hardware years ago, but antique yellow ware can be found on eBay and Etsy. They often come in pale yellow, green, brown or cream and I appreciate these useful, rustic pieces.
- Avocado shaped bowl with serving spoon – This was an Amazon purchase and when I saw this I just had to have it.
Shredded Pork
Dish like shredded pork is hassle-free and it can be made in relatively short time, not hours. All you really need are good quality cast iron dutch oven like the one made by Staub, good quality pork shoulder (pork butt), and aromatics like onions, garlic, and spicy peppers to flavor the meat.
Good quality cast iron dutch ovens are not inexpensive, but thy’re worth the investment. Unlike regular stainless steel pots, it locks in juices and flavors of the food you’re cooking. Most importantly, using a dutch oven like this will tenderize the pork much faster and will save you lot of time. This pork was ready for shredding in just an hour. Had I kept cooking the pork longer it probably would of melted away. In fact, most of the onions I put in with the pork had melted away.
Side Dishes
Guacamole with Tomatoes and Smoked Chipotle – I like to add guacamole with fresh chopped tomatoes and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Just add chopped fresh tomatoes (seeds removed) and one or two pieces of chipotle (chopped) to your guacamole. Chipotle really takes the guacamole to another level with its smoky flavor.
Salsa Verde– I’m definitely one of those people who prefer salsa verde over any other salsa. I love the acidity of tomatillos and especially the spiciness of hatch chilies. This salsa is easy and can be made quickly if you use tomatillos and hatch chilies that have been grilled in advance. I usually grill about a dozen tomatillos or hatch chilies and keep it in my freezer. They keep well and come in very handy when I need to make salsa or sauce for other dishes. Keeping a stock of grilled hatch chilies is especially a necessity in my kitchen since hatch chilies are seasonal and are only available during late August to September. If you don’t have hatch chilies then you can use Jalapenos instead.
Pickled Red Onions– I know there’s already salsa verde to go with shredded pork, but for additional acidity with some sweetness, I like to include one of my favorite jarred condiments.
Spanish Rice– Here I used an instant Spanish rice. I never tried instant rice before, but I found this at Cost Plus World Market one day. It was light, fluffy and exceeded my expectations. It was just fine on its own, but I only bought one packet which was not quite enough to serve everyone at the table, so I just added left over red rice that I cooked the night before and topped it with dried parsley.
All of this food was ready to eat in about 2 hours and gave me plenty of time to do other things like sip some wine and read a book on a nice weekend afternoon.
Dutch Oven Shredded Pork
Ingredients
- 2.5 lbs pork shoulder
- 2 medium yellow onions cut into quarters
- 6 cloves crushed garlic
- 2 fresno chiles
- 1 serrano chili
- 2 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ cup white wine
- enough water to cover pork pieces
Instructions
- Cut pork shoulder into 3 inch pieces. Trim excess fat from pork, season with salt and sugar, rubbing the salt and sugar into pork pieces.
- Heat dutch oven over medium heat and add olive oil. Place pork pieces flat in the pan and cook for 15 minutes or until pork starts to brown lightly. Place onions, garlic, and chili peppers on top of pork pieces and pour white wine.
- When onions and chiles are tender, add water to the pot, place cover and cook for 1 hour over low heat.
- Once the meat is soft and tender, turn off heat. Shred pork with a fork. Add fresh ground pepper for taste and serve.
Salsa Verde
Ingredients
- 7-8 grilled tomatillos husks and stems removed, rough chopped
- 2 grilled hatch chiles or Jalapenos with skin peeled, seeds and stems removed
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ yellow or white onion minced
Instructions
- In a blender, add chopped tomatillos, hatch chiles, dried oregano and puree ingredients.
- Once ingredients are pureed, transfer to a bowl. Mix in chopped onions and salt. Refrigerate or serve immediately.
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