Little Italian Lady: Thai Pulled Pork

Yes, my title says Italian and this post says Thai, but I am always up for a challenge.

My coworker and his wife, friends of several years, came over for dinner one night and made thai spareribs. They were ridiculously delicious, and I said I wanted to cook them myself one day. I never cooked anything Thai - this was the first time lemongrass, peanut sauce, and sesame oil stepped foot into my home.

I wondered how the flavors would taste with pulled pork, because you know, I am always trying to find an excuse to use my slow cooker.... Well I made a pulled pork version of his Thai spareribs over the weekend and it came out damn good. This dish is gluten free too!

Ingredients: Feeds 8-10

5-7lb Pork Shoulder
2 large Lemongrass stalks
3/4 cup Tamari soy sauce
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup Sherry wine
2 tsp peanut sauce (alternative: almond butter)
2 tsp sesame oil
4 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 1 1/2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled, chopped (or a teaspoon of jarred is OK)
1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
Cracked black pepper to taste
Slow Cooker

Thai Marinade:
Cut the bottom 2 inches from each lemongrass stalk (discard upper portions). This is the usable part of the lemon grass. Slice lemongrass into thin rounds, then place in blender.

Add tamari, brown sugar, Sherry, peanut sauce, sesame oil, garlic, and ginger and blend until almost smooth. Blend in coconut milk. The marinade will have small chunks of lemon grass and garlic, but that's ok.

Pork:
Place the pork shoulder in the slow cooker, set to high setting.

Pour half of the marinade over the pork so it is evenly covered. Crack some black pepper over the top, to your taste. Refrigerate the remaining marinade to be used later.

Cook on high for 3 hours, then change the setting to low. Rotate the pork, flipping the sides every couple hours. Cook on low for an additional 10-12 hours depending on the thickness of the pork. Cooking it for this long will allow for very easy pulling and soft, juicy meat. As you see in the picture above versus below, the meat actually pulled away on its own since it got so tender.

Since this is a long cooking process, I cooked this over night. When I was free/awake I rotated the meat, so it isn't necessary to rotate it literally every couple hours

Next, remove the pork from the slow cooker and place on a cutting board. Pull the pork apart. Discard the juice in the slow cooker. Put the pulled pork back in the slow cooker and set to low.

Pour 1 cup (a little more than half) of the remaining marinade over the top of the pulled pork and mix it in well (mix the marinade before pouring in since the oil and cocunut milk separates). Let this cook on low for 1-2 more hours so the marinade gets warm and the pork soaks it up.