Sweet Barbecoa

Let us discuss, shall we, shredded pork.

This stuff. So, so, so this stuff.

The version we're making today is sweet barbecoa. Does that word sound familiar? Kinda sounds like barbecue, doesn't it?

Well, it's not. Not really. Oh, it has a similar flavor profile, and you can eat it like barbecue pork. Take it to a cookout and you'll probably be welcomed with open arms.

But it's not barbecue. It's a braise. Also, it's one of those technique thingies I was talking about a few weeks ago.

This one, at least the kind we're doing today, might be one of the simplest things you can do in the kitchen. We're loading up the slow cooker, turning it on, and ignoring it for a few hours.

Now, first things first. It's a bad idea to leave the house with anything running, right? You check the coffee pot before you go, don't you? Stove, too? Maybe unplug the toaster?

The same applies for the slow cooker. I know you like to leave it plugged in and running on low while you go to work. It's not safe. Fires have happened that way, and I don't want you to lose your stuff.

The slow cooker did that. Yes.

So, do this on a day off.

Your list of ingredients:

One pork roast, weighing two to five pounds. We're shredding this, so don't get too hung up on what it looks like. Find a reasonably lean one for not too expensive. The one I'm using came from Costco at $1.99 per pound. 

One cup of brown soda pop, like Coke or Pepsi. I like to use Dr. Pepper. Root beer would work well, too. Don't use diet, though. Your final product will come out tasting funky.

One half cup of granulated sugar. Trust me on this, the pop isn't sweet enough to cut through all the spice we're about to throw in.

Two teaspoons each of ground cumin and dried mustard.

One twelve ounce can of enchilada sauce. I like mild red, but I'm also feeding two small children who don't really do spicy yet.

One 7.5 ounce can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.

One teaspoon of salt.

Here a thing about the chipotle peppers. You don't actually need them. You want the sauce that they're packed in. Now, if you like spicy you can sure leave them in. If you do, remember to pull them out at the end of cooking.

Or don't. Lean into the heat.

If you don't know. I can't explain it to you.

Our hardware:

Slow cooker

measuring pitcher, large enough for all the non-pork roast ingredients.

Mesh strainer

Tongs

Two forks

Baking pan

We begin thusly:

Put everything but the pork in your measuring pitcher. 

Put your pork roast in the slow cooker. Then dump all the rest of the stuff over it, pouring through the mesh strainer to get the peppers out.

That's it.

Seriously, that's it.

Put the lid on top, set it to high, and come back in three hours.

What do you do with that three hours? Sing a song, take a nap, write a poem, fold your laundry and put it away, clean you bathroom, you're going with the nap, aren't you?

Once the time is up, you can see if it's ready to shred. Lift the meat up with your tongs and place in your baking pan. It might start falling apart between the cooker and the pan. It's definitely done if that happens.

If it doesn't fall apart, jab two forks in, back to back, and try to pull them apart. If they come apart easily, your meat is ready. If they fight the forks, put it back in for another thirty minutes to an hour.

Once your meat is shred-able, use your two forks to pull the meat apart into, well, shreds. Then put the meat back into the cooker with all that jus so the meat can take the flavors on. About another hour.

The most work this dish requires.

Your final product.

Serving suggestions:

Make burritos.

Or make the kid make burritos.

Garnish however you like.

That's not mine. I don't like olives. You do you, though.

If you prefer to not use pork, you can swap in a similar amount, by weight, of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Everything else is the same.

There's an even simpler application of this technique. Pot roast, a can of Coca-cola, and a 14 ounce bottle of ketchup. Three or four hours on high. Shredded beef sloppy joe when it's done. Boom.

Would you rather use a pressure cooker? That'll cut down the cooking time considerably. Four hours in the slow cooker becomes about a half hour in the pressure cooker.

Feel free to use whichever condiments you like, a few drops of your favorite hot sauce would go very well here.

Let's discuss meat for a second here. This preparation favors the less lovely cuts, like the neck. Maybe try a picnic roast? That's the lower shoulder, and it's riddled with connective tissue. Braising turns most of that collagen into gelatin, and gelatin absorbs liquid like a sponge. Give it a try some time.

Enjoy, and keep your knife out of the dishwasher.