Sweet and Spicy Pulled Pork

The following recipe is the final piece of our five-part series with Chef Isaiah Seay. We would like to thank Chef Isaiah for helping us create these five original recipes and we look forward to seeing what he has planned for Tabanero in the months ahead! Today we end our festivities with this mouth-watering Sweet and Spicy Pulled Pork recipe!

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. (Two 8 Oz. bottles) – Tabanero Hot Sauce (Add an additional 8 Oz. if you want it more spicy than sweet)
• 4 lbs. – Boneless Pork Shoulder
• 32 oz. – Beef Stock
• 4 – Peeled Garlic Cloves
• 3 Heaping Tbsp. – Dijon Mustard
• 1 cup – Brown Sugar
• 1 tbsp. – Ground Cumin
• 1 tsp. – Cumin Seed
• 1 tsp. – Cayenne Pepper
• 1/8 cup – Sea Salt
• 1/8 cup – Sweet Paprika

Instructions: 

1. Trim excess fat off pork shoulder (Meaning the fat rind that shoulder usually comes with. Fat marbling within the meat is okay).
2. Cut 6” long sections that are 1 “ thick.
3. Place a spice rub of salt, paprika and ¼ cup brown sugar (Enough to coat the pork sections).
4. Grill pork sections on a high flame until meat is cooked through and has color and slight char on the outside. (See picture)
5. In a large cooking pot, whisk Tabanero hot sauce, beef stock, garlic cloves, Dijon mustard, ¾ cup brown sugar, ground cumin, cumin seed, and cayenne pepper together until ingredients are all combined. Bring just to a boil, then remove from stove add liquid to a crock-pot (this will be your braising liquid).
6. Add grilled pork shoulder sections to the braising liquid in the crock-pot and set on the highest setting (4 hour cook time). Pork will shred easily with a fork when finished.
7. Remove pork pieces from the braising liquid and shred, discarding excess fat ribboning throughout. Set aside and cover.
8. Strain remaining braising liquid from crock pot into a saucepan using a fine mesh strainer and bring to boil over a high heat while whisking occasionally for 20 minutes or until liquid  is reduced by half.
9. Toss liquid with pulled pork and garnish with fresh green onion or chives and, of course, extra Tabanero hot sauce! Enjoy!