For Silver Iocovozzi, chef of Neng Jr.’s in Asheville, North Carolina, this pork Inasal is the perfect example of Appalachian cooking, which, they say, is all about “making what you can from the bounty of the land and the pantry, applying ideas new and old, to create something nourishing.” The flavors of this slow-cooked pork shoulder are a loving homage to Iocovozzi’s childhood memories, trips to the Philippines, and the BBQ traditions of the American South.
Store-bought fried onions and garlic are decimated to a powder along with toasted rice, forming an especially dark and delicious crust around the pork, reminiscent of the bark on smoked meats. While Iocovozzi prefers black rice for its faintly nutty flavor, regular or glutinous white rice will work as well. Apple cider vinegar can stand in place of the coconut vinegar, but the beguiling fruitiness of the latter makes a strong case for stocking it in your pantry. Look for Silver Swan brand.
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What you’ll need
Silver Swan Coconut Vinegar
$18 At Amazon
Small Skillet
$23 At Amazon
Vitamix Blender
$380 $330 At Amazon
Dutch Oven
$133 $80 At Amazon
Recipe information
Total Time
7 hours
Yield
8–12 servings
Ingredients
⅓
¾
⅔
2
¼
¼
¼
1
½
½
Preparation
Step 1
Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 300°. Toast ⅓ cup black rice in a dry small skillet over medium, stirring with a heatproof rubber spatula or swirling pan often, until nutty smelling and just beginning to smoke (some grains may pop), 6–10 minutes. Transfer to a blender and let cool 5 minutes.
Step 2
Add ¾ cup store-bought fried onions, ⅔ cup store-bought fried garlic, and 2 Tbsp. black peppercorns to toasted rice in blender. Blend until finely ground, then transfer to a medium bowl and stir in ¼ cup crushed red pepper flakes, ¼ cup sugar, and ¼ cup Diamond Crystal or 2 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. Morton kosher salt.
Step 3
Place one 7–8-lb. skinless, bone-in pork shoulder (Boston butt), fat cap trimmed to about ¼", on a cutting board and rub all over with ½ cup vegetable oil. Sprinkle all over with spice rub, pressing to adhere. Place pork, fat side up, in a large heavy pot; sprinkle any rub remaining on cutting board over top of pork. Carefully pour in 6 cups water from the side to avoid disturbing the spice crust on pork. Cover pot and bring liquid to a simmer over medium heat, 8–10 minutes. Transfer to oven; braise pork 3 hours. Uncover pot and roast pork until meat is very tender and shreds easily with a fork, 2–2½ hours. Carefully transfer pork to a platter; let rest 15–30 minutes.
Step 4
Using a large spoon, skim off most of fat from braising liquid (you should have about 1 cup liquid left); stir in ½ cup coconut vinegar. Taste sauce and season with salt if needed. Transfer to a small pitcher or bowl (strain if desired). Shred or slice pork and serve with sauce.
Leave a Review
Reviews (9)
Back to TopThis pork is delicious and I highly recommend it!
DMM518
Wyckoff NJ
7/25/2023
This recibe benefits in no way from “store bought” fried onions or garlic. I realize that it’s a contributed recipe but cmon guys — real onion and garlic will always yield a better result than the garbage that’s sit on the grocery self oily for weeks or more. You can do a lot better than this with online recipes. Don’t make your stuff appear more accessible just because you have recipes than use canned crap This recipe is good only due to the novel use of toasted black rice and coconut vinegar, nothing more. Improvise the rest, friends.
Danny
7/24/2023
This recipe was PERFECT! I would also recommend preparing this ahead of time, as the flavors just get better a day or two after you prepare! We made this and had a ton of leftovers, we’ve been enjoying it and found it just gets better a few days after. I did it just as instructed and have no adjustments to include!
Rob Alcorn Realtor
Ashburn
7/7/2023
This was delicious! My family all gave a thumbs up. My crushed red pepper flakes are extra hot, so I subbed in 1T of Aleppo pepper for one of the 4T crushed red pepper--it was still plenty spicy. Also, I had an oven-time conflict with my husband who was baking bread, so I used my gas grill, doing my best to keep the temp at 300 until the oven was free. It worked fine, despite it being a windy day resulting in my flame being blown out a couple of times. Served with Meera Sodha's Jaipur slaw and brown basmati rice. I initially skimped on the water, based on another reviewers report, but had to add a bit extra when I took the lid off for the last 2 hours. Will definitely make this again, thanks for the excellent recipe!
Jeanette
Spanish Springs, NV
5/2/2023
This was incredibly good. We served it with coleslaw, cheesy grits, and a cucumber salad. Leftovers have turned into sandwiches and tacos. It is one of the best pork shoulder recipes I have ever cooked. Perfect flavor and a little spice. Do yourself a favor and make this recipe!
SB
Chicago
4/12/2023
Made this recipe per instructions. Added 6 cups of water but when finished skimming off fat had 8 cups of liquid not 1 cup as per recipe. Loved the flavor but do not see how 6 cups of water becomes 1 cup of "gravy" with this recipe. Will try again but reduce the water to 2 cups. Other than that the meat was wonderful.
Anonymous
4/10/2023
Very good recipe. Quite possibly the best pulled pork I've ever eaten. Wonderful crisp bark despite the braising technique. Not overly dry or soggy, just right. I was able to find a spiced coconut vinegar at my local asian food store and it turned out very good. I'd never heard of it before. Gave it a little spicy kick. Might try making my own fried garlic next time just because it's easy to do. I braised it in a large skillet with a domed lid and couldn't transfer the pork and boiling water into the oven so I added the water in the oven and added an extra 1/2 hour rather than heating it on the stove first. I might try this recipe in my smoker to see how it turns out. I'm definitely going to try the coconut vinegar on my smoked pork when I make it instead of apple cider vinegar.
Matt
Buffalo, NY
4/8/2023