Wednesday, August 5, 2015

S L O W - M O T I O N

P U L L E D  P O R K

W/ P U R P L E  S L A W 

&  S W E E T  C H I L I  

C R E A M  C H E E S E 



Where to begin with this? Well, let's rewind to a couple years ago when I first got a Pinterest account (basically when my life became so much more unproductive). I naturally made a food board called "MMM...". While browsing & drooling my life away I stumbled upon this mind-blowingly, vivid & seductive looking sandwich! 

Right?? Those colors, that elegance & that class all in a bun. I ended up making them for my two girlfriends for a little potluck & they came out really good! Forward to today.. I'm stuffed. I'm so happy.. & I'm wondering so damn hard why it took me this long to make again!

There's just too many good things out there to cook ^______^

few Sundays ago my fiancé.. OMG I DIDN'T EVEN MENTION THAT I GOT ENGAGED!! I GOT ENGAGED!! Here we are in a canyon that seems not apart of this world freshly engaged! 

So we hung out with our friends Joe & Kaylyn. Our plan was brunch! Then SoWa got brought up.. hello FOOD TRUCKS! 

We kicked things off with a Lychee Slush from Sweet Bubble. Wow was it so perfect for that 90º+ day! Since we were starving we went with the tried & true dumplings from Moyzilla. So. Good. 

One lap around the lot full of 15+ food trucks & I turned around for what caught my eyes.. "Bulgogi Rib Eye Steak with Kimchi Scallion Slaw + Sweet Chili Cream Cheese STUFFED IN A SOPAPILLA" from Stuffed By Papi. Wahhh YES! The sopapilla (pronounced so-pa-peeya) is the softest, fluffiest fried dough ever. Please let me die eating this sandwich.

Moral of the story? The key & most crucial difference between the two handfuls of heaven was that freaking sweet chili cream cheese sauce, guys! So ever since I had that one at SoWa I had to make the pulled pork again.

Alas, here we (takes a nice sip of beer) finally are! An updated recipe for the AZN-styled pulled pork sammiches.. 

PS! There's literally nothing more wonderful in this world than to come home to a crockpot of goodness & the whole entire building of your condo smelling like sweet, fatty, meat.. <3

Ingredients:
Sandwich/ Hamburger Buns, Challah, Tortillas etc!
A piece of dat pork butt (~2lbs)
2 tbsp Chinese five spice powder
1/2 cup Brown sugar
1/4 cup Soy sauce
1/4 cup Hoisin sauce
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp Adobo
1 tbsp Smoked paprika
1 tbsp Cayenne
1 tbsp Black pepper

For the Slaw:
1 Red Cabbage 
1 bunch of cilantro
1 tbsp Sesame oil
1 tbsp Fish sauce
1 tbsp Sugar
Juice of 1 lime

For the magic:
1 8oz tub of cream cheese
1/2 cup of sweet chili sauce


Directions:

  1. Prep the butt to get ready for the slow cooker! Rinse & plop her in. Whisk together all of your spices & sauces & add to the slow cooker. I set mine up for LOW on 8hrs.. perfect for turning on in the morning before I leave for work.
  2. Slice cabbage in half & in half again. Cut into thin strips working from the sides going in towards the heart of the cabbage.. sooo pretty.
  3. Cut your cilantro off where the leaves start to form & chop into small pieces.
  4. Throw cabbage & cilantro together in a large tupperware container while adding in the other ingredients. Let this sit in the fridge covered for at least an hour to get the flavors all mingly! Taste it now though- isn't it so crunchy & yummy!?!!! You can even add pepper flakes to it if you want (;
  5. In another tupperware add cream cheese & sweet chili sauce. Mix mix mix mix!! This totally reminds me of crab rangoons & that's probably why I ate some with my fingers while mixing.

  6. Get home & get so damn excited about how yummy & dumb GOOD that crockpot smells.
  7. Take two forks & start to PUUUUUULLLLL the PORK!! Yeahhhhh baby!     
     
  8. Transfer all the pulled pork into a dish- feel free to pour some juice over it but I ditched most of it because I'm trying to be healthy or something.. or something.
  9. Toast your buns!
  10. To assemble: Smear sweet chili cream cheese onto bottom bun (I used challah, but brioche would be bad ass too!). Add your hot pulled pork on top. Next, top with your purple slaw. Finish with your top bun & BOOM!! You are in PULLED PORK PARADISE :D

Obviously pair this with a nice beer like Green Flash's 30th Street Pale Ale!


Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings & please let me know if you make this!! Oofz, look at that sweet & creamy cheese spread..