Slow Cooker Asian-Style Pulled Pork

Nerd alert: I’ve always loved school and learning. You know how in high school, your teachers would write notes on the board, and you’d be expected to copy them to your notebook? That was my jam. In the adult world, I generally get bored with a job when I’m done learning new things from it.

Leaving my advertising job (where I’d learned pretty much all there was to learn) in order to start from scratch in culinary school was a dream come true. There were so many new things to do and learn! Nowadays, I’m always looking for ways to get better at this job called blogging and freelancing.

Just for fun, I read lots of food photography and styling books, and during my lunch break each day, I watch an electronic video course about food photography. I mean, there’s never anything good on TV, right? I might as well watch learning videos for fun.

I’m willing to bet that a few of my readers love learning about cooking, and want to learn more than I can provide in my once-a-month “Culinary School Lesson” post. When Taste of Home Online Cooking School offered me the chance to try their classes, the learning freak inside of me was interested.

I know, I know. I went to culinary school. Why would I need more cooking classes? Well, there’s a whole class about Slow Cooker Favorites (something that was definitely NOT covered in culinary school).

I love using my slow cooker, but I’m always a bit nervous about creating my own recipes for it, worried I’m using the wrong cuts of meat or amounts of liquid. Working my way through the Slow Cooker Favorites course taught me which ingredients work best for low and slow cooking, when and how to use upfront stovetop cooking, what size slow cooker is the most versatile to have on hand, and how full to fill the slow cooker.

The information is presented via videos, short written slides, and fun-to-take quizzes. In addition to teaching me how to use my slow cooker, the easy-to-navigate course provided five recipes (three entrees and two desserts).

I used one of the provided recipes + my newfound slow cooker knowledge to create the Slow Cooker Asian-Style Pulled Pork Recipe you see below!

Yield: 6 servings

Slow Cooker Asian-Style Pulled Pork

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Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 7 hours

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 boneless pork shoulder butt roast (about 3 pounds), excess fat trimmed
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 cup ketchup
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon sriracha
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
• Hamburger buns or fried or steamed rice, for serving (optional)
• Chopped fresh cilantro or parsley, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Place onion in a 4- or 5-quart slow cooker. Place pork over onion; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, covered, on low 6 to 8 hours or until pork is tender.
2. Remove pork and onions; discard cooking juices or save for another use. Allow pork to cool slightly, then shred with tongs or two forks. Return pork and onions to slow cooker.
3. In small bowl, whisk ketchup, lemon juice, Worcestershire, honey, sriracha, coriander and ginger until well combined. Pour over pork mixture; stir until well combined. Cover slow cooker and cook on low 1 hour longer.
4. Serve pork on buns or with rice, garnished with cilantro, if desired.