Pulled Pork & Red Wine Caramelized Onion Sandwich - Gourmet Picnic Food

It's that time of the month again with a 5 Star Makeover hosted by Natasha @ 5 Star Foodie and Lazaro @ Lazaro Cooks. This month's theme is a gourmet picnic food theme to welcome Memorial day weekend. I cooked the dish alongside the so called Cooking Group which is a sidebar of this blog. I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with.

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hosted by 5 Star Foodie & Lazaro Cooks!

This pulled pork is so easy especially if you have a slow cooker. It's tender - melt in your mouth - and so juicy! This is not the first time I made this. I changed spices every time. This time I added Piment d' Espelette I got in Paris during my Europe trip last year. This pepper was recommended by Lazaro. It works well with this slow roasted pork. Red wine caramelized onion is a nice touch for a sandwich. Leftovers from this onion can be used in so many ways! I used in a sandwich, salad, side dish, and even a taco.

this is made from pork loin roast

it's pretty tender but doesn't have "fat" that I need

Since my husband doesn't like dark meat, I tried with pork loin roast. It worked fine with a lean taste. Surprisingly, it was juicier than I thought. We had this for a sandwich and the next day I mixed with taco sauce for tacos. Keith absolutely loved it!

the leftover I mixed it with taco sauce to make tacos

 It can't be perfect pulled pork if I haven't used the meat I like which is pork flank or shoulder. Pork flank doesn't come from the rear end of the hog. It is cut from the shoulder. It contains a lot of fat and connective tissue. It creates moist, succulent meat after many hours of "low and slow" cooking. That's what I want it to be.

that's the meat I want

A marbling line makes it easy to "pull" with a fork. I also made this when I catered for NAAAP-Seattle at a Microsoft building. It's easy to prepare and a crowd pleaser.

The next main component is red wine caramelized onions. The way of cooking it is adapted from Momofuku cookbook by David Chang. You cook onions by piling them up on one another - let the weight work itself out. Pile it up and around occasionally to prevent burning. For this recipe, just salt, pepper, herbs, and red wine; you're done. It will take a bit of time to create a caramelization but it's worth it.

Pulled Pork & Red Wine Caramelized Onion Sandwich

Yield: 15-20 sandwiches

You will need:

Pulled Pork (recipe below)
Red wine caramelized onions (recipe below)
Shredded Romain lettuce
Rustic Dinner rolls
Pickled Cucumber

Ingredients for Pulled pork:

2.5 lb pork butt or shoulder
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp oregano
1 Tbs Piment d' Espelette
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup beef broth

Slow cooker

Directions:

• Combine everything together except pork. Rub pork with the seasoning mixture on both sides. Put in a slow cooker and put on low for 9 hrs or so. When it's done, remove the pork and preserve the juice. Use forks to pull meat. Pour juice back in the pork.

Ingredients for Red wine onions:

5 yellow onions, sliced length wise
1 cup red wine
1 tbs kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp fresh oregano
1 Tbs minced parsley
2 Tbs vegetable oil

Wok and wooden spatula

Directions:

• Heat up a wok on high heat. Wait until it's about to smoke and add oil. Swirl to coat. 
• Add onions in a wok. Pile it up occasionally to prevent from burning by using its weight.
• Add salt, parsley, and oregano, and keep turning onions. When it's getting translucent, add red wine.
• Let it caramelize for about 15-20 mins. Don't forget to turn onions.

Assemble:

• Halve the roll and add shredded Romain lettuce.
• Add pork and juice. Top with red wine onions and close with the top half.
• Serve with pickled cucumber if you wish.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Hope everyone has a fun week.