Or…Slow Roast Pork Shoulder Rolls

I decided to make these after having particularly good pork sliders at ‘Little Creatures Brewery’ in Brunswick. If you get the chance to go, seriously order the fries – I think they could be the best fries ever.

I often make a pork ragu, where the meat is cooked very slowly in a simmering broth but hadn’t ever tried roasting it to shred before. Here are a few pointers, which the experience has taught me…

• Make sure your pork shoulder still has a cap of fat on top, for the crackling. Mine didn’t and I felt cheated when I got it home! Wrap in streaky bacon if you can’t get this.
• Ensure the meat is well rested before you shred it
• Try and find/order brioche buns as their sweetness compliments the pork perfectly
• If you have time, make homemade coleslaw and BBQ sauce (recipe coming soon) – as always much better

We first had these brioche buns at a BBQ, where our friends had made spectacular burgers with all sorts of choices when it came to assembly. They told us about this place, which I would highly recommend if you are in Melbourne. I call mine sliders, as that was their inspiration but I actually ordered larger buns on this occasion.

http://www.briochebyphilip.com.au/

This was another Friday burger, which is becoming a bit of a trend in our house. We ended up going out and Ben admirably managed to construct a burger back home when I had gone to bed….and….even photographed it (picture below). The other photos are taken about 8 am the following morning, before enjoying the demonstration for my breakfast!

I made a pear, walnut and parmesan salad to accompany the sliders.

The recipe is taken from ‘Gourmet Traveller’ magazine, you will need to begin this 1 day ahead, if you have the skin.

Ingredients – makes enough pork for about 6-8 fullsize buns

• 1.5kg boneless pork shoulder (with fat)
• 100g butter, coarsely chopped
• 1 bunch of sage
• 30g ginger, thinly sliced
• 3 (I used 6) garlic cloves
• 1 cinnamon quill
• 2 (I used 4) star anise
• 1 brioche roll per person, unless you are particularly hungry
• Accompaniments such as Homemade coleslaw and BBQ sauce – coleslaw recipe here – https://thetravellingpantry.com/2014/04/29/the-perfect-fried-chicken-with-buttermilk-slaw/

First, rub the skin of the pork shoulder with brine (1 tbsp salt and 2 tbsp hot water) and leave to dry out in the refrigerator overnight (this helps generate crackling). I didn’t do this, as I had no skin.

Place foil in a baking tray (preferably with a rack) long enough to wrap the pork in and place the butter, sage, ginger, garlic, cinnamon and star anise in the middle.

Preheat the oven to 220°C, season the underside of the pork shoulder before placing the shoulder on the butter mixture skin side up. If you have no skin, wrap the top side in streaky bacon as this will help it to stay moist. Roll up the foil around the shoulder like a boat, so it captures juices but keeps the skin exposed.

Place on a rack and then back on the oven tray and roast at this temperature for 15-20 minutes to ensure the fat crisps properly before reducing heat to 150°C and roasting for about 3 hours. Ensure the meat rests for 30 minutes before shredding with forks and serving in buns with accompaniments.

As there was just the 2 of us, I added the juices to the meat and we had the same thing for lunch the following day. With the leftovers, I made a pork ragu for pasta.