Pulled pork adobo with rice salad

This incredibly easy pork recipe yields a super-impressive dish that will feed – and impress – a crowd. You can also use pork belly, pork shoulder – or any other slow-cooking cut. The sweet, sour, umami-rich adobo sauce is the highlight here: vinegar is balanced out with sugar and soya sauce, with garlic, bay leaves and whole peppercorns to add depth.

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Serves 6 to 8
EASY
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: 2 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients:

  • canola oil 2 T                
  • pork rump 2.5 kg                 
  • onion 1, thinly sliced     
  • garlic 6 cloves, peeled        
  • peppercorns 10
  • bay leaves 5
  • apple cider vinegar 1 cup
  • water 2 cups
  • soya sauce 1 cup
  • brown sugar ½ cup

For the rice salad: 

  • jasmine rice 4 cups, cooked
  • grapefruit 2, peeled and roughly chopped
  • coriander 15 g, roughly chopped 
  • mint 15 g, roughly chopped
  • parsley 15 g, roughly chopped
  • sesame oil 2 T
  • rice wine vinegar 4 T
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cooking instructions:

 

  1. Preheat the oven to 160°C.
  2. Heat the canola oil in a large saucepan and sear the pork for 3–5 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan.
  3. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until translucent. 
  4. Add the peppercorns, bay leaves, vinegar, water, soya sauce and brown sugar.
  5. Return the pork to the pan, cover with a lid, transfer to the oven and cook for 2 hours.
  6. Remove from the oven, and using two forks, pull the meat into chunks.
  7. To make the rice salad, cool the rice. Add the grapefruit, coriander, mint, parsley, sesame oil and rice wine vinegar then toss and season to taste. 
  8. Serve the pulled pork on the rice salad, with plenty of sauce spooned over the top.