Braised pork and cucumber

With Barossa Shiraz

  • Prep Time: 40m
  • Cook Time: 8h
  • Total Time: 8h 40m

Ingredients

Pork

  • 1 lb / 450gr Pork shoulder from a farm raised pig
  • 1/2 c / 1dl BBQ sauce
  • 3 1/2 oz / 100gr yellow onion (1 small onion)
  • 1/4 c / 1/2dl red wine
  • 1/2 tsp. salt

Mini Corncakes

  • 1/3 c / 3/4dl Fresh or defrosted corn kernels
  • 3 1/3 tbsp. / 1/2dl Polenta
  • 1/2 tbsp. Flour
  • 1 tsp. Baking powder
  • 3 1/3 tbsp. / 1/2dl Water
  • 3 big pinches Salt
  • 1/2 tbsp. Butter
  • 1 tbsp. Oil of choice

Other

  • 1 large English/European cucumber
  • 20 g Quality Feta cheese
  • Cilantro or Chives
  • (Steak knives)
  • Peeler

Preparation

Pork (NOTE: takes 8-9h)

  • Thinly slice the yellow onion.
  • Combine all the pork ingredients in a pot with a lid.
  • Set the pot in a 90C/195F oven for approximately 8 hours.
  • When the pork is cooked, remove the meat from the pot and reduce the sauce (without a lid) until it reaches a BBQ sauce like consistency again. 15-20 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, using two forks separate the meat into small strands.
  • Once reduced, take the sauce off the stove and add in the pulled pork.
  • Once the pork is finished continue with other preparations.

Corncake

  • Combine polenta, corn kernels, flour, baking powder, salt and water.
  • Sear as flat mini pancakes, approximately the size of a quarter, sear in butter & oil on medium heat. Sear 1-2 minutes per side, until slightly golden.
  • Lay on kitchen paper after cooking.

Cucumber

  • Using a peeler, slowly make strips of cucumber. The first few strips to be discarded (read: eaten), a width of ca 3cm/1,2 inches or more is ideal. Also once you get to far into the core, the strips break too easily, at this point flip the cucumber and peel strips from the other side. You only need 12 strips. (Can be done ahead of time and left in a container in the fridge)

Plating

  • Place a thin line of the braised pork halfway down a cucumber strip (you can reheat the pork if needed before plating), and roll it.
  • Place three rolls on each plate and then scatter crumbled corncakes, feta, and herbs. Serve immediately.

Extra tips

  • The cucumber rolls keep their shape nicely if the dish is eaten with steak knives.
  • You can double the pork part of the recipe and have pulled pork sandwiches on toasted sourdough, with sour cream and thyme the next day if you’d like! Just remember if you buy twice as big a piece of meat to cut it in half for cooking, so that it doesn’t take twice the time, and double the other pulled pork ingredients.