CarolAsian 2-Chili BBQ Pulled Pork

Our son and I often went to northern Vermont to mountain bike with friends.  Just south of Killington is the Back Behind Restaurant and Hickory Smokehouse, with a smoker running out front.  They make the most outstanding pulled pork - our son's favorite.  I personally adore their Dino Ribs - eight-inch smoked beef ribs piled high on a plate and served with the best cole slaw.

Here I make a pulled pork with Mexican red chili sauce mixed with Thai sweet red chili sauce.  No ketchup needed here.  Sweet and rich, and not too hot.  I call this CarolAsian chili sauce because it is a mix of Asian BBQ and Carolina BBQ. Asian BBQ is typically sweet and spicy hot. Carolina BBQ is typically American smokey, but with a strong note of yellow mustard and vinegar.

See Cook's Note - I paired the pulled pork with corned beef for St. Patrick's day, here.
6-7 lb pork shoulder roast
1 large onion, diced

2 Chili BBQ sauce:
2 cups red chili sauce
2 cups Mae Ploy Thai sweet chili sauce
1/4 cup English or prepared yellow mustard
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced

Cut the bone out of the roast, and remove the skin. Set aside for making soup. Cut the boneless meat into four big pieces. Brown the pieces in a large skillet, in two batches, in a bit of canola oil. Salt and,pepper generously.
Meanwhile, whisk together the BBQ sauce ingredients.

When all the pork is browned, set aside in a bowl. Put the onions in the same skillet as used to brown the pork. Sauté the onions for about 5-8 minutes, until the onions soften and begin to brown.

Place 2 pieces of pork in the crock of a slow cooker. Top with half the onions and half the sauce. Deglaze the skillet used for the pork and onions with a bit of water, scraping up all the brown bits. Transfer to crock. Put the remaining pork in the crock along with the remaining onions and chili sauce.

Cook on high for 2 hours and low for about 6 hours. Alternatively, set on low, go to work. Remove crock from slow cooker when you get home. Remove the pork and gently shred with a fork. Serve pork on buns with sauce passed on the side. Goes extremely well with cole slaw.

Serves 6-8.

Cook's Note: Mae Ploy Thai chili sauce is a great balance of sweetness and hot chili and balances the mustard and vinegar very well indeed.

The second chili comes from the red chili sauce made with Mexican Guajillo chilies which are themselves smokey and just a bit hot. No need for ketchup here as the red chili sauce is sweetened just fine by the Thai sweet chili sauce.

Because it was St. Patrick's Day, I just had to add a bit of corned beef to the stew (I know one would normally pair brisket with pulled pork - but it was St. Patrick's Day, after all!).  And I served it with something green - like jalapeño peppers!

I've also used this sauce on ribs beautifully, and I suspect it would be great on chicken.