Vietnamese Style Pulled Pork and Slaw

This posts deserve an exclamation point because I was really excited to make and can't wait for my friends to try.  I was inspired by a recent pulled pork party I went to and learned that the slaw goes on top of the pulled pork.  On top of that, I became an aunt this weekend! What's not to celebrate, right?

The recipe was very simple but I have to tweak it a few before I can be sure.  Simply, I used coconut juice, coconut milk, pineapple juice, star anise, all spice, fish sauce, and other seasonings.  The slaw came with cabbage, carrots, scallions, radishes, with toasted almond & lemongrass (yup, I toasted the lemongrass - delicious!). The slaw dressing had olive oil, egg, lemon juice, fish sauce, garlic, bird's eye chili, salt & pepper, and sugar.

I cooked 4 lbs of pork shoulder and hand pulled it.  My plan is to serve it with the slow and some sticky rice.  I could steam some mantou buns but unfortunately, I don't own a steamer.


Please excuse the photos' quality - I took everything with my iPhone. Yeah, goooo iPhone!

Shoulder in broth & brewing...

The first batch pulled (yes, my pot was not big enough for all 4 lbs of shoulder to cook)

Making the slaw... you notice how I julienned the carrots? Pretty sweet, eh?

It's quite easy.  I do it the old school style by slicing it into thin pieces and stacking them.

Voila! Sorry, no cabbage photo here but I mainly sliced them thin and then chopped them into smaller pieces.  Again, it is a slaw and not just a salad.

Thinly sliced scallions.

Julienne some radishes.

Layer basil and prep them for chiffonading (french word minus the ing).

What you do is you roll it then slice it.

Mix, Mix, Mix.

On the stove, I toasted some raw sliced almonds with chopped lemongrass.  Smells wonderful!

Add the toasty deliciousness to the slaw. Then mix, mix, and mix!

The final product in the pot. Oh so delicious.

Agreed? Hand pulled - gotta' love it.

The other day I made a fontina and taleggio mac 'n cheese. :)