By Sarah DiGregorio
- Total Time
- 8 hours 20 minutes
- Rating
- 4(3,287)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Here to save your weeknight life: a slow-cooker main that’s truly “set-it-and-forget-it,” with results that taste like they required significantly more effort. This rich and flavorful pork takes about 5 minutes to throw together in the morning. Before dinner, just simmer the sauce — a sweet-salty mix of soy and honey — until it’s syrupy, shred the meat, add a flurry of fresh herbs and you’re done. The meat is a wonderfully simple anchor, and you can build a meal around it: Add lettuce cups and kimchi or serve it over rice, whole grains or even tortillas.
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings
- 3 to 4pounds boneless, skinless pork shoulder, trimmed of big hunks of fat and cut in half
- 8large garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 3tablespoons minced fresh ginger (from one 3-inch piece)
- 1teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more to taste
- 2teaspoons finely grated lime zest and 2 tablespoons juice (from 1 lime), plus more lime wedges for serving
- 1cup tamari or low-sodium soy sauce (see Tip)
- 1cup honey
- 1tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- Cooked rice, noodles or lettuce cups, for serving
- Toasted sesame seeds, sliced scallions and chopped cilantro, for topping
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
668 calories; 38 grams fat; 13 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 17 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 45 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 35 grams sugars; 38 grams protein; 1281 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Place the pork in a 6- to 8-quart slow cooker. Scatter the garlic, ginger, red-pepper flakes and lime zest over the top. In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together the tamari, honey and sesame oil, then pour it over the pork. Using tongs, turn to coat all sides of the pork in the sauce, and spoon some over the top so that some of the garlic and ginger is on top of the pork. Cover and cook on low until the pork is very tender and shreds easily with a fork, 8 to 9 hours; it will hold well on warm. (If you are home and able to flip the pork once during cooking, that will help the flavors distribute evenly on the meat and make the color uniform. If not, it will be fine.)
Step
2
Using tongs, transfer the pork from the slow cooker to a serving platter or large, shallow serving bowl. Using a ladle, skim excess fat off the surface of the cooking liquid, if desired. Carefully pour the sauce into a large pot. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium-high heat and let it simmer until reduced and slightly syrupy, 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, coarsely shred the pork using two forks.
Step
3
Sprinkle the lime juice over the top of the meat. Drizzle about half the sauce over the top of the shredded meat, tossing to evenly combine. Serve over rice or noodles or in lettuce cups. Top with sesame seeds, scallions and cilantro. Pass the remaining sauce at the table, if desired, as well as extra lime wedges and red-pepper flakes.
Tip
- Tamari, a gluten-free Japanese fermented soy product similar to soy sauce, is generally a little less salty than grocery store soy sauce, and it works slightly better in this recipe.
Ratings
4
out of 5
3,287
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Cooking Notes
Margaux Laskey, Senior Staff Editor, NYT Cooking
This kind of dish is why people love slow cookers: very low effort, max yum. My 5 and 7 yos love it over jasmine rice with sliced avocado and cucumbers on the side. I've made this with fresh or jarred garlic and ginger. Either works.
shell
The sesame oil should be added after cooking (at the end) or it turns bitter.
Meghan
To make this on the stove instead of a slow cooker: heat high heat oil in a Dutch oven. Cut meat in 2-3 pieces, season with salt and pepper, and sear on all sides until golden brown. Will probably take 15 mins. Meanwhile, chop your ginger and garlic. Remove the meat from the pan. Sauté aromatics. Add sauce to the pan, scrape up the burnt bits of pork, bring to a boil. Put meat back in the pot and bring to a boil. Cover and put in a 250 oven for 4 hours (for about 4 lb of meat).
Brett
I was confused by all the conflicting comments.So I cooked it per the recipe.It was fantastic.
Patricia Garcia
Sometimes, I can't believe some of the comments made here....Susan, chopping garlic and ginger is substantial pre-crockpot prep? Lordy girl, don't ever make a real braise, you'll be dog-tired. Guessing you don't cook a lot.
Stephen
Had great intentions of starting this in the morning to be ready for dinner in the evening... Needless to say I didn't get it all prepared until close to 3 pm. Luckily, this recipe worked a treat in our pressure cooker - 30 mins on high with 30 mins natural release. Made it per the recipe otherwise, and it was delicious!
Susan
Giving just 2 stars. First the pre-crockpot prep is not an easy 5 min. There is some substantial chopping and dicing to do. All that would have been worth it for a delicious braising sauce to spoon over the meat at the end. I did not like this sauce. Meat came out fine, but sauce tasted burnt/bitter. I tried to doctor it w rice wine, apple cider vinegar, more honey. Nothing helped the bad aftertaste.
Kathy
I followed some of the suggestions: 1/2 cup of honey and added about 1/2 cup of water . I had plenty of sauce. With many comments about it being too salty, I used Trader Joe’s Soyaki sauce for the soy sauce and thinking was a great alternative.Pork was tender, sauce was delicious and the scallions, sesame seeds and limes added great texture and color. I didn’t use any grated lime due to other comments and don’t think it was missed. Will definitely make again!
Kait
This was an enjoyable meal that allowed the meat to get some nice crispy edges while still being moist and flavorful. However, given the calories and effort required, I have to recommend the Skinny Taste Banh Mi Bowl recipe over this one. Virtually the same flavor payoff (my fiancé didn’t realize it was a different recipe) with less work and fewer calories. Highly recommend serving both recipes with rice, cilantro, jalapeños/Serrano peppers, pickled carrots, cucumbers, and a sriracha aioli.
Mama Fontana
I’ve made this twice, once with a pork roast and once with a beef roast. Both times baked in a Dutch oven for 2-3 hours. The beef was much better than the pork!
Heather
I initially rated this three stars, but I took the leftovers out of the freezer last week and used them in a stir fry, and they were delicious. I simply froze hunks of the cooked meat in the sauce, and then I used the sauce in the stir fry. Bumped it up to four stars and will definitely make it again!
Payal
I used an Instant Pot and it worked well! Cooked on high for 30 minutes and then natural release (it was over an hour before I opened it up). It was tender and there was no burned taste. I also used coconut aminos instead of tamari or soy sauce and it was not salty at all. I used a lot a red chili powder instead of the flakes and it came out with a nice spice balance of sweet and spicy. I would have used much less sesame oil since the sauce at the end was too oily.
Lindsey
Due to coronavirus shortages at the grocery stores, I had to settle for pork tenderloin instead of pork shoulder. I know that's a completely different cut of meat. I still followed all of the instructions and slow-cooked it on low for about 6 hours. Was still able to shred it (although it was a bit dry). We ate it with white rice and had the leftovers as pork fried rice the next day.
Amanda
I enjoyed this. No burnt flavor as I followed other reviewers’ advice and swapped 1/4 cup of brown sugar for the honey. I only added lime as a garnish at the end and didn’t use much of the sauce. We ate it with squeezed lime juice, scallions and cilantro over white rice and it was pretty delicious.
Jen
6 pound pork roast in 300 degree oven for about 5 hours, basted a couple times; used olive oil instead roasted sesame oil for the roast, based on previous comments; then added a drizzle of sesame oil at the end while reducing the sauce. In addition to the suggested garnishes, I served this with quick pickled veggies (carrots and cucumbers, radishes next time) - the pickled veggies really added brightness to the dish as a whole.This was terrific and easy - great combo! Will be on repeat.
Vivienne
What if I only have a 3.5 quarter slow cooker? Appreciated the instructions for the stove top and oven method.
bevgs
This was too salty for me! I expected to like it better, it was just okay.
Liza
No slow cooker here, so I made this in my tagine on the stove top. Similar procedure to starting in a Dutch oven and finishing in the oven. Very tasty. Made sandwiches with it on crusty baguette, veggies and tahini sauce, delicious.
Andrew
If you have any leftovers, the pork, cilantro, and chives go great on a grilled cheese. You can even use the sauce as a dip for the sandwich.
D Steiner
Easy-peasy and delicious!
Carla
Made this recipe exactly as written except added the lime zest at the end. Absolutely delicious! My family devoured it and it was so easy.
Denise D
Cooked as directed and it was good. The sauce was rich, so in the future i would still add half to the shred, but put less on after that.
Robert
Try this with Oxtail or Pork Belly!
Cynthia
To make this on the stove instead of a slow cooker: heat high heat oil in a Dutch oven. Cut meat in 2-3 pieces, season with salt and pepper, and sear on all sides until golden brown. Will probably take 15 mins. Meanwhile, chop your ginger and garlic. Remove the meat from the pan. Sauté aromatics. Add sauce to the pan, scrape up the burnt bits of pork, bring to a boil.Put meat back in the pot and bring to a boil. Cover and put in a 250 oven for 4 hours
John
There are Japanese soy sauces that have a variety of salt levels. Your big grocery probably only carries one toy of low-sodium soy. Try to find an Asian market near you. Supermarket low salt is 1/3 less typically but in the Asian store I can find ahoyu with 1/2 the normal amount. San-Jii is the brand as I recall. Also low-sodium tamari is available.
Joe Dragan
Have tried this recipe using sous vide. If there ever was dish suited to sous vide it was this one. Have fun, and enjoy this late winter treat..Joe
Molly
This sounds like a great idea -- did you include all of the marinade in the bag while it was sous vide-ing? Did you finish it in the oven?
Gigi NYC
Made this exactly as written and it is FANTASTIC! Used a food processor to make quick work of chopping the ginger and garlic. Easy peasy!
Charlotte
Can it be made with pork loin?
Richard X
No. Pork loin is too lean; your results will be dry.
Pam
Made exactly as written except cooked in the instant pot (45 minutes pressure, 15-ish slow release). Came out perfectly. Use the lime. The acid perks up the sauce. Had leftovers so I turned those into soft shell tacos a few days later. Topped with pickled red onions, cotija cheese, and kale. Still had leftovers so I made a bowl for lunch with rice and beans. All three meals were excellent.
MarcL
Would this recipe work with chicken, turkey, or beef?
Shelly
I was wondering the same thing about chicken, but I suspect it would need either a shorter cook time or to be watched closely & stirred occasionally.I definitely think it would work on beef.
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