I know we are racing right from Thanksgiving up to Christmas, Hanukkah, and then (eek) the New Year, but I want to take a short pause in the holiday hoopla to bring you pulled pork hoopla.

While it’s not what anyone would consider a December-ish dish, all the ingredients go into the crockpot and what comes out is nothing short of a miracle.

So I guess this is appropriate for the holiday season after all.

And if the addition of miso has you stumped, bear with me. It’s sort of a Hawaiian/Asian/Put-It-In-A-Taco-Anyway kind of thing.

Here’s what you need:

Pork Shoulder Roast (Boston Butt), Onion, Ginger, Garlic, Miso Paste, Olive Oil, Tamari/Soy Sauce, Brown Sugar, and Pepper.

Click here for a Miso Braised Pork Shopping List

Miso is for more than just making soup. A paste made from fermented soybeans, it adds a big flavor boost to other ingredients. It can also be quite salty so I usually look for low sodium (often organic) miso. You can buy miso paste in many regular grocery stores and always in an Asian market. Look for it in the refrigerated section and don’t be afraid to ask someone if you can’t find it.

Miso is high in protein and because it’s fermented, is one of those good for your gut kind of foods. Miso comes in a couple of colors/flavors but I usually buy traditional white miso paste because I can use it in other recipes like Miso & Honey Glazed Fish. Miso paste will keep practically forever in the fridge.

A little chopping…chop up 1 medium onion and place it in your crockpot with about 2 teaspoons of olive oil.

Toss it together so it makes a nice non-stick base for the bottom of the pot.

Garlic! Foods cooked slowly often need extra seasoning so don’t be afriad to add quite a bit of garlic.

I’ve finely chopped about 5 big cloves – about 2 Tablespoons.

In a small bowl, combine ¼ cup Tamari or Soy Sauce, ¼ cup brown sugar, and ½ cup miso paste.

Whisk to combine until you have a smooth, caramel colored sauce.

I don’t have a photo of it, but I took a 4-5 pound pork shoulder roast, often called a Boston Butt roast, and cut it into big chunks.

These roasts come with or without the bone. Mine was boneless and tied up so I just untied it and whacked it into about 8 big pieces.

If yours has a bone, toss that in the pot as well for extra flavor. After we cook this low and slow, it will be so tender it will be falling off the bone.

I do a little extra trimming if there are any big, hard pieces of fat in the meat but otherwise cut it apart and toss it in the crock pot.

Add the chopped garlic and 1 heaping teaspoon of finely chopped ginger. Season to taste with freshly ground pepper.

Pour the sauce over the meat and add 2 cups of water.

Give everything a good stir to combine.

I had dueling crockpots of Miso Braised Pork and some spicy, chipotle Canary Beans.

Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8 – 10.

If you are cooking this on the stovetop, it will take about 3 hours of simmering gently to become fork tender.

You know it’s done when the meat is falling off the bone or easily pulled apart with a fork.

Remove the pieces of meat and place them on a foil lined tray.

If you have a gravy separator, I highly recommend using it to take some of the fat off the cooking juices.

Use 2 forks or your fingers to pull the pork apart into bite sized pieces.

Drizzle the sauce over the pork so that it is nicely moistened.

You can stop here or to make it even better, run the Miso Braised Pork under the broiler for a few minutes to get nice crispy edges like we do with Carnitas.

So good, you’ll be eating it hot right off the tray.

I made a little taco station with my beans, some groovy citrus slaw (recipe in the works), cheese or queso fresco, and a nice avocado.

Choose flour or corn tortillas and build yourself the Miso Braised Pork Taco of your dreams!

This is GREAT leftover so perfect for busy weeks or when you need to feed a crowd.

We’re all busy people, but if you have a crockpot that can do all the work for you, Miso Braised Pork can give you an incredibly delicious and satisfying meal while you’re away shopping, working, or like me, putting up your festive holiday, Griswald-like display.

You can never have too much Miso Braised Pork or too many Christmas lights!

Here’s the recipe – Adapted from allrecipes.com

Miso Braised Pork

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2 Responses

  1. I can only find sweet white miso paste and want to make this tomorrow morning. I went to three stores and that was all I could find. I have not tried an Asian store yet. Do you think I could use sweet miso paste? Thanks for your reply.

    1. I’m sorry you’ve had to run around to find miso paste. I know I’ve used white miso in the past so I would say go for it. I know there is white, yellow, and red miso but I don’t know exactly where the “sweet” comes in. I’m 99% sure it will work. Please let me know!

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