I've talked about cooking pork like this before, but never got around to doing a post on it. I am talking about Michael Chiarello's Forever Roasted Pork, with a little tweak and served as a luxurious taco filling.
I used 1.5kg pork shoulder, boned. It's very important to leave it on the counter before you roast, you don't want to go from fridge to oven.
There is a little bit of prep work to do before you get it in the oven, but nothing too complicated. Pre-heat the oven to 130°C and assemble the ingredients peppercorns, salt, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and a few onions.
Measure out 1 cup of fennel, 3 tablespoons of coriander, 2 tablespoons of peppercorns and 3 tablespoons of salt (kosher or course).
Toast until fragrant and then blitz in a blender until it's a coarsely ground. Set aside.
Slice up the onions and sauté on a very low heat until they have caramelised.
Be patient and don't rush this, if you burn the onions that acrid taste will taint the whole dish. It can take up to 25 minutes to get wonderful golden onions.
Slice underneath the fat cap, being careful not to cut it all the way off.
Smother the pork generously with the spice mix, making sure to coat it all.
Spread the caramelised onion on to the pork and fold the fat and skin back over.
Place the pork in a lined tin and drizzle a little olive oil over the skin (this will prevent it sticking to the top layer of foil). Cover with foil and place in the oven for about 8 hours.
After 8 hours it will be fall apart tender and deeply caramelised, with a rich savoury flavour.
I served it up with Corn tortillas and a few filling options, Thinly sliced red cabbage with lime juice squeezed over it; An Avocado and tomato salsa; Red pickled onions; Sour cream blended with a chipotle (it was going to be home made sour cream but that failed); and jalapeños in adobo sauce.
