Chicagoist’s Spicy Braised Pork Shoulder

By tonyglib

Ingredients

• 2 pound pork shoulder (I like the bone-in, but it’s your world)
• 3 teaspoons olive oil or leftover bacon fat, for cooking
• Salt and pepper
• 3 cups water, plus more if needed
• 2 Tablespoons Cayenne pepper
• 1 Tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 whole jalapeno pepper

Details

Servings 6

Preparation

Step 1

To brown the shoulder:

This should be done the night before you want to eat. Heat oil or bacon fat in a large, broad pan. A cast-iron pan is preferred, but not required. Season the shoulder with pepper and salt. Thoroughly brown the pork on all sides. The more browning you do now, the more flavorful the meat will be later. Don’t worry that the meat needs to be cooked all the way through - it doesn’t. You just want to get a nice brown crust on the outside of the meat.

Put the shoulder in a crock pot and fill with water until 2/3 of the meat is submerged. Don’t add enough water to completely cover the meat. Add cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, paprika, cumin, and black pepper. The whole jalapeno can go into the pot too. Set the crock pot insert into the fridge overnight to let the flavors really set in.

In the morning, rise and shine and plug in your pork. Go to work. Or doggy day care. Or wherever it is you go - it's none of our beeswax, okay?? Point is, let the meat cook in the crockpot on the low setting for 8-10 hours, or the high setting for 6-8 hours. When you come back home, your house will be filled with the awesome meaty aromas. You can use whatever is left of your braising liquid to make a gravy, or just shred the pork and enjoy.