Best 10 Canoe Braised Pork Recipes

CIDER BRAISED PORK SHOULDER

Steps:

• Pat pork dry with paper towels; season liberally with salt and pepper on all sides.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Brown the pork on all sides, taking care not to get the oil too hot. Remove the meat to a platter.
• Add onions and garlic to the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender (about 10-15 minutes). Stir in 1 ½ teaspoons salt, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, apple cider and chicken broth. Nestle the pork shoulder in the pot (fat-side up). Cover the pot.
• Roast the pork shoulder in a 325°F oven for about 3-3 ½ hours, basting with cooking liquid every hour or so (if possible). The pork is done when the meat is falling off the bone (an internal temperature of about 205°F). Remove bay leaf and herb stems.
• Transfer the pork to a large cutting board. When it's cool enough to handle, shred the meat with two forks (discarding fatty pieces), and spoon plenty of that delicious cider cooking liquid and onions over top.

SUCCULENT BRAISED PORK

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Pat the pork dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
• In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, and working in batches brown the meat on all sides until a golden crust forms. Transfer the pork to a plate. To the pan add the onion, celery, and carrot and sweat until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and sweat another 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 3 minutes to cook off the raw flavor and caramelize it. Sprinkle with the flour and cook another 2 minutes to cook off its raw flavor. Whisk in the wine and reduce it by half. Return the pork to the Dutch oven, then stir in the beef stock, parsley stems, and bay leaves. Add the water if liquid does not come up to the top of the pork. Do not cover the pork with liquid. Cover the pan and place it in the oven to braise until the meat is fork tender, about 3 hours. Taste and season with more salt and pepper, if needed. Transfer to a serving platter and serve.

BRAISED PORK SHOULDER

Steps:

• Using a spice grinder, grind the coriander and cumin seeds until they are a fine powder.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Sprinkle the pork shoulder with the ground spices and salt, then tie each piece so they cook evenly.
• Coat a Dutch oven with olive oil and bring to a high heat. Brown the first pork on all sides. Remove the pork from the pan and reserve. Ditch the fat in the pan and give a few drops of new oil. Repeat with the second pork and remove.
• Lower the heat to medium and toss in the fennel and onions and season them with salt and a sprinkle of crushed red pepper. Cook the onions and fennel until they are soft and very aromatic, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook 2 to 3 minutes longer.
• Add the wine and reduce by half. Stir in the mustard and add the bay leaves and thyme. Return the pork to the Dutch oven and add stock to the pan until it comes halfway up the side of the pork. Add salt if needed. Bring the liquid to a boil, cover and put the Dutch oven in the preheated oven.
• After 1 hour, turn the pork over and add more liquid to the pan if the liquid level has gone down. Cover and return to the oven for 1 hour.
• Turn the pork back over and return to the oven without the lid and cook for 45 more minutes. The liquid should concentrate.
• Remove the pan from the oven, remove the pork and reserve for 15 minutes, tented with aluminum foil. Skim any excess fat from the pan and reduce the pan juices, if needed.
• Slice the pork and serve with onions, fennel and juices.
• Wine Pairing Suggestion: Pinot Grigio

BRAISED PORK SHANK

Steps:

• For the brine: Bring the water to a simmer in a large non-reactive pot. Turn off the heat and add salt, sugar, coriander, peppercorns, rosemary, bay leaf and garlic and bring to a simmer. Whisk until the salt and sugar is dissolved, and then let it cool in the fridge or an ice bath until the brine hits a temperature of 35 degrees F.
• Add the shanks to the cooled brine and weigh down with a plate to ensure that the shanks are completely submerged. Refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours.
• After brining, remove the shanks from the brining liquid to a baking sheet lined with a clean kitchen towel to dry off a bit. Discard the brining liquid.
• For the braise: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Heat a large Dutch oven or roasting pan over medium-high heat. Pour in enough oil so that it covers the bottom of the Dutch oven or roasting pan completely. Put some flour in a shallow dish. Add a heavy pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper to the flour and whisk to combine. Dredge the shanks in the flour, shaking off the excess, and add them to the pan. In order to get a nice even golden-brown sear, you don't want to overcrowd the pan. (Do this step in two batches if necessary.) Brown the shanks on all sides, a few minutes per side, then remove to a plate while you sear the rest.
• Add the celery, onions, carrots, garlic, rosemary and thyme with a large pinch of salt. Sweat the vegetables until tender, about 5 minutes. Deglaze with the white wine and reduce by three-quarters. Add the apple cider and reduce by half. Add half the chicken stock and bring the braising liquid up to a simmer. Taste it for seasoning, adding additional salt and pepper if necessary. Place the shanks back into the pan; the liquid should go about halfway up the shanks. If it does not, add the rest of the liquid until it reaches the desired half. Put the pan in the oven and cook until the meat is tender, about 200 degrees F when checked with a meat thermometer, 4 to 5 hours.
• Remove the shanks from the oven and carefully transfer the shanks to another large pan. Then strain the braising liquid over the shanks. Cool them in the liquid overnight in the refrigerator.
• The next day, reheat the shanks in their liquid. Then remove them to a large serving platter. Spoon some of the braising liquid over the meat.

BRAISED PORK IN SWEET SOY SAUCE

Steps:

• Cut the pork in about 1 inch pieces and saute in a pan with the vegetable oil for about 3 minutes over medium-high heat, until the pork is no longer pink and starts to brown.
• In a medium bowl mix the rest of the ingredients. Pour over the pork and bring to a boil. You may think there's too much water, but it will reduce. Once it's boiling turn the heat down to low and let simmer for about 30 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally, or until there's only about 3 tbsp of sauce left.
• Garnish with green onions. Serve over noodles or steamed rice.

SHANGHAI-STYLE BRAISED PORK BELLY (HONG SHAO ROU)

Steps:

• Start by cutting your pork belly into 3/4-inch thick pieces.
• Bring a pot of water to a boil. Blanch the pork belly pieces for a couple minutes. This gets rid of impurities and starts the cooking process. Take the pork out of the pot, rinse, and set aside.
• Over low heat, add the oil and sugar to your wok. Melt the sugar slightly and add the pork. Raise the heat to medium and cook until the pork is lightly browned.
• Turn the heat back down to low and add shaoxing cooking wine, regular soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and water.
• NOTE: It's very important to the color and flavor of this dish that you have both kinds of soy sauce! Just head to your local Asian market, buy a bottle of each, and it will last you a year!
• Cover and simmer over medium heat for about 45 minutes to 1 hour until pork is fork tender. Every 5-10 minutes, stir to prevent burning and add more water if it gets too dry.
• Once the pork is fork tender, if there is still a lot of visible liquid, uncover the wok, turn up the heat, and stir continuously until the sauce has reduced to a glistening coating.

HONEY-SOY BRAISED PORK WITH LIME AND GINGER

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Place the pork in a large Dutch oven that has a lid. Scatter the garlic, ginger, red-pepper flakes and lime zest over the top. In a 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, transfer to the oven and cook for 2 hours.
• Uncover the pot and flip both chunks of pork. Cover the pot and braise until the pork shreds easily with a fork, about 1 more hour. Transfer to the stovetop.
• Using tongs, transfer the pork to a serving platter or a large shallow serving bowl. Using a ladle, skim and discard the excess fat off the surface of the cooking liquid remaining in the Dutch oven, if desired. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium-high heat and let it simmer until reduced and slightly syrupy, about 8 minutes.
• While the sauce simmers, coarsely shred the pork using two forks. Sprinkle the lime juice over the top of the meat. Drizzle about half the sauce over the top of the shredded meat, then toss to 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.

BRINED-AND-BRAISED PORK BELLY WITH CARAWAY

Steps:

• Two days before serving the pork, prepare the brine: In a large skillet over low heat, toast the caraway seeds. Cool and grind in a spice grinder. In a large plastic container, combine the caraway, fennel, peppercorns, coriander, salt, brown sugar, garlic, cider vinegar and 4 cups water. Add the pork, cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.
• The next day, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Remove the pork from the brine and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper. In a braising pan over medium-high heat, heat the oil. Add the pork and brown on all sides. Transfer to a plate. Add the carrot, celery, onion, garlic, thyme and 2 tablespoons toasted caraway seeds to the pan. Brown the vegetables until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Return the pork to the pan, skin side up. Pour in the apple cider and enough broth to cover the meat by three-fourths. Bring to a boil, then cover and braise in the oven until the pork is very tender, about 2 hours. Cool the pork in its cooking liquid and refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Scrape off and discard excess fat from the braising liquid. Remove the pork and discard loose gelatin. Cut the pork into serving pieces and place in a wide saute pan with a heatproof handle. Bring the braising liquid to a boil and reduce by about two-thirds, or until it lightly coats the back of a spoon; strain. Pour just enough liquid over the pork to submerge halfway. Sprinkle with the remaining caraway seeds, then place the pan in the oven and heat through, basting occasionally. Top pork with sauce and serve with braised cabbage, a recipe for which can be found at nytimes.com/magazine.

BRAISED PORK WITH RED WINE

Steps:

• Combine pork, salt and pepper to taste, wine, stock, carrots and garlic in a saucepan, Dutch oven or slow cooker. Bring to a boil, then adjust heat so that mixture simmers steadily but not vigorously. (If using a slow cooker, just turn it to ''high'' and let cook for at least three hours.)
• Cook, stirring every half-hour or so, until meat is very tender and just about falling apart, at least an hour and most likely a bit longer. Use a slotted spoon to remove solid ingredients to a bowl, then turn heat to high. (If using a slow cooker, transfer liquid to a saucepan for this step.) Reduce to about a cup, or even less. Taste and adjust seasoning, then lower heat and stir in butter.
• Add solids to sauce and reheat. Serve over egg noodles, garnished with parsley.

CANOE BRAISED PORK

Steps:

• 1. If using a picnic shoulder, tie in several places with butcher twine to make a neat roast. 2. Dissolve salt in 1 cup cider in saucepan over medium heat. Set aside. 3. Heat oil in large, deep skillet over medium heat. Cook onion, carrot, celery and garlic for 5 minutes until onion is soft but not brown. Add juniper berries and herbs. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. 4. Add dissolved salt, remaining cider, 1 bottle of beer and maple syrup. Bring to boil over high heat. Boil for 1 minute. Strain through fine sieve. Let cool completely. 5. Put pork in large non-metallic bowl and add marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours, turning pork occasionally if not completely submerged. 6. Remove pork and discard marinade. Pat pork dry and season with salt and pepper. 7. Heat 2 tbsp oil in large pot over medium heat and brown pork on all sides. Remove to a plate. 8. Add remaining oil and cook onion, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary for 5 minutes until onion is soft but not brown. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. 9. Add beer and bring to boil over high heat, stirring to scrape up any browned bits from bottom of pot. Boil for 3 to 5 minutes until beer has reduced by about half. Add jus and pork. Bring to boil. Cover tightly and transfer to 350°F oven. Cook for 3 to 4 hours until meat is falling from bone, turning pork over after 1 ½ hours. 10. Remove pork from pot. Strain cooking juices and set aside. Pull meat apart into chunks, discarding bones and excess fat. Drizzle pork with cooking juices and serve with yellow split peas. Makes 6 servings.