Slow-Cooker Pork Shoulder with Gingery Black Bean Sauce – Recipe!

Have you looked outside California, it’s raining.  So glad to wake up to drizzle coming down and the soft patter of water hitting the roof.  It’s the perfect time to slow roast dinner and it’s definitely time to put that slow-cooker to good use.  Pork shoulder or pork butt is the cut of meat to plop into a slow-cooker and let it do most of the work.  The juices release like the anticipation of rainy season, slowly, but surely and the meat tenderizes beautifully all on its own.  A quick dry rub enhances pork’s flavors and creates one terrific fork-tender meal.

Black bean sauce  or fermented black soybeans are sold in most stores in a jar on the Asian aisle.  The intensely blackened paste is salty on the tongue at first, yet deepens with time into a rich caramel taste.  I used a heaping spoonful, along with some other pantry items to create a sauce on the stove top to pour over the pork after its time in the slow cooker.  The Asian inspired flavors are so majestic in your mouth, and bound to have you doubling down for another helping.

I served this shredded roast over steamed spaghetti squash, which works beautifully together.  The sweet strands of squash highlight the intensity of both the roasted pork and the sauce, and become one beautiful combination.  Stay tuned for a leftover pork recipe this week.

Ingredients

Pork

2 1/2 pound pork shoulder roast

1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Black Bean Sauce

1/4 cup black bean sauce

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

2 teaspoons brown sugar

2 cloves garlic minced

juice of 1 lime

cilantro of garnish, if desired

steamed spaghetti squash, suggested

(Serves 4-6)

To Prepare:

1. Remove pork from any packaging and pat dry with paper towel.  In a small bowl, combine onion powder, cumin, salt and pepper.  Rub mixture all over pork roast.
2. Place pork in slow cooker with 1/2 cup of water.  Cook on high heat for 4 1/2 hours.
3. 30 minutes before roast is done, add all black bean sauce ingredients to a sauce pan, along with 1/2 cup warm water.  Simmer over heat for 12 minutes.  Add more water to thin, if necessary.  Keep warm over low heat.
4. Remove roast and place in serving dish.  Using two forks, shred meat into big chunks.  Pour most of sauce over top.  Serve remaining sauce with meat.  Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with spaghetti squash, if desired.  Enjoy!