Sweet & Spicy Pork Sandwich

I whipped this bitch up after a surprise trip to the Mosner family meat processing plant for a tour and butchery class. Check out my write-up of that shit HERE.

Once we got home, I was itching to try some of what we just worked on, so I took the stew meat scraps and threw them into the slow cooker with some apple shit and some spice shit.

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I set it on low and slow. Four hours later the result was amazing. My wife and I threw it onto a sandwich with some pickled cabbage and a spicy mayo. Check out the recipe below assholes:

What you need:

  • about a pound, or pound and a half, of pork stew meat
  • apple moonshine or brandy (3/4 cup)
  • can of apple sparkling water (12oz) or apple juice
  • one serving of apple sauce (unsweetened – 4oz)
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 3 cloves of garlic (cut each into thirds or quarters)
  • 1 small to medium sized onion (halved)
  • kosher salt to taste
  • crushed red pepper to taste
  • cloves (about 10)
  • 1 small cinnamon stick
  • fresh cracked black pepper to taste
  • handful of baby carrots, sliced thin
  • shredded cabbage
  • white vinegar
  • mayo
  • habanero hot sauce or sri racha sauce
  • sliced jalapeno
  • sub/hero bread

THE MEAT

1) Mix the apple sauce, apple brandy, and apple sparkling water to use as a braising liquid base. Add to the slow cooker.

2) Drop your stew meat into the slow cooker.

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stew meat swimming in the slow cooker

3) Add salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, cloves, cinnamon, garlic, and onion into the slow cooker.

Me, magic-wanding in a mix of kosher salt and crushed red pepper
Me, magic-wanding in a mix of kosher salt and crushed red pepper

4) Set slow cooker to 4 hours on LOW. Mix that shit around every so often while it’s going.

5) When finished, pull out of the liquid and cut the meat into manageable chunks for a sandwich.

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NOTE: This meat is going to come out sweet if you go light on the spice, so what I did below was create some extras to balance the sweet with a little kick of spice. Be a man – do it.

THE TOPPING

1) Get some tupperware and put the carrots, cabbage and white vinegar into it.

2) Add some spices as you see fit.

3) Let that shit sit and soak until it’s party time.

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THE DRESSING

1) Add habanero sauce or sri racha sauce to mayo as you see fit.

2) Mix.

NOTE: if you have the ability, like my wife did, then you should make your own mayo from fucking scratch. How? Whisk together 1 egg yolk, a little blob of dijon mustard, a little white vinegar, a pinch of salt, a little olive oil, and a squirt of lemon juice until it becomes like a nice aioli. That shit will have a little zing of acid to cut the sweetness and spice of the other sandwich elements.

homemade mayo/aioli
homemade mayo/aioli

PUT ALL THAT FUCKING SHIT TOGETHER

1) Toast your bread to your liking.

2) Assemble the sandwich by first dressing each side of the bread with the mayo/aioli.

3) Add your meat and some of the pickled veggie topping. Here’s where you throw on some of those sliced jalapenos.

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4) Eat that shit.

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