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4.5 from 6 votes

Korean Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Caramel Apple Crumble

Whether you're entertaining or relaxing, this recipe hits the spot.

Course: Lunch , Dinner , Others

Ingredients

For the Korean Pulled Pork
  • 1 3-4 pound Boston butt or pork butt
  • Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 medium size white onion thinly sliced
  • 2 Asian pears stemmed, seeded and grated
  • 5 cloves garlic chopped
  • 1 14.5 ounce can beef broth
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • ¾ cup soy sauce
  • ¾ cup rice vinegar not seasoned
  • ¼ cup Asian chili sauce
  • ⅛ cup sesame oil
For the Caramel Apple Crumble Topping
  • 1 granny smith apple cored and thinly sliced
  • 1 small red apple cored and thinly sliced
  • ½ lemon juiced
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • ¼ cup cream
  • ¼ cup instant oats
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • pinch of kosher salt
For the Asian Slaw
  • 1 12 ounce package Chopped Asian Blend salad
  • 4 green onions whites and greens chopped
  • 2 tablespoons slivered almonds
  • 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
  • 1 ½ tablespoons vegetable or grapeseed oil
  • 6 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil add more to taste if you prefer a strong sesame taste
  • 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 8 rosette buns or other split white buns

Instructions

For the Korean Pulled Pork
    Cup of Yum
  1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
  2. Generously season the pork butt on all sides with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a large dutch oven over medium high heat and sear the pork until a nice crust forms, about 5 minutes for each side. Remove from pan and set aside.
  3. Add the onions, Asian pear and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes. Nestle the pork butt into the onion mixture.
  4. Mix the beef broth, brown sugar, rice vinegar, Asian chili sauce and sesame oil in a large bowl or 4-cup measuring cup. Pour the mixture over the pork and onion mixture, cover and cook in the oven for 4 hours or until the meat is tender and falling apart.
  5. Transfer the pork to a large bowl and let cool. Shred with two forks or your fingers.
  6. Cook the remaining sauce over medium heat until reduced by half. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth. You should have about 4 cups of sauce. Add 3 cups of sauce to the shredded pork an mix well. Add more sauce if desired. Reserve the extra sauce for dipping.
For the Caramel Apple Crumble Topping
  1. Mix the apples with the lemon juice in a medium bowl and set aside.
  2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and stir to mix. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring continuously. Stir in the cream until smooth. Add the apples and cook for about 3-4 minutes. Mix in the oats, cinnamon and salt. Remove from heat.
For the Asian Slaw
  1. Add the chopped Asian blend salad to a large bowl. Stir in the green onions, slivered almonds and black sesame seeds. Mix the oil, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, soy sauce and freshly ground black pepper in a small bowl. Drizzle over the slaw mix and toss to combine.
To assemble sandwiches
  1. Split buns in half. Layer with Asian slaw, pulled pork and caramel apple crumble. Top with bun and serve.