Tony's Carolina-style pulled pork

This is sooooooooooo good - and I'm not tooting my own horn here, just repeating what I am told whenever I make this.  You'll need a slow cooker for this... it's great to start in the morning and it's done for dinner.

Ingredients

pork butt roast (the size depends on how much you wanna make... and the size of your slow cooker)
1 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cup water
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (this may seem excessive to some, but it's NOT. DO NOT skimp on this - the heat mellows out considerably, so it's not gonna blow your head off... it'll be fine even for the kids)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp paprika
1/4 cup brown sugar, plus 2 Tbsp
1 tsp liquid smoke (optional)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup

Directions

Combine everything EXCEPT the ketchup & the 2 Tbsp brown sugar in the slow cooker - cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-6 hours.  After the pork is falling apart tender, remove the meat from the cooker into a bowl so you can pull it... I use 2 forks and just shred it all up.  Take the broth from the cooker and pour it along with the ketchup & extra brown sugar into a saucepan and bring to a boil and reduce by half.

Serve the pork on hearty buns with a spoonful of sauce over it & some cole slaw on the side.

Seriously, people will wanna kiss you this is so yummy.

"this will blow your head off!"

Ching-he Huang demonstrates how to make a Szechuan Fire Pot spicy broth.

"This is a mouth-tingling, numbing hotpot! The spicy soup stock base is a delicious broth in which fresh ingredients are poached - like a Chinese fondue. The Mandarin word for such a feast is 'Huo-guo', meaning 'hotpot', because all the ingredients are cooked in a hotpot!

I love this kind of feast, it is easy to prepare, and is great for interaction with friends. All you need is an electric wok or fondue set up in the centre of the table and plenty of soup ladles and away you go. I had this dish in Chengdu in the middle of summer and it was fantastic. Be warned - this is extremely spicy."

**EDIT**
for some reason the embed code from Cooking Channel isn't working, so here's the link to the page with the video I was trying to share with you good people:

http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/cook/video/player/0,1001203,COOK_42654_7921_37787-54525,00.html

go here for the full ingredients & step-by-step recipe:

http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/ching-he-huang/spicy-hotpot-recipe/index.html

Banh Mi - Vietnamese pork sandwiches

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If you've never eaten these yummy but usually very inexpensive Vietnamese sandwiches, you don't know what you're missing!!! Years ago I used to grab one(or two) of these for lunch in the "Little Saigon" area of Oklahoma City(yes, there is one) down around NW 23rd & Western... They're very easy to make and taste sooooo good. Seriously, you gotta try em.

Here's a basic recipe, but there are a bajillion variations:

Banh Mi

1 french baguette
pickled carrot & daikon threads
liver pate
seedless cucumber slices
jalapeno slices (optional, if you're a wuss)
Viet-style cooked pork
real mayo
cilantro sprigs
soy or fish sauce
few slices of red onion

Open up the baguette, but don't cut all the way thru, you want it to stay in one piece, just open up for all the goodies. If there's too much bread in the middle, you can scoop abit out... Smear some mayo on the bread, then some pate - exact amounts are up to you - then layer some of the pork, jalapeno, cucumber, onions, daikon/carrot pickles, cilantro sprigs, and a dash of soy or fish sauce. Slice crossways and enjoy!


pickled carrot & daikon threads

this is a key ingredient - do NOT omit! Here's how to make em:

julienne equal amounts of carrots and daikon - 1/4 or 1/2 lb each is plenty, depending on how much you wanna make - just make sure the amounts are equal. Take 1 cup of warm water and dissolve 1 1/2 tsp salt, 3 Tbsp sugar, and 3 Tbsp white vinegar. Combine veggies and brine and let marinate for an hour at least, but overnight is best. You can put these in clean glass jars with lids, they keep for a looong time in the fridge.


Viet-style pork

Again, a basic recipe, of which there are many variations:

1 pork tenderloin, cut into 1/2" to 1" thin medallions
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 tsp sesame oil
3 Tbsp fish sauce
1 spring onion, sliced
1 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp cooking oil

Combine everything except the oil in a resealable plastic bag and massage around so everything comes in contact with the meat. Marinate at least one hour, but overnight is best. Heat pan on med-high and add cooking oil, lay slices of pork in the pan, cooking approx. 2 minutes per side, flip em over and repeat. It shouldn't take long at all to cook thru, but you be the judge. Place cooked pork in a bowl and pour the cooking juices over them to keep the flavor going. Add to your banh mi and rock on!


**picture source: http://battleofthebanhmi.com