Or, if you're BBQ-ing or have a bonfire, make them up, double wrap in foil and bake for 10-20 minutes.
You will need:
In a dry pan toast cumin & coriander seeds until they smell good, don't go and do anything else or you'll end up with a black pan and a godawful smell:
Mix salt, pepper & spicy paprika with the toasted seeds and crush them all together:
Rub this mixture into the pork shoulder and leave for at least 2 hours, at most 24:
3 onions, 3 carrots & 4 sticks of celery roughly chopped, ginger & garlic peeled & roughly chopped, 2 star anise, 6 crushed cardamon pods, 2 bay leaves & a cinnamon stick. Bit of oil in a pan then sweat down gently until soft & beginning to brown/caramelise
Like this - then stir in a small can of tomato puree and cook out:
Roughly chop some dried chillis. I'm using chipolte, ancho and some un-named ones from an Asian supermarket in Levenshulme.These places are good for chilli varieties:
http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/Food-and-Drink/Mexican/Panchos-Burritos-Arndale-Reviewed
or
http://www.thespiceshop.co.uk/
Sear off the shoulders(s), not too hot oil or the spice rub will burn:
Mix a bottle of tommy K (I use Sainsbury's basic) with the cooked veg, chopped chillis, about 1/4 of a bottle of Soy (careful not to make it too salty) about the same amount of wine vinegar, a big spoonful of mustard, a couple of cans of chopped toms and 2 roughly chopped apples.Heat all of this together until boiling and start to taste, add sugar or honey to balance out the vinegar so you get that nice sweet/sour thing going on. If you've got any stock (made from bones & trotters NOT a cube) this would be a more than welcome addition. When it's all nice and hot pour it over the pork (skin side up) and put it, uncovered, into a preheated oven (150 C) for 2 hours basting once. After this time cover with a lid or foil, if you're using foil make sure it doesn't press down on the skin. Bake for another 2-3 hours, the meat should be falling apart:
CAREFULLY, life the pork out of the liquid:
Strain the sauce, chuck out the remaining veg/bits, and put into a saucepan to reduce until you get a nice thick sauce. You'd be well advised to skim this a couple of times as there will be a fair bit of fat floating on the surface:
Make a joke about customs officers:
Remove the skin from the pork, put on a rack then stick into the fridge - once cold it can be chopped up then deep fried or baked to make spicy pork scratchings:
Scrape off the layer of fat between the skin and the meat and discard:
Once the fat has done use a couple of spoons and shred the meat:
Chuck some of the sauce on and mix, add sauce as necessary, you're aiming to coat the meat but not so it's "wet"
Like this:
Slice some buns in half and bake in the oven (NOT under the grill) until they're nice and toasty.Put a generous spoonful of pork on the bottom half, grated cheese and a spoonful of sauce on the top, then put back into the oven - keep an eye on them, you want the cheese to get melty not brown & crunchy:
Once the cheese is melted remove and put the sandwiches together:
Serve with beer, triple-cooked chips & good company:
