Red Curry Pulled Pork
The tangy and spicy flavors from Thai red curry give this pulled pork sandwich a unique kick! Its the pulled pork you know and love served in a whole new way! The crunchy and spicy-sweet slaw on top is a perfect balance for the soft bread and tangy pulled pork!
The inspiration for this recipe
Pulled pork is an easy and delicious way to feed a crowd, but how do you switch it up so you aren’t serving the same shreddy pork time and time again? The way I do it is cook the pork in a variety of new liquids instead of just your standard BBQ sauce. This time around, I made a nice Thai Red Curry as a braising liquid and the results were great.
Slow roast the pork shoulder
I made a sauce with red curry paste and coconut milk, and poured it over the chunks of pork shoulder. I like to cut the pork a little so that it cooks more evenly and a bit faster. Plus there is more browned edges!
There is also garlic, ginger, and lemongrass mixed into with the pork and sauce. Cook at 325 for about 4 hours.
Beautiful!
Adding more red curry flavor to the pulled pork
The little jar of store bought red curry paste in my opinion looses a lot of flavor as it cooks so I decided to put half in the cooking liquid and the other half on just before serving. I cooked the paste with some of the pork fat, then added the slow cooked pork and some of the cooking liquids.
Finally a ton of basil to finish the pork.
Make the slaw
Toss the cabbage and carrots with some sambol, honey, soy sauce, and lime juice. That’s all you need!
Serving the red curry pulled pork
Toast the buns and top with lots of pork, then the slaw, then the top bun! So good.
The slaw is a perfect balance for the red curry pulled pork. It is light and tart and spicy and cuts right through the heavy pork.
Messy and amazing!
Twists on this recipe
I made this originally with a homemade red curry paste. You could do that too! This is a good recipe for one. Store bought has been fine for me lately since I have been really busy.
For more red curry ideas, check out my red curry chilaquiles, red curry biscuits and gravy, or this red curry fried fish sandwich!
Red Curry Pulled Pork
Ingredients
pork and cooking liquid
- 6 pound bone in pork shoulder butt roast
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sambol chili paste
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon arbol or similar chili powder
- 8 cloves garlic
- 5 inches ginger
- 2 stalks lemongrass
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 2 teaspoons salt
Pork Sauce
- 2 tablespoons pork fat from cooking the pulled pork
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 bunch basil about 20 – 30 leaves
Slaw
- 2 cups thin shredded cabbage
- 1 cup thin shredded red cabbage
- 1 cup thin shredded carrot
- 2 limes (juice of)
- 2 tablespoons sambol chili paste
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- pinch of salt
Sandwich
- 8 brioche buns toasted
Instructions
Slow roast the pork
- Cut up the pork into about 8 large pieces. Preheat oven to 325
- Mix all the other ingredients together in a bowl. Pour over the pork and stir to combine.
- Bake at 325 for about 4 hours, flipping the pork every hour or so to allow for even browning.
- Remove from oven when the pork is falling apart.
- Remove the pork from the pot and strain the liquid. Pour the strained liquid over the pork and set aside in the fridge until ready to use.
Make the slaw
- Mix all the slaw ingredients in a bowl. Taste and adjust seasonings to your personal taste. It should be spicy, tart, and sweet!
Finish the pork
- If you are doing this the next day, take the pork out of the fridge and remove about half of the solidified fat from the top of the container. If doing this immediately, you can skim off some of the fat after about 10 minutes when it seperates and rises to the top. Discard the extra fat. Don't worry there is still plenty of fat!
- Put two tablespoons of the pork fat into a frying pan over medium heat. Add in the red curry and cook it for about 5 minutes until super fragrant and the oils are separating in the pan.
- Add in the pork and stir to combine. Bring to a light simmer. Stir in the basil and remove from heat.
Serve
- Toast the buns and serve them with the pork and the slaw.
This looks delicious! I love curry dishes!
I live in Kansas City where BBQ is king and this definitely looks like something I will try.
I have been looking into trying a few more Thai, Indian dishes and this looks like a great start.
Thanks!
Thanks so much for the great idea – I was getting sick of our usual, North American style bbq-ing, and this was exactly what we needed for our dinner party last weekend! We made some green curry pulled pork and paired it with a delicious slaw and watermelon mint feta salad. Perfect for a hot summer day!
That looks awesome, I know my family will enjoy this dish, thanks for the post.
Pulled Pork and Thai foods are 2 of my very favorite things, thank you for this recipe!
I used your recipe as a start to recreate a spicy red curry taco my husband and I had at a local restaurant. I added red curry paste, omitted the basil (forgot to get it astthe store), and spiced it up with a little cayenne. We used the pork in small corn tortillas, topped with cilantro coleslaw. It was amazing! This recipe is good on a bun, taco shell, over rice… Thank you for sharing!
Can you make this any other way than in the oven?
Yes, you could do the oven part in a slow cooker