By Sarah DiGregorio
- Total Time
- 8 hours 20 minutes
- Rating
- 4(3,389)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Here to save your weeknight life: a slow-cooker main that’s truly “set-it-and-forget-it,” with results that taste like they required significantly more effort. This rich and flavorful pork takes about 5 minutes to throw together in the morning. Before dinner, just simmer the sauce — a sweet-salty mix of soy and honey — until it’s syrupy, shred the meat, add a flurry of fresh herbs and you’re done. The meat is a wonderfully simple anchor, and you can build a meal around it: Add lettuce cups and kimchi or serve it over rice, whole grains or even tortillas.
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings
- 3 to 4pounds boneless, skinless pork shoulder, trimmed of big hunks of fat and cut in half
- 8large garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 3tablespoons minced fresh ginger (from one 3-inch piece)
- 1teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more to taste
- 2teaspoons finely grated lime zest and 2 tablespoons juice (from 1 lime), plus more lime wedges for serving
- 1cup tamari or low-sodium soy sauce (see Tip)
- 1cup honey
- 1tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- Cooked rice, noodles or lettuce cups, for serving
- Toasted sesame seeds, sliced scallions and chopped cilantro, for topping
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
668 calories; 38 grams fat; 13 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 17 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 45 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 35 grams sugars; 38 grams protein; 1281 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Place the pork in a 6- to 8-quart slow cooker. Scatter the garlic, ginger, red-pepper flakes and lime zest over the top. In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together the tamari, honey and sesame oil, then pour it over the pork. Using tongs, turn to coat all sides of the pork in the sauce, and spoon some over the top so that some of the garlic and ginger is on top of the pork. Cover and cook on low until the pork is very tender and shreds easily with a fork, 8 to 9 hours; it will hold well on warm. (If you are home and able to flip the pork once during cooking, that will help the flavors distribute evenly on the meat and make the color uniform. If not, it will be fine.)
Step
2
Using tongs, transfer the pork from the slow cooker to a serving platter or large, shallow serving bowl. Using a ladle, skim excess fat off the surface of the cooking liquid, if desired. Carefully pour the sauce into a large pot. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium-high heat and let it simmer until reduced and slightly syrupy, 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, coarsely shred the pork using two forks.
Step
3
Sprinkle the lime juice over the top of the meat. Drizzle about half the sauce over the top of the shredded meat, tossing to evenly combine. Serve over rice or noodles or in lettuce cups. Top with sesame seeds, scallions and cilantro. Pass the remaining sauce at the table, if desired, as well as extra lime wedges and red-pepper flakes.
Tip
- Tamari, a gluten-free Japanese fermented soy product similar to soy sauce, is generally a little less salty than grocery store soy sauce, and it works slightly better in this recipe.
Ratings
4
out of 5
3,389
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Cooking Notes
Margaux Laskey, Senior Staff Editor, NYT Cooking
This kind of dish is why people love slow cookers: very low effort, max yum. My 5 and 7 yos love it over jasmine rice with sliced avocado and cucumbers on the side. I've made this with fresh or jarred garlic and ginger. Either works.
shell
The sesame oil should be added after cooking (at the end) or it turns bitter.
Meghan
To make this on the stove instead of a slow cooker: heat high heat oil in a Dutch oven. Cut meat in 2-3 pieces, season with salt and pepper, and sear on all sides until golden brown. Will probably take 15 mins. Meanwhile, chop your ginger and garlic. Remove the meat from the pan. Sauté aromatics. Add sauce to the pan, scrape up the burnt bits of pork, bring to a boil. Put meat back in the pot and bring to a boil. Cover and put in a 250 oven for 4 hours (for about 4 lb of meat).
Brett
I was confused by all the conflicting comments.So I cooked it per the recipe.It was fantastic.
Patricia Garcia
Sometimes, I can't believe some of the comments made here....Susan, chopping garlic and ginger is substantial pre-crockpot prep? Lordy girl, don't ever make a real braise, you'll be dog-tired. Guessing you don't cook a lot.
Stephen
Had great intentions of starting this in the morning to be ready for dinner in the evening... Needless to say I didn't get it all prepared until close to 3 pm. Luckily, this recipe worked a treat in our pressure cooker - 30 mins on high with 30 mins natural release. Made it per the recipe otherwise, and it was delicious!
Susan
Giving just 2 stars. First the pre-crockpot prep is not an easy 5 min. There is some substantial chopping and dicing to do. All that would have been worth it for a delicious braising sauce to spoon over the meat at the end. I did not like this sauce. Meat came out fine, but sauce tasted burnt/bitter. I tried to doctor it w rice wine, apple cider vinegar, more honey. Nothing helped the bad aftertaste.
Kathy
I followed some of the suggestions: 1/2 cup of honey and added about 1/2 cup of water . I had plenty of sauce. With many comments about it being too salty, I used Trader Joe’s Soyaki sauce for the soy sauce and thinking was a great alternative.Pork was tender, sauce was delicious and the scallions, sesame seeds and limes added great texture and color. I didn’t use any grated lime due to other comments and don’t think it was missed. Will definitely make again!
Kait
This was an enjoyable meal that allowed the meat to get some nice crispy edges while still being moist and flavorful. However, given the calories and effort required, I have to recommend the Skinny Taste Banh Mi Bowl recipe over this one. Virtually the same flavor payoff (my fiancé didn’t realize it was a different recipe) with less work and fewer calories. Highly recommend serving both recipes with rice, cilantro, jalapeños/Serrano peppers, pickled carrots, cucumbers, and a sriracha aioli.
Mama Fontana
I’ve made this twice, once with a pork roast and once with a beef roast. Both times baked in a Dutch oven for 2-3 hours. The beef was much better than the pork!
Heather
I initially rated this three stars, but I took the leftovers out of the freezer last week and used them in a stir fry, and they were delicious. I simply froze hunks of the cooked meat in the sauce, and then I used the sauce in the stir fry. Bumped it up to four stars and will definitely make it again!
Payal
I used an Instant Pot and it worked well! Cooked on high for 30 minutes and then natural release (it was over an hour before I opened it up). It was tender and there was no burned taste. I also used coconut aminos instead of tamari or soy sauce and it was not salty at all. I used a lot a red chili powder instead of the flakes and it came out with a nice spice balance of sweet and spicy. I would have used much less sesame oil since the sauce at the end was too oily.
Lindsey
Due to coronavirus shortages at the grocery stores, I had to settle for pork tenderloin instead of pork shoulder. I know that's a completely different cut of meat. I still followed all of the instructions and slow-cooked it on low for about 6 hours. Was still able to shred it (although it was a bit dry). We ate it with white rice and had the leftovers as pork fried rice the next day.
Amanda
I enjoyed this. No burnt flavor as I followed other reviewers’ advice and swapped 1/4 cup of brown sugar for the honey. I only added lime as a garnish at the end and didn’t use much of the sauce. We ate it with squeezed lime juice, scallions and cilantro over white rice and it was pretty delicious.
Jen
6 pound pork roast in 300 degree oven for about 5 hours, basted a couple times; used olive oil instead roasted sesame oil for the roast, based on previous comments; then added a drizzle of sesame oil at the end while reducing the sauce. In addition to the suggested garnishes, I served this with quick pickled veggies (carrots and cucumbers, radishes next time) - the pickled veggies really added brightness to the dish as a whole.This was terrific and easy - great combo! Will be on repeat.
Cedar
I used about half the amount of soy and honey called for (only because honey is expensive and my last bottle of soy sauce is madly salty) and brought the liquid level up with a half cup of leftover sake. Fabulous recipe, incredibly easy and delicious.
Lucy N
I found this recipe appealing to read, but too strong for eating. There was so much "flavor" one couldn't tell it was pork! Thanks anyway.
YogiCook
5 stars with VERY small changes! Halving the recipe was plenty for family of 4 with leftovers.Went lighter on soy/tamari and made up difference w/ coconut aminos.Kept most sauce, 2/3, on side for individual preferences. Skimmed some fat before simmering down the sauce. Used mostly honey with some brown sugar too.If you don't have a microplane zester, get one. Used the stainless steel tool for the lime and ginger.This is a winner.
Ty
4 stars. Followed the recipe exactly. The pork was perfectly tender and tasted great after shredding. I knocked 1 star because like others have commented, the sauce turned bitter. My assessment is that it is not due to the lime zest, but the amount of honey. The honey is what over caramelizes during the 8 hour cook causing the bitter flavor even when stirred. Reducing the braising liquid at the end further exacerbated the bitterness. I did not pour the sauce over the shredded pork due to this.
Corinne
Super easy to make, but even with the tamari, this was waaay too salty for us. If you make it, consider adjusting the quantities.
Elaine
Smelled great - sauce was bitter as some others have mentioned.
Caroline
We were really looking forward to eating this dish. However it was way too salty and intense. I should have known when I saw that the recipe called for 1 cup of tamari. I didn’t even use a full cup but about 2/3 C. I love tamari and I use it but never in such quantity, We couldn’t finish it but I have saved it so that I can do something else such as dilute it with broth. We also substituted maple syrup for honey.
Ben
Needs more heat and acid I think. Next time maybe a tablespoon of gochuchang red pepper and a little rice wine vinegar. Not bad though.
Meag
Made this with pork tenderloin because that’s what I had. I cut the soy with bone broth to reduce saltiness, but otherwise stuck close to the recipe. Very good, very easy! Served in lettuce cups with avocado, green onion and chopped cashew.
Orange
Gack! So bitter/burnt-tasting we ended up throwing it away. We did accidentally add the lime juice BEFORE cooking so this may have had some impact...
Eliza
I agree with several commenters: I followed the instructions but it was WAY too salty! Next time I’ll use 1/4 cup of tamari and use water for the rest, then balance it out when the meat is cooked and set aside. I’d quadruple the lime juice and add more honey.
Dee
Made it exactly as written using lower-sodium tamari and sprinkled with scallions and cilantro. The additional lime wedges when serving are absolutely essential. So delicious! A big hit with the family.
H Turner
The lime is not making the dish bitter. Honey, lime and ginger is an amazing flavor combination found in a number of recipes. You really miss out by using brown sugar instead of honey. Dicing the ingredients just doesn't take that long, you don't have to be a chef to get your own technique for chopping or dicing. I, too, used a bone in pork roast, no problem. I could just about drink the broth.
Vivienne
What if I only have a 3.5 quarter slow cooker? Appreciated the instructions for the stove top and oven method.
bevgs
This was too salty for me! I expected to like it better, it was just okay.
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