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Korean Pulled Pork

Shredded pork with Korean flavors
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time55 minutes
Oven Cooking Time2 hours
Course: Main Course
Keyword: Cabbage, Korean, Pulled Pork, Tacos
Servings: 12

Ingredients

Pork

  • 9-10 lbs Country Style Pork Ribs
  • 1 clove Garlic
  • 1/2 cup Apple or White Grape Juice
  • 1/2 cup Water
  • 2 Tablespoons Dark Brown Sugar

Sauce

  • 1 Tablespoon Garlic minced
  • 1 cup Chicken Broth
  • 1 Tablespoon Ginger minced or ginger paste in a tube
  • 1/4 cup Canola or Vegetable Oil
  • 1/4 cup Hoisin Sauce
  • 1/4 cup Gochujang
  • 1/4 cup Honey
  • 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
  • 1/4 cup Unseasoned Rice Vinegar
  • 2 Tablespoons Ketchup
  • 2 teaspoons toasted Sesame Oil

For Serving

  • Corn Tortillas
  • Shredded Cabbage

Instructions

Instant Pot Method

  • Remove the trivet from Instant Pot liner.
  • Put juice, brown sugar and garlic clove into the liner. Give it a quick stir.
  • Add ribs on top of the mixture.
    Uncooked Country Style Ribs in Instant Pot.
  • Put on the lid with the vent in sealed position and manual cook for 55 minutes. Natural release for 15 minutes.
    Cooked Ribs.
  • Remove ribs into a bowl and cool. Shred with forks or fingers. (Remove any bones!)
    Shredded Pork.

Oven Method

  • Preheat the oven to 325°
  • Put juice, brown sugar and garlic clove into a deep sided roasting pan. Stir to distribute and dissolve sugar.
  • Lay the ribs evenly in the pan. (Can be in a double layer)
  • Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
  • Bake in the center of the oven for 2 hours
  • Remove ribs from the oven and remove the foil. If the meat isn’t falling apart tender cover it again and put back in the oven for another 30 minutes.
  • Move the ribs into a bowl and cool. Shred with forks or fingers. (Remove any bones!)
    Shredded Pork.

Sauce (make while ribs are cooking)

  • Whisk chicken broth, garlic, ginger, oil, hoisin sauce, gochujang, honey, soy sauce,rice vinegar, ketchup and sesame oil in a medium bowl.
    Sauce Ingredients.
  • Pour over shredded pork and mix well.
    Shredded Pork with Korean Sauce mixed in.

Modifications

RIBS:

This recipe is tiring for me and a lot of work up front. I broke up the steps into many small steps with resting in between. I need to have meals ready to go for the many days I can’t really cook or make dinner.
Using the Instant Pot was easier for me than lifting a heavy roasting pan in and out of the oven. I also know that putting aluminum foil tightly around the pan would have been difficult for me which is why I went with the Instant Pot.
Shredding the pork was particularly tiring on my hands. I broke this activity up and did it during two or three separate times.

SAUCE:

I whisked the sauce ingredients all together by hand. I used my garlic press but the cloves were large and on the hard side so I struggled. I've decided I will use the food processor next time. I will put the garlic in first, process it, and then add the rest of the sauce ingredients.
I used ginger paste in a tube from the produce section of the supermarket. It saves me from having to grate it and stays for a very long time in the refrigerator.
I heated the chicken broth in the microwave to help dissolve my gochujang, which had gotten a little thicker over time. I don’t think I would have needed to heat the chicken broth if I had made the sauce in the food processor.
Mixing the sauce into the meat worked best for me in a very large bowl using spring tongs (the pieces I flung onto the counter I taste tested for quality).