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Pulled pork shoulder with laverbread crempog and achar salsa
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 1.4kg Welsh pork shoulder or butt
- 1tbsp rapeseed oil, such as Pembrokeshire Gold
- 2tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1tbsp Halen Môn sea salt crystals
- 1tbsp The Pembrokeshire Beach Company Captain Cat’s Môr Seasoning
- 4tbsp tomato sauce
- 4tsp soy sauce
- 4tsp hot pepper sauce
- 2tbsp golden caster sugar
- 2 bay leaves
- 300ml medium dry cider, such as Apple County Cider Co crempog, to serve (see below)
For the achar salsa
- 6tbsp Black Mountain Preserves Asian Butternut Achar
- 4 spring onions finely chopped
- 65g radishes, finely chopped
- ½ cucumber, peeled in strips, deseeded and finely chopped
- 2tbsp cider vinegar, such as Welshcraft
- 1/2tsp Halen Môn sea salt crystals
Laverbread crempog (Makes 12-15)
- 150g plain flour
- 1/2tsp Halen Môn sea salt crystals
- 30g Castle Dairies butter with Halen Môn salt
- 300ml buttermilk
- 4tbsp whole milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 2tsp cider vinegar, such as Welshcraft
- 2tsp laverbread
- 5 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped rapeseed oil, such as Pembrokeshire Gold, to fry
Method
Untie the pork (if strung), put in a dish and rub with the oil. Mix the pepper, salt and the seasoning together and rub all over the pork, then hold together with a skewer if need be. Combine the remaining ingredients, apart from the cider, and use to coat the pork, then transfer to the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight, turning it once during that time.
Remove the pork from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. Preheat the oven to 170C/150C F/Gas 3.
Pour the cider into a heavy, cast-iron casserole dish and gently bring to a simmer. Add the pork and all the marinade and turn off the heat. Cover with a sheet of baking paper, cut to size, and put the lid on. Cook in the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes, turning the meat every 30 minutes.
Around 1 hour before serving, make the salsa by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Reduce the temperature to 160C/140C F/Gas 3 and cook the pork for another hour, turning it half-way through. Check with a skewer to see if the flesh is meltingly soft, then remove from the oven.
Transfer 300ml of the cooking liquid into a medium-sized pan and skim the fat from the surface. Bring to a fast boil for 10 minutes until reduced, then set aside while you shred the meat using 2 forks. Transfer to a serving bowl, then pour the reduced sauce over. Serve with the crempog and salsa.
Laverbread crempog
Melt the butter in a small pan, add the buttermilk and milk and stir for 30 seconds until the liquid is just warm. Gradually whisk into the flour and leave to stand for 1 hour.
Whisk the eggs in a small bowl and add to the batter base, then stir well and add the bicarbonate of soda, followed by the vinegar. Whisk and stir in the laverbread and chopped onions, then leave to sit for 5 minutes.
Heat a 15cm non-stick frying pan over a low heat. Add a little rapeseed oil (have a piece of kitchen paper on hand to wipe any excess) and, using a 45ml ladle, scoop the batter into the pan, pushing it out into a 13-14cm diameter round. Cook for around 2 minutes until golden on the underside and looking lightly set and bubbly on the surface. Using a spatula, carefully turn over and cook until the underside is a golden colour too.
Continue in the same way until all the batter is used up. If you like, have another hot oiled pan ready – as each crempog cooks on one side, you can just tip it on its other side into the second pan. Alternatively, use a larger pan and cook more than one at a time, working quickly.
Transfer each cooked crempog to a tray lined with kitchen paper until they’re all cooked. Wrap in foil and keep warm in a low oven. If making ahead, you can store in the fridge for a day or freeze until needed, defrost and reheat.
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