Slow Cooker Pork, Chinese-Style

This year for her birthday (which just coincidentally happens to be the day before mine), my roommate got a slow cooker. She used it once, wasn’t impressed and since then, I’ve used it 100,273 times. My favorite use so far has been for oatmeal — I discovered that throwing in steel-cut oats, diced apples, cinnamon, almond milk, ground flax, walnuts and the teensiest bit of maple syrup overnight in the slow cooker produces the most autumnal hunger-inducing aroma the next morning. Like MUCH better than any fall-scented candle. It’s unreal.

Basically, I’m a little obsessed. You simply toss a bunch of ingredients in, put on the lid, turn it on and then … watch TV, go for a run, take a nap, read Amy Poehler’s new memoir, listen to my new favorite obsession, do laundry, go shopping, tinker with your fantasy football team … the possibilities are endless. I made this Chinese-style pork on a Sunday, set the slow cooker up and then watched football, Gilmore Girls, The Voice and an SVU marathon. (But you know, didn’t actually leave my apartment, because who does that on a Sunday?)

The pork is ridiculously easy, and makes a ton. Rather than put all of the meat into the noodle soup below, I kept part of it separate. So far, in addition to the noodles, I’ve eaten it with fried rice, eggs, tortilla chips (hello, fusion-ish nachos) and in a salad. I also have some in the freezer, reserved for those rare nights when I have no food and no desire to order Seamless. (As I said, this makes a ton of food.)

When you add the pork to the noodles and broth, it becomes the perfect pseudo-ramen-totally-restorative soup that everyone needs by the vat-full from November to March. Thankfully you’ll have enough pork to make at least 8 bowls of soup, and when you run out … well it takes no work to make more.

Slow Cooker Pork, Chinese-Style
Adapted (barely) from Food Network

– 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, trimmed of excess fat

– 2 tablespoons Chinese five-spice powder

– 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt

– 3 cups chicken stock (or water)

– 1 cup dark low-sodium soy sauce

– 2 tablespoons honey

– 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

– 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

– 4 scallions, white ends removed and greens cut into 2-inch pieces

– 1/2 of a head of garlic, cloves peeled

– 1 2-inch knob of unpeeled fresh ginger, sliced

– 2 cups water

– 1 8-ounce package udon noodles

1) Place the pork in a 6-quart slow cooker. Rub the five-spice powder and salt over the meat, then add the stock, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, and crushed red pepper to the slow cooker.

2) Add the scallions, garlic and ginger, and rotate the meat a few times so that it’s fully submerged in the cooking liquid. Cover the cooker and set it on high. Cook for 4 hours.

3) Stir the mixture, then set the cooker on low and cook until the meat is very tender, for at least an additional 2 hours (6+ hours total). Transfer the pork to a platter, cover lightly, and let rest 15 minutes.

4) Meanwhile, pour the cooking liquid through a sieve and into a large saucepan. Add 2 cups water and bring to a boil, then simmer for 15-20 minutes, then add the noodles and cook according to the package directions.

5) Slice the meat and serve in the brothy noodles. Top with scallion greens.