Meal of the Week: Razor Hill Pulled Pork

One of my favorite things to do here in Stormwind is to bring tastes of home to people who have never experienced it. Most of you know I’m originally from Silvermoon, but I spent a lot of time in both Brill and outside of Orgrimmar. And sometimes, man do orcs know how to eat.

On Durotar, one thing that there are plenty of is boar. So pork is a huge stable in Durotar orcish cuisine. When you head a bit south though, you come to Razor Hill, a perfect melting pot of Darkspear Trolls and Orcs. With it, comes a delicious mix of trollish spices and orcish meats that everyone needs to experience at least once.

First of all, this is a cauldron recipe. If you have one of those fancy enchanted cauldrons that cook even faster… Well firstly I’m super jealous and you should buy me one – but secondly, I’ll tell you the conversion at the end. But because it’s a cauldron recipe, it’s also deceptively easy for such a huge payoff.

Time for the cast of characters. First, hit up your butcher and get a pork loin. Mine was about 4 lbs, anywhere around that size will do you fine for these measurements. You’ll need about three limes, in order to get a quarter cup of lime juice. Save one for zesting. You also need a Tablespoon each of cumin and chili powder, as well as two teaspoons of salt. Two good sized dalapenos (or other suitable pepper depending on your heat tolerance), about half an onion, two or more cloves of garlic, and half a cup of chicken broth. I also sincerely recommend getting some soapweed (also known as Cilantro in Common) for the end as it adds some nice brightness.

Now, this first step is optional but I find it brings a complexity to it. Feel free to skip, it’ll still be delicious.

So, if you wanna kick it up a notch, get a pan screaming hot and deposit your pork loin. Leave it for a couple of minutes on each side until you get it nice and browned. Be warned, it’s a little hard to maneuver, which is why mine didn’t get as brown as I would usually have liked. My excuse is that life has been really hard lately, and I really really wanted to eat the end product so I was in a hurry.

Like I said. Optional. But for real, if you decide to do this step, take a little more time than I did. Once this is done, deposit this into the bottom of your cauldron, along with the 1/2 cup (120 ml) of chicken broth.

Next! On to the limes.

So there’s a big of a trick to limes, I’ve found. Native to Stranglethorn, these little green citrus seem to either be packed with juice or bone dry. Working at the bar, I’ve figured out a trick on how to pick good ones. You’re going to want to look for limes that seem heavier than they should be. Using this heavy-fruit tactic, I’ve managed to have good luck getting only the juiciest limes.

Another trick is to kinda smoosh and roll them before you cut them. Press down hard on it with the heel of your palm and roll it along the counter. This will help break the membranes and release the juice before you even cut it.

You’re going to need about a quarter cup of lime juice (about 60ml) of juice, which tends to be around 3 limes. Before you cut them though, you’ll want the zest from one of them. This is way easier to do before it’s cut. Go around the outside and get all the green off. Your entire kitchen will smell like citrus deliciousness. You’re welcome.

Add both the zest and the juice into the cauldron with the pork and the broth. See a pattern yet?

Believe it or not, we’re almost done! Next are the other aromatics. So take that half of an onion and cut it nice and thing. Or chonky, I’m not a guard. I like it thin because I like for the onion to really blend in with the meat once it’s pulled. But let’s be real, this sucker is going to cook forever, even if it’s thick, it shouldn’t be too distracting to the delicious delicious pork.

Next are the Dalapenos. Slice them lengthwise and using something that is not your hand, deseed it. For fel’s sake, do NOT touch your eyes without washing your hands first, even if you think you were careful. I do this every time.

Every.

Damn.

Time.

Dice them small, and then throw them into the cauldron as well. For those keeping score at home, you now have the meat, the broth, the lime juice and zest, the onion and the dalapeno peppers in the cauldron.

Let’s add a few more friends. Chop the garlic and add that as well, as well as the salt, cumin and chili powders.

Now for the hardest part – waiting.

In a normal cauldron on low flames, leave this for 8 hours. I usually will get it ready right before training and come back to the Keg smelling of deliciousness. Well. More deliciousness than usual. If you have a fancy enchanted (instapot) cauldron, you’re going to want about 70-90 minutes.

Once it’s done, enjoy that torturously delicious scent.

It’s not the prettiest right now, but your nose will not care. We’re still not done though!

Grab a pair of utensils — I like either tongs or forks or a combination of both, and start shredding.

It will fall apart easily. Mix the shredded bits in with that delicious juices to make sure they all get the lime chili flavor. Every time I make this, it falls apart like butter. Continue to work until the entire loin is separated.

Gorgeous right? By now you’ve picked at it and realize that I’m not talkin’ taller than my ears. This is the real deal. But what else can we do to add that final huzzah?

Chop up that soapweed!! Do it a bit coarse — for a chance of pace. Add a healthy handful into the meat, and save the rest for later.

NOW you can dig in!! I recommend this on tortilla with cheese or soured cream and some Zulzadar Guacamole. Easy and enough to feed even the hungriest warriors!