Pork with Orange Agrodolce

Agrodolce is an Italian sweet-sour sauce made from vinegar and a sweetener, usually sugar or honey. Having the pork cooking slowly in this vinegar based sauce makes it incredibly tender and takes much of the bite out of the vinegar. I added orange juice and zest to the base agrodolce sauce as I think the bright sweet-sour flavour complements the balsamic vinegar perfectly.

You may use either skinless or skin-on pork shoulder for this recipe. I often leave it on to help protect the meat during cooking and discard later. If you’re using a skinless shoulder take care to either baste with the liquid more frequently, every half hour or so, or you can cut the meat into smaller chunks to help them submerge in the liquid more. Note that if you choose a skin-on pork shoulder you may need a larger one depending on how many you intend to feed, as you will be removing the skin/fat cap after cooking. A skin-on 1.5kg roast makes us 4 servings after cooking.

Here I served with mash, but roast potatoes, crusty bread, or even risotto would all go beautifully. I think it would make a fantastic sandwich as well, with a bit of crisp lettuce and raw onion, but definitely calls for a sturdy bread in that case.

Serves 4-6

Pork shoulder (boneless, skin optional- see notes)

Rub:

2 tsps salt

1 tsp sugar

½ tsp ground fennel

1 tsp ground pepper

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp onion powder

Agrodolce

2 tbsp of vegetable oil

2 shallots, sliced

2 cloves of garlic, sliced

125ml (½ cup) Balsamic vinegar

3 Tablespoons honey

Juice of 1 orange

250ml (1 cup) water

½ tsp salt

Zest of 1 orange

Salt

Pepper

1. Mix together the rub ingredients in a small bowl, and apply to the pork shoulder (not to the skin, if keeping intact) at least two hours before cooking, and up to overnight. Place the pork shoulder into a dish or bowl, cover and keep in the fridge.

2. About an hour before cooking let the roast come up to room temp.

3. Preheat the oven to 160C (325F)

4. In a small bowl mix together the liquid agrodolce ingredients and ½ tsp salt.

5. Heat the vegetable oil in a dutch oven over medium high heat. Brown all sides of the pork shoulder and set aside.

6. Lower the heat to medium low, and add the shallots and garlic to the dutch oven. If the pot is very dry add a splash of water. Cook until the shallot begin to soften and work to scrape up the fond.

7. Replace the pork shoulder (skin side up if using) and pour agrodolce over the roast.

8. Place into the oven with lid slightly ajar for 3 hours, basting about once an hour with the agrodolce.

9. After 3 hours remove from the oven. Remove skin and fat cap and discard. Cut and shred the meat into the agrodolce. Add the orange zest and adjust for salt and pepper if needed, and serve.