This popular Asian oven pulled pork recipe is a favorite for tacos, sliders and burritos. The juicy pulled pork is irresistible. It’s been a favorite recipe since we first published it in 2014. 

Juicy Asian Oven Pulled Pork in a skillet

Favorite Pulled Pork Recipe

This is the unabashed, meat-lovers edition of pork. Apologies if the photo is an abrupt, in-your-face visual of juicy and saucy pork in its entirety. In fact, there’s no scattering of pretty garnish nor greens nor linen-pretty. It’s a delicious and amazing pulled pork dish and that’s pretty much all we wanted to share with you. Sometimes it’s more effective to just past all the words and give you a taste of the recipe as soon as possible. The pulled pork is so amazing, we decided to get past all the fuss and get straight to the point. And here’s the point: make this as soon as you can.

Video: Making the Juicy Asian Oven Pulled Pork Recipe:

Juicy Asian Oven Pulled Pork on a serving plate

Flavorful Asian Oven Pulled Pork – Umami Blast

A few weeks ago we found some frozen pork shoulder in the freezer (surprise!) and needed to make something with it before it was forgotten again in the dark, abyss of the garage freezer. We went a little crazy with the spices, adding some big punches of flavor to the marinade and sauce. We’re not apologizing for it, but rather, we’re warning you because you’ll be so addicted to the flavor combination of garlic, fish sauce, mustard and sugar that you just might want to use this on some other of your favorite meats.

Don’t be scared of Fish Sauce

Is fish sauce necessary? Yes, we get asked this all the time and fish sauce can be daunting to cook with if you’re new to it. Of course, it has a funky, strong and pungent smell. But when it’s added as part of the marinade, you don’t taste any “fishy” flavors in the end result. What you get is a super delicious, savory and umami flavor that is wonderful and satisfying. Read our article on the Magic of Fish Sauce and our favorite brands.

Still not sure? What about soy sauce or other options instead of fish sauce?

We tried and if you’re still not daring enough to try fish sauce, we understand. If we can’t convince you to use the fish sauce, then here’s some other alternatives to give an “almost” equal amount of umami:

  • Soy sauce will definitely still give great depth of flavor.
  • Liquid aminos are another good option for savory umami
  • Gluten free tamari has good flavor
  • DON’T FORGET SALT! you still must use enough salt to bring out all the flavors. So taste the cooked pork, and if you feel like it still needs “something” then add more salt. If you’re cautious about any fish sauce, then at least use enough salt to season the pork.
Juicy Asian Oven Pulled Pork on a serving plate

Asian Oven Roasted Pulled Pork Recipe

Yield: 8 Servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours 45 minutes
Baking in a cast iron pan really generates alot of heat, which cooks down the sauce to a dark caramel color and flavor. If you prefer more juicy and saucey pork, then bake it in a ceramic or glass baking dish. Feel free to cook the pulled pork for a little longer to make the pork more tender and melt-in-your-mouth. We prefer to use a bone-in pork shoulder, but it works great with a de-boned chunk of meat too.
Update: This recipe was developed with 4-5 pound pork butts. But if you're cooking with a smaller pork butt around 3.5 pounds and don't like too much sauce, then make half the sauce. If you're making the full batch of sauce on a 3.5 pork butt, you'll have plenty of sauce left over for your pasta, noodles or rice. Also, if you cook it a little longer, the sauce cooks down and caramelizes and becomes a sticky, sweet brown sauce.
Slow cooker note: after multiple reader commenting the success they've had with this recipe in a slow cooker, we testing and confirmed it works great! Slow Cooker Recipe Here.
4.93 from 39 votes
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Ingredients

  • about 4 pounds (1.8 kg) pork butt or pork shoulder
  • 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil
  • 1 onion , diced
  • 5-6 cloves garlic , minced
  • 15 oz. (425 g) diced or crushed tomatoes
  • 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) finely grated or minced fresh ginger
  • 1/4 cup (60 ml) fish sauce or soy sauce (but fish sauce tastes better! try it) For Gluten Free use Tamari
  • 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) chili garlic sauce or Gluten Free Hot Sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) spicy brown mustard
  • 1/4 cup (55 g) brown sugar , packed
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) fresh cracked black pepper

Instructions 

  • Pre-heat oven to 350°F/175°C.
    Preheat oven
  • Lightly coat the pork shoulder with oil and season all sides with salt and pepper.
    Pork butt seasoned with salt and pepper
  • Heat large cast iron pan or deep oven proof skillet on medium-high heat.Sear each side of the pork shoulder on the hot pan until the pork is brown. About 3 minutes per side. Remove the pork from the skillet and set aside.
    pork seared on skillet
  • In the same skillet the pork was just removed from, heat over medium heat. Then add oil, onion and garlic. Cook onions and garlic until soft and fragrant.
    Cooking onions
  • Add crushed or diced tomatoes, ginger, fish sauce, chili garlic sauce, mustard, brown sugar and black pepper. Stir together until well combined.
    Cooking sauce
  • Add the seared pork back into the skillet with the sauce and ladle the tomato sauce mixture over the pork. Cover the pork with aluminum foil.
    sauce over pork
  • Bake the pork at 350°F/175°C for about 4 hours, or until the pork is tender and easily shreds with a fork. We like to skim off any excess fat, then shred the pork in the sauce.
    shredded porik
  • Allow the pork to rest for about 15 minutes before shredding the whole shoulder. Keep foil over the shredded pork to keep it warm before serving.
    shredded pulled pork on plate

Video

Nutrition Information per Serving

Calories: 430kcal, Carbohydrates: 14g, Protein: 49g, Fat: 18g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 153mg, Sodium: 1038mg, Potassium: 1092mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 11g, Vitamin A: 118IU, Vitamin C: 7mg, Calcium: 72mg, Iron: 4mg
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Asian, Vietnamese
Calories: 430

How to Serve Our Juicy Asian Oven Pulled Pork

This was the pulled pork recipe that kept on giving. For our first meal, we had pulled pork tacos. Next, indulged in pulled pork over rice. Later, it was pulled pork sliders. Last, with what was leftover, we made a fabulous pulled pork pizza.

It wasn’t until we pigged out on all these juicy pulled pork dishes that we realized just how versatile and wonderful it was. And we’re not tired of it yet, because with Super Bowl next week, we’re already planning some stellar uses for our next batch. And how about you? If you make this asian oven pulled pork and have some new ideas on how to eat it with, let us know. We’re all ears.

Enjoy,

diane and todd

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