Pulled Pork?

[TarteTatin]

We're having a dinner party on Friday, doing a Mexican soup to nuts. We want to serve pulled pork (as well as shrimp, etc.) in soft flour tortillas that we'll get at Reading Terminal.

(For one of the courses)

Where can we buy already cooked pork? We normally would cook this ourselves; but not enough time...Does Delilah's sell it? If not Reading Terminal, where should we go? The BBQ places on South St.?

If it's too difficult to find already cooked, anyone have any fast cooking ideas for this?

Thanks for your help!

[rooftop1000]

fast cooking idea...... crockpot, hot sauce, brown sugar,...pork

winter food

tracey

[mrbigjas]

how about one of the taquerias in south philly? you could see if they'll sell you carnitas or al pastor--or, really, any of their taco fillings--in bulk. taqueria la veracruzana, la lupe, plaza garibaldi. come to think of it, while you're at the terminal buying tortillas, you could see if 12th st. cantina will sell you a batch of whatever pork they have that day.

alternately, while the 'low and slow' thing is definitely a fact, i've found that you can make a stew of pork shoulder tender in about an hour if you cut it in cubes of less than an inch. follow one of the recipes in the carnitas thread for ingredients, but start by cubing the pork relatively small instead of leaving it in bigger chunks, and basically brown it and then braise it in the liquid before evaporating it away and frying it in its own fat. it's not going to have the great texture of great carnitas, because... well, it's just not. but in a pinch it could stand in.

(edited to say that rooftop's idea is a good one--let it stew in a crockpot all day, and then when you get home transfer it to a regular pot and use that to evaporate the liquid off and fry)

Edited October 13, 2005 by mrbigjas (log)

[Holly Moore]

Jack McDavid, Jack's Firehouse, has won all sorts of contests for his pulled pork. Or Sweet Lucy's. Not sure I'd trust any of the other BBQ places for pulled pork. Or head up to North 5th Street. Or, as someone suggested, try any of the 9th and Washington area Mexican places.

[DTBarton]

Canulli's in the Italian market on 9th street cooks whole small pigs. It's really good fresh roast pork you could pull and sauce to your liking.

[GregD]

The pulled pork at Dwight's on Lancaster Ave. is the best I've had in the city. To me it's much better than Jack's or Sweet Lucy's, though their ribs (esp. Lucy's) are quite a bit better than Dwight's. The lines are long, the wait can be ridiculous, some of the other things they serve are no great shakes (like the ribs) but the pulled pork and the green beans are great.

[Furious Flav-or]

The pulled pork at Dwight's on Lancaster Ave. is the best I've had in the city.  To me it's much better than Jack's or Sweet Lucy's, though their ribs (esp. Lucy's) are quite a bit better than Dwight's.  The lines are long, the wait can be ridiculous, some of the other things they serve are no great shakes (like the ribs) but the pulled pork and the green beans are great.

←

I agree with you strongly about the pulled pork and disagree with you on the ribs, although I haven't had Lucy's. Also, they do a mean Southern Comfort cake.

[GregD]

My wife agrees with you--not me--about Dwight's ribs, so you're in good company. The macaroni and cheese is also good, though super-rich. Maybe I'm just blinded by the pork. I've had plenty of good--or at least acceptable--ribs in Philly, but Dwight's is the only place where I've really had good pulled pork--like I was used to as a teenager in Tennessee.

Never had the cake. I remember seeing a customer debate whether to get the sweet potato pie, and another customer in line behind her said, "Treat yourself, don't cheat yourself," and that settled the issue.

[philadining]

The Smoked Joint sells pulled pork for takeout: $8 for a pint, $16 for a quart. There have been some arguments about their quality, but the most recent time I went, mid-summer 2005, it was excellent.

[TarteTatin]

Well, I took your advice and hubby made it himself tonight!

We asked at 12th St. Cantina in Reading Terminal. They looked at us funny and suggested the Amish Pork guys across the aisle.

So, we went instead to the Fair Food Booth. Ann Karlen sold us yummy pork roasts, shoulder.

Sam came home tonight and cooked it. Can't tell you how, that's why he's the cook.

It's 11:30 and we just finished taking it out of the string-and it literally fell off - almost didn't need the knife!

So, thank you all for your advice! Our Mexican theme dinner party tomorrow night will be good. The pulled pork-- and shrimp and chorizo something, both in tortillas (corn and flour)..., salsa cruda with fresh pomegrantes, corn soup to start from our CSA this summer, stuffed peppers from the CSA- with rice and chihuaha for a side dish... Of course, off theme, he made a tarte tatin for me with a hazelnut crust....what else? Oh, he's making sweet potato chips as apps with some sort of Mexican spice....Anyway.

Fair Food really has good, local stuff, including meat...