Bryan Martin's pulled pork and coleslaw recipe

Culturally and, increasingly, visually, you could say we are not that different from the people of the United States of America. There are small differences sure, but if this alien invasion occurred, and as I've said before, it will, they probably couldn't really tell if they landed in the right country by simply observing and prodding the citizens.

One of the great things about travel is to immerse oneself in different cultures to find these differences that surely we have. Television, music and social media probably have a levelling effect that draws us closer together. I imagine if you went out on the fringes more you'd find people that don't remind you of home but in Los Angeles, it's all looks a little too familiar, sort of like the Gold Coast. A bit like the strange fact that the lint you collect in the dryer ends up being a bluey-grey even though you don't own cloths that colour, civilisation, ultimately, ends up being a mass of freeways, theme parks and fast food.

If there was one thing that I think does separate us, I would have to say that this is the dill pickle. Sure you see them in supermarkets here but you probably figure it for some local ethnic population that needs acidic cucumbers in bottles.

It's when you have them with the proper sandwich that you really 'get' them and crave their addition to lunch. Leading on from there, the sandwich in America is slightly different. Here you get two slices of Wonderwhite bread, slap on some Allowrie butter, add lettuce, tomato and ham, cheese if you're feeling fancy, press it together and you have a sandwich. In the US, the term sandwich invariably means something quite large and served with chips, sorry fries, a litre of soda and these pickles.

There are lots of classic sandwiches that invariably come with a pickle. The simple BLT - grilled bacon, lettuce and tomato dredged in mayo is also the base of the club sandwich - on one layer a BLT, then the second cold chicken or turkey and cranberry sauce. One of my favourites is the Reuben sandwich. Like a lot of these culinary inventions, there are many who claim to be the origin of the idea; a sandwich inspired by an actress at Reuben's deli in New York or a chap named Reuben Kulakofsky of Omaha, Nebraska. Whoever, but this improbably mix of corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, rye bread and a Russian dressing is perfected with a big pickled cucumber on the side.

Even the burger is classed as a sandwich. Yes, go figure. Then the oft-seen but surely rarely tasted Philly cheese steak sandwich. Is it a steak sandwich with cheese or is the cheese the steak? And then we have the ubiquitous pulled pork roll. Sure it is everywhere; even here it's gaining 'Caesar salad-like' popularity, but there a good reason for this. It's awesome, sit back and think about this: A crisp, toasted roll, lightly buttered. On one side a freshly sliced slaw of apple, radish, carrot and cabbage, dressed in a light mayonnaise. On the other side, smoky, slow cooked pork shoulder that's so soft it falls apart when teased with a couple of forks. The two halves a squished together, so full the sandwich almost bursts at the seams. Sliced across and served with a couple of pickles, a cold glass of ale. And that's lunch. Look down at your salad, does it in any way shape up to a pulled pork sandwich? Sure, you'll be healthy and trim and not looking for somewhere to take a nap.

This is an easy recipe, like most good food you are relying on the quality of the main ingredient, the pork shoulder in this case. It's a three-stage process, so you need to plan ahead for this lunch. The boneless shoulder is first salted for a few hours to prepare the meat to absorb the flavourings and stand up to the long, slow cooking process. Second stage is to marinate this pickled shoulder in the spices. You can skip this if you want pure pork flavour but I've added some southern smokiness and heat from the chipotle chilli. After the meat has soaked up these flavours, put into a low oven to basically cook until it falls apart.

This is a very adaptable recipe too. You can play around with what flavours you want, the pulled pork is great in any sandwich. The coleslaw is a perfect accompaniment, success lies in a steady hand with the knife or mandolin to get a very fine shred going. I really like the addition of crispy, acidic apple with the heat of radish to build the slaw. Look for large pickled cucumbers or make you own.

Pulled pork

1 boneless pork shoulder, about 2kg, skin removed
3 tbsp salt flakes
2 tbsp sugar
Oil for frying

Spice rub

3 chipotle chillies, soaked in hot water for an hour
1 tbsp smoked paprika
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp cumin seeds, ground
1 tsp black pepper, crushed

Rub the pork with salt and sugar and cure for three to five hours, rinse and dry. Heat a wide pan until it starts to smoke, add a little oil and sear the pork shoulder all over. Just to get a little colour and flavour. Grind the spice rub to a paste and smear this all over the prepared pork belly. Make sure it rubbed in really well. Leave to marinate for another three to five hours. Heat the oven to 120 degrees. Put the pork in a casserole-type dish with a lid, it should be snug in this environment. Place this in the oven and cook for eight to 10 hours, After the first hour has passed and the contents are up to temperature, pour over about a cup of boiling water, seal again, turning the pork over after four hours. The pork will be ready when it looks wobbly and you can stick your index finger straight into it. Drain off the liquid and reserve. Shred the pork with a couple of sturdy forks. Add a little of the juices to moisten the shredded pork.

To serve, heat up in a frypan the pork adding more of the juices. Serve with coleslaw in a toasted bun, roll or bread with a large dill pickle on the side

Coleslaw

¼ small red cabbage
1 large green apple
1 carrot, peeled
4 red radish
handful parsley leaves
juice of one lemon
¼ cup mayonnaise

You know the deal here, finely as you can shred the vegetables and herb, dress in lemon juice and mayo.