Pulled “pork” sliders

One of my meat-eater husband’s most missed dishes is bbq ribs and bbq pulled pork. I asked him the same thing I asked him about the buffalo chicken wings…”do you love pork or do you love bbq sauce.” He admitted it it was probably the sauce! So to appease his craving and add to my repertoire of dishes to serve the omnivores in my life I have been working to perfect my pulled “pork” slider recipe! The slider size is great for potlucks or appetizers or you can make them fulled sized and serve them up as an entrée. I’m going to get right to the recipe but if you want more tips and info be sure to scroll all the way through.

BBQ Pulled “Pork” Sliders

Ingredients (6-8 packed sliders):

BBQ Jack fruit:

• One can of young jackfruit in brine*.
• 3/4 cup of your favourite BBQ sauce (Here is a link to my favourite!**)
• 1/4 medium white onion
• 1tsp of chicken or veggie broth paste
• 2-3 gloves of fresh garlic
• 3tbs of olive oil
• mini brioche buns

Vegan Coleslaw:

• 1 package of coleslaw mix
• sliced green onions
• 4 tsp apple cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar, or lemon juice)
• 4 tsp good quality Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1 tsp black pepper (or to taste)
• 8 tsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp of celery seen
• sugar to taste (I like my coleslaw to be tangy and less sweet because I put it on top of my bbq soaked jackfruit but if you want this as a side add a few pinches of sugar and sweeten it up.)
• Avocado slices for extra creamy-ness***
• Hemp heart seeds to top****

The Steps:

Ok if your like me and super impatient you may be tempted to throw this all together and serve it but doing it step by step and cooking it slow will give you more of the texture people love from pulled pork.

1. Strain and remove the jackfruit from the brine and begin pulling it apart with two forks. It comes apart exactly like slow roasted chicken! Once it’s all pulled apart pat it with layers of paper towel to get rid of some of the excess moisture.
2. Mince your white onion and garlic and sauté it in a pan with the olive oil for the jackfruit until the onion is slightly browned.
3. Mix in the pulled jackfruit and broth paste (I have supplied a photo below) and sauté it with the garlic and onions. continue to cook in pan until the paste is evenly mixed and everything is browned up.
4. Mix in your choice of BBQ sauce. Use more of less depending on how sticky or saucy your like your mixture.
5. Transfer the BBQ mixture to a baking sheet and spread out. Cook at 350 for about 15 minutes or until the edges of the mixture start to crisp up and the bbq sauce is bubbling. This step is important for matching the slow roasted texture of BBQ pork. You can skip it and eat the mixture right out of the pan but without the caramelization of the sauce and slight drying out, it just won’t be as much like the real thing.
6. In a separate container mix up all of your coleslaw ingredients. I use the pre-cut bagged version so this step is eeeeeasy!
7. Toast up your buns a bit to keep them from getting soggy and to give these sliders a little extra crunch!
8. Layer the BBQ jack, avocado and coleslaw on the slider bun and serve up the delicious little devils!

Tips and tricks *

* You could use fresh jackfruit and cut it up your self but its harder to find is sticky and messy to cut up and if ripe will be to sweet for savoury dishes.. Do your self a favour and grab the canned version. You are looking for young jackfruit in a brine because this will give you the best texture and flavour when looking to use it as a meat substitute. You won’t find this with the other canned fruit and vegetables, rather you may need to go to the “international food” section or your local T&T.

** I add avocado slices to the bottom of mine because, yummm and also I’m always looking to add healthy fats to my families meals.

***Jack fruit is really just a starchy, carby, fruit that happens to have a texture almost exactly like meat. It doesn’t actually have a ton of protein. And while this is definitely a comfort food and not super-healthy-meal type food I still like to kick up the protein. Hemp heart seeds are small nutty flavoured seeds that are super nutrient packed and mix up well in the coleslaw. You can get them almost anywhere nowa-days but I get mine in bulk at Costco and put the sh!* in everything.

You might be wondering why I don’t use Veganaise or even real mayo since I’m not truly vegan. Both the store bought Vegan-mayo and the regular stuff have a bunch of ingredients that me and my kids don’t need. You can find some high quality veganaise that doesn’t have canola oil but its pretty simple to make my own plus the store bought stuff is more sweet than I like. But if you like it or have it on hand you can totally save your self steps and mix mix with the lime juice, cilantro, green onion and celery seeds and have a pretty good coleslaw…just promise me you won’t buy the the cheap coleslaw dressing!Ifyiuy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you whip these up please tell me what you thought of them and if they were as big of a hit with your family as they were with mine!