Slow Cooker Honey-Soy Braised Pork With Lime and Ginger

Slow Cooker Honey-Soy Braised Pork With Lime and Ginger
Christopher Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Total Time
8 hours 20 minutes
Rating
4(3,649)
Notes
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Here to save your weeknight life: a slow-cooker main that’s truly “set-it-and-forget-it,” with results that taste like they required significantly more effort. This rich and flavorful pork takes about 5 minutes to throw together in the morning. Before dinner, just simmer the sauce — a sweet-salty mix of soy and honey — until it’s syrupy, shred the meat, add a flurry of fresh herbs and you’re done. The meat is a wonderfully simple anchor, and you can build a meal around it: Add lettuce cups and kimchi or serve it over rice, whole grains or even tortillas.

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings
  • 3 to 4pounds boneless, skinless pork shoulder, trimmed of big hunks of fat and cut in half
  • 8large garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 3tablespoons minced fresh ginger (from one 3-inch piece)
  • 1teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more to taste
  • 2teaspoons finely grated lime zest and 2 tablespoons juice (from 1 lime), plus more lime wedges for serving
  • 1cup tamari or low-sodium soy sauce (see Tip)
  • 1cup honey
  • 1tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • Cooked rice, noodles or lettuce cups, for serving
  • Toasted sesame seeds, sliced scallions and chopped cilantro, for topping
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

668 calories; 38 grams fat; 13 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 17 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 45 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 35 grams sugars; 38 grams protein; 1281 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place the pork in a 6- to 8-quart slow cooker. Scatter the garlic, ginger, red-pepper flakes and lime zest over the top. In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together the tamari, honey and sesame oil, then pour it over the pork. Using tongs, turn to coat all sides of the pork in the sauce, and spoon some over the top so that some of the garlic and ginger is on top of the pork. Cover and cook on low until the pork is very tender and shreds easily with a fork, 8 to 9 hours; it will hold well on warm. (If you are home and able to flip the pork once during cooking, that will help the flavors distribute evenly on the meat and make the color uniform. If not, it will be fine.)

  2. Step 2

    Using tongs, transfer the pork from the slow cooker to a serving platter or large, shallow serving bowl. Using a ladle, skim excess fat off the surface of the cooking liquid, if desired. Carefully pour the sauce into a large pot. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium-high heat and let it simmer until reduced and slightly syrupy, 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, coarsely shred the pork using two forks.

  3. Step 3

    Sprinkle the lime juice over the top of the meat. Drizzle about half the sauce over the top of the shredded meat, tossing to evenly combine. Serve over rice or noodles or in lettuce cups. Top with sesame seeds, scallions and cilantro. Pass the remaining sauce at the table, if desired, as well as extra lime wedges and red-pepper flakes.

Tip
  • Tamari, a gluten-free Japanese fermented soy product similar to soy sauce, is generally a little less salty than grocery store soy sauce, and it works slightly better in this recipe.

Ratings

4 out of 5
3,649 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

This kind of dish is why people love slow cookers: very low effort, max yum. My 5 and 7 yos love it over jasmine rice with sliced avocado and cucumbers on the side. I've made this with fresh or jarred garlic and ginger. Either works.

The sesame oil should be added after cooking (at the end) or it turns bitter.

To make this on the stove instead of a slow cooker: heat high heat oil in a Dutch oven. Cut meat in 2-3 pieces, season with salt and pepper, and sear on all sides until golden brown. Will probably take 15 mins. Meanwhile, chop your ginger and garlic. Remove the meat from the pan. Sauté aromatics. Add sauce to the pan, scrape up the burnt bits of pork, bring to a boil. Put meat back in the pot and bring to a boil. Cover and put in a 250 oven for 4 hours (for about 4 lb of meat).

I was confused by all the conflicting comments. So I cooked it per the recipe. It was fantastic.

Sometimes, I can't believe some of the comments made here....Susan, chopping garlic and ginger is substantial pre-crockpot prep? Lordy girl, don't ever make a real braise, you'll be dog-tired. Guessing you don't cook a lot.

Had great intentions of starting this in the morning to be ready for dinner in the evening... Needless to say I didn't get it all prepared until close to 3 pm. Luckily, this recipe worked a treat in our pressure cooker - 30 mins on high with 30 mins natural release. Made it per the recipe otherwise, and it was delicious!

Giving just 2 stars. First the pre-crockpot prep is not an easy 5 min. There is some substantial chopping and dicing to do. All that would have been worth it for a delicious braising sauce to spoon over the meat at the end. I did not like this sauce. Meat came out fine, but sauce tasted burnt/bitter. I tried to doctor it w rice wine, apple cider vinegar, more honey. Nothing helped the bad aftertaste.

This was an enjoyable meal that allowed the meat to get some nice crispy edges while still being moist and flavorful. However, given the calories and effort required, I have to recommend the Skinny Taste Banh Mi Bowl recipe over this one. Virtually the same flavor payoff (my fiancé didn’t realize it was a different recipe) with less work and fewer calories. Highly recommend serving both recipes with rice, cilantro, jalapeños/Serrano peppers, pickled carrots, cucumbers, and a sriracha aioli.

I followed some of the suggestions: 1/2 cup of honey and added about 1/2 cup of water . I had plenty of sauce. With many comments about it being too salty, I used Trader Joe’s Soyaki sauce for the soy sauce and thinking was a great alternative.Pork was tender, sauce was delicious and the scallions, sesame seeds and limes added great texture and color. I didn’t use any grated lime due to other comments and don’t think it was missed. Will definitely make again!

I’ve made this twice, once with a pork roast and once with a beef roast. Both times baked in a Dutch oven for 2-3 hours. The beef was much better than the pork!

I initially rated this three stars, but I took the leftovers out of the freezer last week and used them in a stir fry, and they were delicious. I simply froze hunks of the cooked meat in the sauce, and then I used the sauce in the stir fry. Bumped it up to four stars and will definitely make it again!

I used an Instant Pot and it worked well! Cooked on high for 30 minutes and then natural release (it was over an hour before I opened it up). It was tender and there was no burned taste. I also used coconut aminos instead of tamari or soy sauce and it was not salty at all. I used a lot a red chili powder instead of the flakes and it came out with a nice spice balance of sweet and spicy. I would have used much less sesame oil since the sauce at the end was too oily.

Due to coronavirus shortages at the grocery stores, I had to settle for pork tenderloin instead of pork shoulder. I know that's a completely different cut of meat. I still followed all of the instructions and slow-cooked it on low for about 6 hours. Was still able to shred it (although it was a bit dry). We ate it with white rice and had the leftovers as pork fried rice the next day.

I enjoyed this. No burnt flavor as I followed other reviewers’ advice and swapped 1/4 cup of brown sugar for the honey. I only added lime as a garnish at the end and didn’t use much of the sauce. We ate it with squeezed lime juice, scallions and cilantro over white rice and it was pretty delicious.

6 pound pork roast in 300 degree oven for about 5 hours, basted a couple times; used olive oil instead roasted sesame oil for the roast, based on previous comments; then added a drizzle of sesame oil at the end while reducing the sauce. In addition to the suggested garnishes, I served this with quick pickled veggies (carrots and cucumbers, radishes next time) - the pickled veggies really added brightness to the dish as a whole. This was terrific and easy - great combo! Will be on repeat.

Agree the meat was good. I had high hopes for this recipe, it had everything I love but the sauce really tasted burnt and bitter. I tossed it, sadly, but shredded the meat because I couldn’t stand to waste it. I had it with a commercial BBQ sauce. Disappointing.

Delicious, but sauce was too salty (made with low-sodium soy sauce). Made it again and did not boil the sauce at the end. Without condensing the sauce, it was perfect and the larger amount of sauce soaked the rice. Also agree with Shell that the sesame oil should be added at the end. Less bitter and more sesame flavor. Doubled the lime zest for this size recipe. Will make this again!

Unfortunately found this meat to end up a little dry with a bit too much saltiness in the sauce. Payoff enough since it required little effort, but no wow factor

Added a Korean style cucumber and avocado on flour tortillas.

I too ended up with burnt and acrid sauce. The problem is the honey burning, and that can probably be remedied by subbing in brown sugar instead. I was worried about this when prepping, so I made an effort to thoroughly whisk the tamari and honey, but alas that did not help. I made this in an Instant Pot using pressure cooker mode. Perhaps that's where it went wrong, but judging from the number of other reviewers who encountered similar issues, it may also be an issue with slow-cookers.

Cooked it per the recipe using tamari low sodium. All the ingredients come together nicely so that the salt content is not at all off-putting. It got devoured. Served it with jasmine rice, lettuce wraps and mini naan.

Just made this. We followed the recipe exactly minus the lime zest (I feel like it'd get bitter after cooking for so long). It was divine. We cut the saltiness by adding our own slaw/pickled onions and used this as the filling for the NYT Bao Bun recipe!

Did 1/2 cup soy sauce with 1/2 cup (prob even more) of water to dilute the saltiness

Very easy and lots of flavor, though I think I probably doubled up on the spices (and threw in some coriander and white pepper too). Ultimately made it with short ribs and it was delicious, looking forward to using the leftovers in a stirfry when I get some fresh veggies to mix in.

The sauce is heavy on the soy/tamari flavor. I'd cut back on that, and be sure to go light on the drizzle at the end. It can overpower.

My husband just said “This is a definite winner!” I used a couple of pork loin chops and halved the ingredients. I seared the two chops in our Insta Pot (saute - high) in a little avocado oil. Then I added the rest of the ingredients, excluding lime juice, and set the Insta Pot on low pressure for one hour. Placed the meat in a glass pie plate and shredded while the sauce boilded away on Saute - Med. Added chopped green onioins and parsley from the back yard. WONDERFUL.

I was skeptical because of the salty/burned reviews and I really wanted those burned bits like in the photo. I followed the recipe only change was reduced sodium tamari (and added a lonely chicken breast w the pork) and it turned out great! Even got burned bits! Sauce glaze took over 30 minutes to reduce. Wonder if anyone took out the meat and tried to reduce the sauce on high in the slow cooker - saving a pot? (I’m a minimalist on dishes!)

I've had this recipe in my app for a couple of years and finally made it. Followed the recipe with the exception of the honey; used 3/4 C of honey & a little maple syrup because that's what I had. Used frozen ginger cubes. So simple and really delicious-not too salty using tamari.

Delighted with this recipe, I’ve cooked it twice now. I serve it with the suggested accompaniments and also Samin Nosrat’s Asian slaw. Sambal Olek on the side for those who enjoy heat,

This was outstanding!

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