Cinnamon Soy Braised Pork Salad

This recipe is incredible.  When I was preparing the dish, my husband was unsure if he would like it because of the smell of the sauce, but once it braises for a few hours, it is amazing.  This dish does take some time to make, but it is mostly just cooking time so you can enjoy doing whatever it is you’d like in the meantime. 

First, heat some oil in a pot (that has a lid).  I used canola cooking spray and heated the oil over med-high heat.  And a pork shoulder to the pan (mine was 3 pounds) and cook until browned on each side (about 5 minutes per side).  Remove the pork from the pot.  In the pot, add ¼ cup soy sauce, ½ cup sherry wine, 1/3 cup brown sugar, fresh ginger (I used about a 1 inch knob grated), 2 cinnamon sticks, and 1 teaspoon anise seeds.  Allow this to cook in the pot until the sugar dissolves.  Add the pork back to the pan and allow the sauce to simmer over low heat covered for 2 and ½ hours.  Remove the pork and slice into thin pieces.  Remove the cinnamon sticks from the sauce and allow the sauce to cook on high heat for a few minutes until it thickens.  Add the pork back into the sauce and turn to coat all the pork. 

In a separate pan, sauté shallots over medium heat until soft and caramelized.  Begin making your salad with any type of lettuce you’d like, although I found spinach to be the best.  Add the caramelized onions and pork on top of the spinach.  Sprinkle the salad with fresh cilantro.  We topped the salad with chipotle honey mustard and it was delicious. 

There was a lot of pork leftover for salads or munching throughout the week.  The pork has such a unique flavor and I am sure the sauce would work well on different proteins.  If you make this pork let me know how you like it!!