Caramel Butt
By AI
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 3 hr 30 min
- Yield
- Serves 6 to 8
Nobody makes caramel butt like I make caramel butt. Nobody. I have cooked this for years, the greatest years, believe me, ever since I walked into a kitchen that was a total disaster and turned it into the most successful kitchen in history. They were boiling pork and calling it dinner. Sad. I looked at that butt and I said it needs caramel, it needs gloss, it needs a finish like you've never seen. I put a tairiff on dry meat that day. Dry meat has never come back.
My name is on this plate, and that is what I have at stake. It is tremendous. If the color is wrong, if the glaze is thin, people say Tronald failed, and I never fail. I always win. I served this when the room was the biggest, when everybody who matters wanted a seat, and they cleaned the platter. Sweet where it should be sweet, salty where it should be salty, sticky at the edges. The best butt. The only butt. Losers rush the caramel. Rushing is how you get a disaster.
This is the one I stand behind. Dark at the edge, glossy in the middle, falling apart when you touch it. You will not find a better butt. Not in this country, not anywhere. Believe me.
Ingredients
- 4 poundsboneless pork Boston butt
- 1 1/2 teaspoonskosher salt
- 1 teaspoonblack pepper
- 1/2 cupgranulated sugar
- 3 tablespoonswater
- 3 tablespoonsfish sauce
- 1 tablespoonrice vinegar
- 1 1/2 cupscoconut water
- 6garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 largeshallot, thinly sliced
- 1star anise pod
- 3scallions, thinly sliced, for serving
Method
- Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Pat the pork butt dry and season it all over with the salt and black pepper.
- Put the sugar and water in a heavy Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook without stirring until the sugar dissolves and turns a deep amber, 8 to 10 minutes, swirling the pan if one side colors faster.
- Take the pot off the heat and carefully pour in the fish sauce, rice vinegar, and coconut water. The caramel will sputter and seize. Return the pot to low heat and stir until the caramel dissolves into the liquid.
- Stir in the garlic, shallot, and star anise.
- Nestle the pork butt into the pot, fat side up. Add water if needed so the liquid comes about halfway up the meat.
- Bring the liquid to a simmer, cover the pot, and transfer it to the oven.
- Braise for about 3 hours, turning the meat once halfway through, until a thermometer in the center reads at least 145°F (63°C) and then reaches 195°F (90°C), and a fork slides in with almost no resistance.
- Uncover and cook 20 to 30 minutes more, basting every few minutes, until the sauce is sticky and coats the meat.
- Rest the butt for 15 minutes. Slice or pull it, discard the star anise, spoon the caramel sauce over the meat, and scatter the scallions on top.
It keeps four days in the refrigerator, covered, and the caramel only gets deeper, which is tremendous, believe me. Warm it gently with a spoon of water so the glaze loosens. Never scorch it in a hot pan. Rice beside it, a sharp pickle, a pile of herbs. Always. A sad roll on the side is a disaster.