BRAISED PORK SHOULDER WITH BROILED PINEAPPLE FRIED RICE

Braised pork can be served as a hot meal over grains or mashed potatoes with roasted vegetables, or shredded  and added to BBQ sauce for sliders, the meat can also be used as a filling for enchiladas, and other casserole dishes or as we love to serve it with Broiled Pineapple Fried Rice.  Cooking the meat is very straightforward and braising the meat in the Steam Oven is just an easier way to cook it, however you must still take into account the cooking time of 2 -2 1/2 hours.

Traditional recipes instruct you to sear the meat then cook it in a heavy pan with a tight fitting lid in a slow oven for a few hours, during the cooking time the steam in the pan tenderizes the meat to a melt-in-your-mouth consistency and a flavorful sauce.  For great flavor its best to give the meat a dry rub a day in advance of cooking, then sear the meat and combine the other ingredients that will be the base of the sauce.  When cooking in the Steam Oven place the meat and sauce ingredients in a deep oven-proof casserole or cast-iron braising pan (no cover needed) and select the Combination Convection Steam Mode 300 degrees and set the timer for 2 hours.  Test the meat after 2 hours with a fork to get a sense of the consistency and continue cooking for another 30 minutes or longer if needed until the meat shreds easily with a fork.

Towards the end of the cooking time you can add vegetables directly to the braising pan or toss with oil and roast in the large solid oven pan. When making fried rice, we like to steam the rice a day in advance so it has a drier consistency which makes it easier to fry in the wok and the pineapple just needs a few minutes under the broiler to become slightly caramelized.