Maple Glazed Pulled Pork

Sweet, sticky, juicy, melt in your mouth pork, slow roasted to perfection with a gravy to match!

These days it seems Christmas rolls around in a blink of an eye. By the time you've financially recovered from last years holidays, its October again!

This year will be the first year my partner and myself will be having a keto Christmas!

In the past, keto definitely ended before December even began, because Christmas treats aren't limited to only Christmas day, right?

I'm determined to make this holiday season as festive as if it were filled with sugary goodness, except without the guilt!

A personal favourite of mine is a sweet sticky glazed ham for Christmas. I wanted to create something similar, a little bit special. There's just something about having a sweet element to salty meat that feels like a special occasion, be it apple sauce, cherry compote or honey mustard! However this recipe doesn't have to be reserved only for Christmas, have it any time you want!

The flavours on this pork is a combination of rosemary, thyme, sugar free maple syrup, garlic, mustard and soy sauce, slow roasted for 5 hours until it gently pulls away and then coated in a thickened gravy from the pan juices. No one will believe you when you tell them this is sugar free!

The pork we've used is known as a "pork butt", which we ordered from The Meat Box however its not located at the butt of the pig! It's actually on the shoulder - however the pork butt sits higher, where the shoulder is closer to the legs. Either cut will be fine, as they both work best cooked long and slowly.

To start, preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius on an conventional oven and place the pork in a roasting dish. Prep your glaze.

Here we have our soy sauce, sugar-free maple syrup, garlic, fresh rosemary and thyme, lightly chopped and Dijon mustard.

Combine all ingredients for the glaze into one bowl. Add salt and pepper.

Using a pastry brush, cover the pork with a layer of the glaze, ensuring all areas are coated.

When finished, pour the remaining glaze all over the pork.

Cover with tin foil and pop into the oven for 5 hours. The internal temperature of the pork should be no less than 71 degrees Celsius when done.

After 4.5 hours, carefully remove the pork from the roasting dish and pour the juices from the pan into a saucepan. Alternatively a turkey baster could come in handy for this process as the meat will be super tender! Return the meat to the tray and pop back into the oven, uncovered for another half an hour.

Put the saucepan on the stove and heat the gravy on a medium heat to reduce the liquid. To get a desired consistency, add 1/4 tsp xanthan gum at a time, stirring well in-between. Space this process out over the half an hour as the gravy will thicken further as it cooks.

Serve this pork with a fresh salad, or our Pancetta and Fennel Salad for more festive flare!