Now this is a real Meaty Monday post! This pork shoulder ramen is full of meat, hearty mushrooms and zoodles. Best part- it is made in the crockpot! If you didn’t know, I love crockpot meals. They make life so easy. One of my favorite restaurants has a pork belly ramen dish. I have watched longingly as my friends order it but I resist because of the ramen. I finally caved one day and it was so good. I’ve wanted to make it paleo for a while but wasn’t exactly sure where to start. After extensive research, I started with a ramen base and just went from there. I couldn’t be happier with the results. I barely got these photos because the alluring smell was drawing me in to eat. This pork shoulder ramen is meaty, slightly spicy and perfect for slurping up with a big spoon!
I’m moving soon! Nope not back to California but to a new apartment. I am really excited because it is in an up-and-coming neighborhood where lots of young professionals live. Plus I will be close to downtown and where the KU alumni association holds their watch parties. The latter was actually a very strong draw! What can I say? I love hanging out with other Jayhawks! Did you know it is officially basketball season?? It is. In Kansas’s world at least because as of last friday colligate basketball programs can officially start practicing. I know football season is just getting underway but I am a huge basketball fan! I do love football tailgating though. So many food possibilities!
You might notice some new tabs at the top of my blog. I now have a weekly email sharing not only new recipes on Plaid and Paleo but also my favorite new (or new to me) paleo finds from around the web. Also I am starting to look for advertisers! I love my blog and tried to keep it ad free for as long as I could but finally caved. I’d really love to work with paleo and fitness brands and say goodbye to the google ads. If you are a paleo, fitness or all natural beauty brand, please check out the advertise page or send me an email to vanessa@plaidandpaleo.com!
Ingredients
- 2.5 lb pork shoulder
- 4 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup coconut aminos
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 2 tbls chili garlic sauce*
- 1 tbls fresh ginger
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 tbls Chinese 5-spice, or blend below
- 2 cups baby portabellas, sliced
- 1 zucchini, spiralized
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 jalapeños, sliced
- 1 large bunch cilantro
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp lemon pepper
- 1 tsp star anise seeds
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1/4 tsp clove
Directions
- Place pork shoulder in the bottom of your crockpot.
- Pour all ingredients except mushrooms, zoodles, salt and pepper on top of the pork shoulder.
- Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.
- Once your 7 hours are almost up, slice the mushrooms and spiralize the zucchini.
- After 7 hours, remove pork shoulder from crockpot and shred with two forks.
- If you want, you can skim the fat off the broth in the crockpot.
- Return pork shoulder to crockpot with sliced mushrooms and zoodles.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Cook for 5-10 minutes until mushrooms have soften.
- Serve with sliced jalapeños and a handful of cilantro.
Notes
*Sub two fresh thai chilis or chili garlic sauce without any sugar for Whole30.
Happy slurping!
x vanessa
Yum! that is my kind of soup – love all the jalapenos and cilantro floating on top!!
Wow. This is exactly what I wanted to make last weekend — pork shoulder + soup — but I couldn’t come up with the right recipe. This is on the docket next weekend for sure! Yay for paleo Asian food!
I don’t really care for mushrooms…any suggestions for a substitute?
You could use diced zucchini, which would be great because it already has zucchini in the dish! It would definitely need the full 10 minutes to cook.
Wow!!! This looks tasty. It reminds me of pho. I almost bought a slow-cooker this weekend, now I’m definitely going to get one so I can make this 🙂
It is very similar to pho! Definitely get a slow cooker. It is the ultimate fall/winter cooking tool. You can cook so much in it that is really pays for its self with all the time you save!
Wow. First, this broth is very, very flavorful. I diluted after the fact with 3-4 cups water. It’s also very spicy, for me. I think it was the Chili Garlic sauce. Next time (& there will be a next time), I’ll limit it to 1 TB. I removed the seeds from the (2) jalapenos, cut and added those when I added the mushrooms & such. I like the taste of jalapeños.
That said, this is the first recipe where I used that much fish sauce. Next time, for my taste preferences, I’ll only use 1/2 of what the recipe calls for.
Barring the spiciness for me and the fish sauce, this is a very good soup. It is the most flavorful broth AND it’s super easy to make. This is the best pho like recipe I’ve found! Thanks!