Jamaican Pork Roast
with Pickapeppa Gravy
The Jamaican condiment known as Pickapeppa Sauce provides the backdrop for this deliciously tangy pork roast.
This is an update to a recipe originally posted in early 2012 but the recipe itself is at least a decade older than that. I don't remember the inspiration for this dish, but it was one of my preferred methods for preparing a pork shoulder roast back then. I made it for My Number One Fan several times and it was a favorite of hers. Then, we sorta forgot about it. Some time later, I resurrected and published it to Kitchen Tapestry for posterity.
There are a couple of things you will need for this dish:
First, You need a bottle of Pickapeppa Sauce. This is a unique and versatile sauce from the island of Jamaica, sometimes referred to as Jamaican ketchup. You can learn more about it by clicking here.
Secondly, you need a Dutch oven or some other cooking vessel that can go from the stovetop to the oven that has a tight fitting lid.
It's important that the cooking vessel be large enough to accommodate the roast with room to spare that further allows the flavorful steam bath to circulate over the roast while the outside of the meat becomes browned and crusty.
This dish works well with noodles, mashed potatoes or simple, simmered new or red potatoes which you can smash on the plate with some of the delicious, tangy gravy spooned over.
Jamaican Pork Roast with Pickapeppa Gravy
Ingredients
- 4-6 pound bone-in pork shoulder roast
- 1 5-oz bottle Pickapeppa Sauce
- 4 tbsp dried thyme
- 1/4 cup raspberry vinegar
- 1/4 cup dry sherry wine
- 1 medium navel or other seedless orange
- 1 tbsp powdered mustard (like, Coleman's)
- 3 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 3-5 tbsp olive oil
- 1/8 tsp fine sea salt
- 9-10 grinds freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 450°F.
- Pour the olive oil into the Dutch oven and coat the bottom and sides evenly. Place the roast in the dish and move the meat all around so the olive oil coats the roast.
- Liberally smear half of Pickapeppa sauce all over the roast, reserving half of the bottle for later, getting it into all the nooks and crevasses.
- Salt and pepper the roast, then rub in the dried thyme.
- Turn the roast over and repeat Steps 3 & 4, ensuring the fat side of the roast winds up on top.
- Pop the roast in the oven, uncovered, for 25 minutes. This will sear the outside of the meat.
- Remove the roast from the oven and reduce the heat to 375°F degrees.
- Pour the vinegar and wine into the roasting dish, cut the orange in half, and place the halves of the orange on either side of the meat. Your braising liquid needs to cover the roast half-way. If you need more liquid, add a bit of chicken stock.
- Cover and return the roast to the oven for 4-1/2 to 5 hours until done. You'll know it's done by its color and tenderness, but if you want to check with a probe thermometer, it should register north of 145 degrees.
- When the roast has finished cooking, remove it to a serving tray and allow to rest covered with aluminum foil while you make the gravy. The roast should be falling apart, but I take care to remove it in chunks to the resting dish. This isn't a pork roast to be shredded.
- You may or may not need to remove any accumulated fat. You want 3-4 tablespoons. If you have too much, siphon off some of it with a turkey baster or large spoon.
- De-glaze the pan with 1/2 cup of the chicken stock, scraping all of the crusty bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Squeeze whatever juice remains from the oranges into the sauce pan, then discard them.
- Add the powdered mustard and the flour to a small bowl or juice glass with about 5 oz of warm tap water and mix well to create a slurry.
- Add the remaining chicken stock, the heavy cream and the rest of the Pickapeppa Sauce and bring to a simmer.
- Add the slurry to the boiling sauce and allow it to bubble and thicken for about a minute.
- Serve slices or chunks of the pork roast along side potatoes or rice with the sauce spooned over.