The Smokin’ Elk shares his recipe for BBQ jerk pork wraps with a charred corn and pineapple salsa.

I’m a huge fan of Caribbean flavours and jerk is top of the list. I love the unique, fruity flavour you get from scotch bonnets, and of course the spice! Throw them into a blender with a host of other ingredients and what you get is a bold, punchy marinade that you’ll usually find on chicken but it also works so well on other cuts of meat as well. I’ve decided to use a pork shoulder joint for this cook.

You’d usually associate pulled pork with sweet flavours, but this works perfectly with bold punchy flavours like jerk. When you pair it with my caramelised pineapple salsa, magical things happen! Just trust me on this – add the jerk pork, the pineapple salsa and some sriracha mayo to a wrap, get it in your gob and thank me later!

JERK PORK TEMPERATURE TIPS

With pork shoulder, you want to cook it long enough for the intramuscular fat and connective tissue to break down. This is when the meat will literally fall apart, leaving you with incredibly juicy and tender pulled pork.

As with all BBQ, there is no exact time for this to happen but there is a temperature! Usually at 93 °C, the pork will finally have given up all resistance and broken down enough to just fall apart!

I use my DOT Digital Thermometer to monitor the temperature throughout the cook. This means I don’t have to keep lifting the lid to check, I can see it on a screen and can even set an alarm to tell me when it’s done. I’ll use my Thermapen ONE to just spot check the pork all over before removing it.

I’m looking for 93 °C but I’m also looking for very little resistance when the probe goes in, this is when I know we have reached the magical moment!

Ingredients

For the pork

• 2 kg pork shoulder joint
• 4 spring onions
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 in piece ginger
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 red onion
• Juice 1 lime
• Few sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 scotch bonnets
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 3 tbsp dark brown sugar
• 4 tbsp rapeseed oil

For the pineapple salsa

• 2 corn on the cobs
• 1 red pepper
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 red onion
• 1 red chilli
• 5 slices pineapple
• Small bunch fresh coriander
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp honey
• 2 pickled jalapeños

To serve

• Sriracha mayo
• Wraps

Directions

• Set up your BBQ or smoker for indirect cooking, add a couple of wood chunks to the lit charcoal and bring the temperature up to 150 °C. If using an oven, just pre-heat it to 150 °C.

• Trim the skin from the pork shoulder or ask your butcher to do this for you. Add all of the marinade ingredients to a blender and blend until you have a nice paste-like consistency. Rub this all over the pork shoulder.
• Now take your DOT and push the probe into the thickest part of the pork shoulder. The DOT will monitor the temperature throughout the cook. I set an alarm to let me know when the internal temperature hits 90 °C, which is when I’ll then check the pork all over using a Thermapen ONE. I’m looking for tenderness at this stage – you want the probe to slide in with very little resistance. I usually find the sweet spot is around 93 °C. place the pork shoulder in to your BBQ and relax while the DOT keeps an eye on the temperature!
• Once the pork is done, remove and rest while you make the salsa. The pork needs to rest for an hour ideally.

• For the salsa, I like to char the ingredients first. You can do this by placing them directly on the coals, or if cooking indoors you can put them over the flame of your gas hob. Add the corn, red pepper, tomatoes and red chilli to the coals. Remove when they start to blister and blacken. Scrape off the skins and finely dice. Use a knife to remove the corn from the cob.
• Cut your pineapple into strips, then add these to your grill grates over the charcoal and brush with the soy sauce and honey mixed together. You want to keep brushing this on until your pineapple looks nice and caramelised.

• Remove and finely dice along with the red onion and jalapeños. Roughly chop the coriander, then add all of the ingredients to a bowl with another squeeze of honey. Add some wraps to your BBQ and let them heat through for around 45 seconds.
• Using your hands or two forks, shred the pork shoulder apart. You can pull or shred it until it reaches your desired texture. Add the pork to a wrap with some of the salsa and a squeeze of sriracha mayo. Dig in and enjoy!
• To serve the beef, carve into thick pieces and transfer to a large, deep serving platter and pour over the sauce.

The Smokin' Elk

Fire Cooking Fanatic, BBQ School owner

@thesmokinelk

"I'm Elky, also known as The Smokin' Elk. I absolutely love cooking to fire and the Thermapen helps me up my game by cooking to the perfect temperature, every time. It's the one BBQ tool I wouldn't be without!"