**RECIPE, SERVES 68**

For the pickles:

12 pounds of vegetables (I recommend some kind of cabbage, some kind of onion, and a carrot or two, OR just buy precut slaw mix)
A cup and a half (a whole 12ounce bottle) of rice wine vinegar
Half a cup of sugar (or less if you don’t like your pickles so sweet)
Pinch of salt

For the pork:

A 5pound (or larger) piece of pork shoulder
45 cloves of garlic, chopped
12 tablespoons ground cumin
12 tablespoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried chili flakes (optional, if you want it spicy)
Water
Salt
Pepper
1 bunch of cilantro leaves for garnish

Directions:

Thinly slice your vegetables of choice. Pour the vinegar and sugar into a large stainless steel or glass bowl — not aluminum. Add a pinch of salt and stir to combine. Don’t worry if the sugar doesn’t dissolve.

Add in the vegetables and toss thoroughly in the pickling liquid. Cover the bowl and leave in the refrigerator. Stir the pickles once a day. They’ll be good after a day, but great after 4 or 5 days. Again, don't do this in aluminum — it would react with the acid and leach into your pickles.

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Salt the pork liberally and brown it on all sides in an ovensafe pot that is, ideally, not much bigger than the meat. Add the garlic, cumin, oregano, chili flakes (if using), pepper, and enough water to come halfway up the meat.

Cover the pot and put it in oven. Braise 33.5 hours, checking every hour to flip the meat and to replenish the water if it’s evaporated. Cook until the meat pulls off the bone easily.

Remove the meat to a plate to cool. If you want to, remove and discard the rendered fat from the braising liquid with a gravy separator or by skimming. Boil the remaining liquid until it reduces to a thick glaze. Pull the meat off the bone in chunks and add to the glaze, leaving behind any unwanted bits of fat or gristle. Shred the meat with two forks and toss it around in the glaze. Taste for seasoning, and add salt if needed. It should be a bit too salty, so it will balance with the pickles.

(You could make the pork days in advance when you make your pickles and just reheat it before you eat.)

Lay a pile of pork on a plate and lay a large pile of pickles on top. Garnish with cilantro leaves and some of the pickle juice. Eat it with rice, if you’re into that.

MY COOKING PHILOSOPHY:
I don't like weighing or measuring things if I don't have to, and I don't like to be constantly checking a recipe as I cook. I don't care that volume is a bad way of measuring things — it's usually easier. I like for a recipe to get me in the ballpark, and then I like to eyeball and improvise the rest. If you're like me, my goal with these videos is to give you a sense of how the food should look and feel as you're cooking it, rather than give you a refined formula to reproduce.