The Tropical Fruit That Gives Bourbon Pulled Pork The Perfect Sweetness

There are few dishes as delicious and straightforward as pulled pork. In its simplest form, a classic pulled pork recipe only requires basic flavoring ingredients and seasonings, your favorite barbeque sauce, and a method for slow cooking. It's also incredibly versatile in the number of ways you can tweak the formula, with many recipes calling for a splash of bourbon to enhance the pork's rich, sweet profile. Whether you're making pulled pork sliders, tacos al pastor, or serving it as a side, there's one fruity ingredient that will give your dish a beautifully sweet flavor boost: fresh mango.

This bright, tropical fruit is the perfect companion for bourbon-infused pulled pork. Its natural sweetness works in a similar way to the bourbon by enhancing the similar taste characteristics in the pork. At the same time, it contrasts with the fatty richness of the meat and helps temper the spicier elements of the bourbon and barbecue sauce.

To incorporate mango into your bourbon pulled pork, you can make a simple fruit puree by dicing the fruit and blending it in a food processor. When it's time to make your barbecue sauce, simply stir the mango puree in with your other seasonings before you simmer everything. Most mango varieties should have enough acidity to balance the sweeter flavors in the sauce, but if you find this isn't the case, you can always add a squeeze of fresh lime juice to bring things back into balance.

Cooking mango into your barbeque sauce mixture is an extremely effective way to introduce the fruit's tasty flavors to bourbon pulled pork. It caramelizes the mango's sugars and reduces its natural acidity, and because it's stirred into the pulled pork itself, it works in pretty much any dish. However, this isn't the only way to incorporate mango into your bourbon pulled pork.

For sandwiches and sliders, you can simply slice fresh mango into thin pieces and add them to your bun. This approach is a little harder for things like tacos or loaded burgers, so you may want to create a delicious mango salsa instead. Mango salsa is extremely easy to make, as you're essentially just swapping the fruit in for tomato. Start by picking a very ripe mango and cutting the sweet flesh into cubes. Then, combine the fruit in a bowl with diced onion and garlic, salt, pepper, cilantro, and your preferred amount of cayenne chili powder.

You may also want to add a crunchier ingredient to contrast with the softness of the mango. Chopped bell peppers are an excellent pick because they're not too spicy, and have a gentle sweetness that complements the mango.