MAKES 1 POUND PORK
This method of cooking pork in olive oil gives it a velvety texture and also really seals in all of its flavor. The pork can be made up to a week in advance and gets even better with time, as it is stored in the oil it was cooked in. Refrigerate until you are ready to use it.
11/2 pounds PORK SHOULDER
1 heaping tablespoon KOSHER SALT, plus more for seasoning
Freshly ground BLACK PEPPER
6 cups OLIVE OIL, or as needed
1 teaspoon whole BLACK PEPPERCORNS
4 fresh THYME SPRIGS
1 dried BAY LEAF
6 GARLIC CLOVES, crushed
Season the pork liberally with salt and pepper. Pour the oil into a saucepan large enough to hold the pork shoulder, submerged. Add the heaping tablespoon of salt, the peppercorns, thyme, bay leaf, and garlic and heat the oil over medium heat until it reaches 220°F when measured with a deep-fry thermometer. Gently slide the pork into the oil and gently poach it for 11/2 to 2 hours, until it pulls apart easily with a fork. Turn off the heat and let the pork cool to room temperature in the oil. Lift the pork out of the oil and pull it into 1-inch chunks. Discard the oil or reserve it, refrigerated, to cook another pork shoulder in the same way within a week.
Fortified stock is a conventional stock, such as chicken stock, that is enriched with other ingredients, making it more flavorful than a conventional stock. Fortified stock utilizes what would normally go in the trash, such as the seafood shells and animal bones that are by-products of making paella.
To make fortified stock, put chicken stock on the stove and bring it to a simmer, and then start prepping all the other ingredients for the paella. Peel the shrimp and throw the shells into the stock. Break down the rabbits (or have your butcher do it for you), brown the bones in the oven if you’re really going for it, and throw the bones into the stockpot. If you have a bone left from the pork, throw that in, too, as well as any trimmings from the onions, the carrots, or the ends of the chorizo. Simmer the stock on low heat for 1 to 2 hours (any longer and the stock could become too rich).