I have an obsession with breakfasts foods, and by extension, brunch. I love eating breakfast foods anytime and all the time. This makes brunch an especially exciting meal for me–seeing people devour breakfast foods after 12 pm makes me happy.
As a brunch monster I’m always on the lookout for new places to try out. A couple of weeks ago our friend Bruce suggested The Red Wagon in East Van. The Red Wagon is a cute little neighbourhood diner that does creative comfort food. They have regular breakfast items, but they also have a few specialties. One of them is pulled pork pancakes with Jack Daniel’s Maple syrup.
The pulled pork pancakes are famous around town. Every so often, photos of the pancakes pop up on my friends’ Facebook feeds. They’ve even been on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. It’s the dish that chef Brad Miller is most proud of. And it’s served all day!
I didn’t order them, but Bruce did. He even got two over easy eggs on top. It must have been crazy delicious because he finished the whole plate. I had a tiny bite and it was tasty enough for me to want to recreate at home.
I tweaked it a bit: the pancakes were mini-fied, the pulled pork was sans BBQ sauce and the Jack was traded for Maker’s Mark. It’s a truly fantastic dish. The fluffiness of the buttermilk pancakes and the richness of the pork made me wish I made a Red Wagon sized portion. Sweet-savoury combos are the best! Especially when the sweet part has bourbon in it. The bourbon sauce is crazy delicious. You must make these pancakes. You won’t regret it!
I am pork-topped, I am bourbon sauced: I AM PULLED PORK PANCAKE!
Pulled Pork Pancakes Recipe
yield: 4 servings
Preheat the oven to 175°F. Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, beat the egg and mix with the buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir gently. Do not over mix. This is a thick, lumpy pancake batter. The little lumps will make your pancakes fluffier. Let bater sit for 10 minutes so some moisture works its way into the lumps.
Heat up a frying pan over medium-low heat. Brush a thin layer of butter or oil on your pan. Take 2 tablespoons of batter and drop it into your pan. Cook until many tiny bubbles appear on the surface. Flip and continue cooking. This side won’t take as long, maybe a minute or two. Hold the pancakes in the warm oven until you’re done with the batter.
To arrange, place one pancake on a plate and top with pulled pork. Repeat twice. Serve with bourbon syrup. Enjoy!
Bourbon Syrup Recipe
makes about 3/4 cups
In a small saucepan, Bring the sugars, bourbon and water to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat to medium-low and let the syrup bubble gently and reduce until a syrup like consistency, about 5-6 minutes. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn! Let stand 5 minutes. Enjoy warm.
Yummmmmmmmmm! I really want to eat this right now.
Wow your pictures are amazing! This looks delicious. Never had pulled pork with pancakes, will have to try.
It’s kind of like pancakes with bacon, but with pulled pork instead…. brilliant! Love the video work too.
this looks SO good your pictures are insane. i want to eat everything.
Wow! I need, NEED to make this one of these days.
oh my goodness. heaven coming to earth. thank you! & as soon as I get off my “I’m going to the beach in 2 weeks” diet I’m making this 🙂
this looks so awesome! the pictures are great!
What are your thoughts on making them Cheddar Pancakes, with a poached egg on top possibly. Runny yolks make everything better. Also, I think it could elevate the savory/sweet flavor components in the dish to another level.
Amazing Blog! Keep up the great work. So refreshing seeing more creative comfort foods being brought to the table.
OMG. I saw this sitting in the hospital on a liquid only diet. I told my wife that’s the first thing I’m eating when I get out. We got home and made it. Like I said OMG, this was amazing the syrup was the best part and from now on I will be making it from this recipe!!!!
Made these for breakfast today, only I made waffles instead of pancakes and they turned out amazing! So decadent. The bourbon syrup was a big hit.
I thought what the heck… and marinated the pork for 12 hours and fixed some johnnycakes with this bad boy. The masses by which I mean my friends called for sauce.
So there was sauce too. And a side of vinegar coleslaw. No bourbon action though on account of some fierce meds.
I love your voice, the design and your love of breakfast food any ol’ damn time of the day.
Thanks for planting the seed of delciousness in my head.
I am SO looking forward to trying this. I agree that many pulled pork recipes have too much BBQ sauce or other flavors. This relatively plain one sounds perfect! Thanks so much!
AMAZING!!! I cant wait to cook this at the firehouse!!!!
OMG. . I think I am in LOVE with your blog .. and this recipe. . and this video. Brilliant!! How do I subscribe to your blog via email??
Im going to make this tonight for Shrove Tuesday… kinda…. but Im going to use shredded peking duck instead and as I dont like bourbon Im gonna replace the bourbon with maple syrup….. Thank you for the great inspiration the photos make me want to lick my PC screen!
Holy cow these look good. I have no idea how I’ve made it this far without eating something like this. I hope the wife wants these for breakfast this weekend, because that’s certainly what we’re going to have!
Awesome! I have a weakness for putting anything smoked with…well…anything. On the topic of pulled pork recently hit up a restaurant that had pulled pork ice cream! Sounds weird, was incredibly good…sweet creamy vanilla with an interesting texture of pork shreds and a wonderful smokiness that perfused throughout but not overwhelming.
Thanks for posting this. It is national pancake day or some such nonsense and I have pulled pork in my fridge!
I have your book and I tried this tonight. It was incredible! Definitely going to keep this meal in the dinner rotation 🙂
This content was originally published here.