Pork, fresh, composite of trimmed retail cuts (loin and shoulder blade), separable lean and fat, cooked

This composite represents a blend of trimmed retail pork cuts from the loin and shoulder blade, essentially the everyday cuts most home cooks reach for, roasted, grilled, or pan-seared as chops, roasts, or diced for stir-fries and stews. The loin portion is leaner and cooks quickly over higher heat, while the shoulder blade carries more marbling and does well with slower, moist cooking like braising or a long turn in the slow cooker for pulled pork. Together they represent the kind of pork typically found sliced and packaged at a grocery store meat counter, mild in flavor and adaptable to marinades, dry rubs, brines, or simple salt and pepper before a hot sear.

Choose cuts with a pinkish-red color and minimal excess liquid pooling in the package, and refrigerate for a few days or wrap tightly and freeze for longer storage. Per 100g, this cooked pork composite has 235 calories and 26.1g of protein, putting protein at 52% of the Daily Value, with zero sugar and zero carbohydrate as expected of a meat cooked without added breading or sauce. Sodium comes in at 55mg per 100g, a fairly low amount for a cooked meat, leaving room to season it up with herbs, garlic, mustard, or a marinade without pushing the sodium of the finished dish too high, which makes it a reasonably flexible protein to build a weeknight dinner around.