Adobada

Pork under a thick chilli paste rubbed on like a coating, cooked in a pan so the paste catches and darkens.

Pork. Not vegetarian — contains lard, pork.

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg pork shoulder, in 2 cm cubes
• 6 guajillo chillies, stalks and seeds removed
• 3 ancho chillies, stalks and seeds removed
• 30 g recado rojo, as on its own page, or achiote paste
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3 tablespoons white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons lard
• corn tortillas, as on their own page, to serve
• salsa verde, as on its own page, to serve

Method

1. THE PASTE IS RUBBED ON LIKE A COATING AND IS DELIBERATELY THICK, which is what separates this from al pastor. There the marinade is thinned so thin slices can be stacked wet on a spit; here it is left at about the consistency of tomato purée and worked into cubed pork with the hands until every face carries a visible red layer. In the pan that layer dries onto the meat, catches on the base and darkens almost to brown, and the dish tastes of cooked chilli paste rather than of marinade. A thin marinade would simply run off cubes and boil in the pan.
2. IT IS CUBED AND NOT SLICED, FOR THE SAME REASON. Two centimetres. Cubes have corners, corners catch, and the paste on them crisps; and in a pan rather than on a spit, cubes can be left alone long enough for that to happen. Thin slices in a pan curl and steam.
3. THE PASTE IS SPARED THE BLENDER'S WATER. Soaked chillies are blended with the vinegar and almost nothing else -- no soaking liquid, no stock -- so the paste stays stiff. If the blender will not catch, another spoonful of vinegar, not water. Every millilitre added here is a millilitre that has to boil off in the pan before any browning can start.
4. THE PAN IS HOT AND NOT CROWDED, AND IT IS DONE IN BATCHES. All the pork at once drops the temperature, releases its water and stews the paste grey. Half at a time in a wide pan, in a single layer, LEFT ALONE three or four minutes before being turned, and the paste sets and catches as it should.
5. WHAT STICKS TO THE PAN IS SCRAPED BACK IN WITH A SPLASH OF WATER. A dark crust of caught paste builds on the base and is the best-tasting thing in the pan. Two tablespoons of water at the end and a wooden spoon lifts all of it and turns it back through the meat.
6. The chillies toasted on a dry pan 30 SECONDS a side, then soaked in hot water 20 minutes and DRAINED, the water discarded.
7. Blended with the recado rojo, garlic, oregano, cumin, vinegar and salt to a THICK paste -- the consistency of tomato purée. No water added.
8. The pork cubes worked through the paste BY HAND until every face carries a visible red layer.
9. Covered and left AT LEAST 4 HOURS, or overnight in the fridge.
10. Half the lard melted in a wide heavy pan over a high heat.
11. HALF the pork added in a SINGLE LAYER and LEFT ALONE 3 to 4 MINUTES, until the paste has dried onto it and caught underneath.
12. Turned and given 3 minutes more, then lifted out. The second batch cooked the same way in the rest of the lard.
13. All the pork returned to the pan and 2 tablespoons of water added.
14. The base SCRAPED with a wooden spoon to lift the dark crust, and everything turned together 2 minutes.
15. Chopped roughly and served with tortillas and salsa verde.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Mexico · All recipes