Carne Adovada

Some time last summer, Mrs. Erator asked me if I shouldn't try my hand at this art... taking the author's note to heart, some time later I bought a pork shoulder when one was on sale at the supermarket, put the pork shoulder in the freezer and forgot about it for a couple of months.

In the mean time I bought some (quite a few) dried red chillies for making this - in some ways similar - dish, and there we were .. it was time to try.

Ingredients:
- 1.35 kg (3 lbs) pork shoulder, cut in 8 longish pieces
- 12 dried red (puya, I think) chillies
- 2 tsp salt
- 3 cloves garlic
- fresh oregano
- water
to serve:
- tortillas
- bunch of scallions, cut
- cheddar cheese, grated
- pinto beans, on the side

The seeds and stems were removed from the dried chillies, which were then soaked in hot water (boiling just prior to soaking, but not during the soaking) for 20-30 minutes. The chillies were liquefied in a blender together with 2-3 dL (approx. 1 cup) of the soak water, salt, garlic, and fresh oregano.


The pork shoulder was cut in 8 longish cuts, placed in a sealable plastic bag together with the marinade and left in the fridge overnight (it got some 18 hours). When I took it out and opened the bag, I was surprised at just how much the smell resembled the famous barbecue spareribs of one of my previous house mates.. I started getting really excited to find out how the final result would be.


The marinated pork was placed in a oven-proof tray which was wrapped in foil before going in the oven at 160 C (325 F) for 4.5 hours. The meat was quite tender as promised, but I found it that I wasn't very good at shredding it using two forks, I'm not sure if this due to bad shredding technique on my part or this meat wasn't quite right after all. So I ended up chopping most of it.

It was served on soft tacos with scallion rings and cheddar and beans on the side.


We were very pleased with the result - although different, the taste was somewhat reminiscent of the barbecue ribs mentioned above. Said Mrs. Erator: "It's nice because you can eat pork without it tasting too much like pork...".

I think I will try this (or a very similar) marinade in other combinations.