Adobo Conventual para Asado de Boda Zacatecano

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy dry skillet
• •Volcanic stone metate with tejolote, or a strong blender
• •Heavy barro rojo cazuela or enameled Dutch oven
• •Medium-fine sieve
• •Wooden spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the chiles

   Wipe the guajillo, ancho, and mulato chiles with a dry cloth. Remove the stems, seeds, and most of the veins. Keep the chiles separate by type. They do not toast at the same speed, and a burned chile will punish the whole adobo.

2. 2

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the guajillos first, about 15 to 20 seconds per side, just until the skins turn glossy and flexible. Toast the anchos about 25 seconds per side. Toast the mulato last and watch it closely because its sugar burns fast. The kitchen should smell deep and fruity, not scorched.

   If a chile turns black or smells sharp and acrid, throw it out. Bitterness does not become wisdom in the pot.
3. 3

   Soak the chiles

   Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water. Hot, not boiling. Let them soften for 25 minutes, turning once. Boiling water toughens the skins and can pull bitterness into the sauce. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the soaking liquid only if it tastes clean. If it tastes bitter, use pork broth instead.

4. 4

   Toast the pantry

   On the same comal, toast the almonds until golden in patches, then the sesame until it smells nutty, then the canela, cloves, peppercorns, allspice, and cumin just until fragrant. Keep each ingredient moving. This is the conventual register: nuts, seeds, warm spices, and patience. Do not walk away.

5. 5

   Char the aromatics

   Place the onion slices and unpeeled garlic on the comal. Cook until the onion has browned edges and the garlic skins are spotted and soft inside. Peel the garlic. Toast the tortilla until it is deeply browned in spots, almost bitter but not burned. The tortilla gives body, the kind a thin blender sauce never has by accident.

6. 6

   Grind the paste

   On a metate, grind the toasted spices with the salt first, then the almonds, sesame, raisins, tortilla, garlic, onion, and softened chiles. Work until you have a thick, brick-red paste. If using a blender, add the sour orange juice, jerez, vinegar, and just enough pork broth to move the blades. Blend longer than you think. You want smooth paste, not speckled salsa.

   El metate es la regla. The blender is allowed, but the texture must obey the metate: dense, smooth, and heavy enough to fall from a spoon in slow ribbons.
7. 7

   Strain with force

   Pass the chile paste through a medium-fine sieve into a bowl, pressing hard with a wooden spoon. Scrape the underside of the sieve. This removes tough skins and gives the adobo its polished body. If the paste refuses to pass, loosen it with a few tablespoons of pork broth. Do not flood it.

8. 8

   Fry in lard

   Melt the lard in a heavy cazuela over medium heat. Add the strained paste carefully. It will sputter. Stir with a wooden spoon for 12 to 15 minutes, until the paste darkens, thickens, and the fat begins to shine at the edges. My mother's note was right: fry it until it shines. La manteca es el sabor.

9. 9

   Simmer the adobo

   Add the chocolate, piloncillo, bay leaves, and 1 cup pork broth. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 35 to 45 minutes, stirring often so the bottom does not catch. The sauce should turn glossy, mahogany-red, and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Taste for salt and acidity. It should be sweet, sour, bitter, and chile-deep in balance, not sugary.

10. 10

    Rest before using

    Remove the bay leaves. Let the adobo cool, then refrigerate it at least overnight and up to three days. The wedding cooks know this. The sauce needs time for the sour orange, jerez, chocolate, and chiles to stop shouting separately. Use it to marinate and finish pork for asado de boda, thinning with pork broth as needed. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy chiles that are flexible and fragrant. Guajillo should be brick red and a little shiny. Ancho should smell like raisins and tobacco. If they crack like old paper, leave them for someone else's bad sauce.
• •Naranja agria is correct. If you cannot find it, mix 1/4 cup fresh orange juice with 1/4 cup fresh lime juice. That is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Do not replace Mexican table chocolate with sweet cocoa powder. You need cacao, sugar, and canela in a hard tablet, the kind meant to dissolve into a sauce.
• •This adobo is for pork, especially shoulder or leg, browned in lard and finished with the sauce. It is not a dipping sauce and it is not a salsa for chips.
• •If you want the older labor, grind on the metate and make it the day before. The texture will be deeper and more even. Your wrists will understand why convent kitchens were systems, not hobbies.

Advance Preparation

• •The adobo should be made at least 1 day ahead. It keeps refrigerated for 5 days and the flavor deepens each day.
• •Freeze the finished adobo in 2-cup portions for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat slowly with pork broth.
• •For asado de boda, marinate browned pork in this adobo overnight, then simmer it gently with broth until the meat is tender and the sauce clings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 125g)