Adobo Conventual Poblano para Lomo Mechado

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or clay comal for toasting chiles
• •Volcanic stone metate with tejolote, or a high-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Barro rojo cazuela or heavy 4-quart pot
• •Wooden spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the chiles

   Open the ancho, guajillo, and mulato chiles with kitchen scissors. Remove stems, seeds, and thick veins. Wipe the skins with a damp cloth. Do not rinse them under water. You are removing dust, not washing away the oils that give the adobo its body.

2. 2

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chiles one or two at a time, pressing them flat for a few seconds per side until the skin darkens slightly and smells deep, sweet, and smoky. The guajillo burns first, so watch it. If a chile turns black, throw it away. Burned chile makes bitter sauce and there is no fixing it later.

   This is the step that separates adobo from red paste. The comal wakes the oils inside the chile. Skip it and the sauce tastes flat.
3. 3

   Soak the chiles

   Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot broth. Hot, not boiling. Let them soften for 25 minutes, turning once so every piece hydrates. Boiling water toughens the skins and pulls bitterness forward. The chile flesh should bend easily between your fingers.

4. 4

   Toast the convent pantry

   On the same comal, toast the almonds until golden in spots, then the sesame seeds until they smell nutty. Toast the cinnamon, cloves, and peppercorns for 20 to 30 seconds, just until fragrant. Toast the tortilla and bread until dry and spotted brown. Roast the garlic in its skin and the onion slices until softened and charred at the edges. This is Puebla's convent pantry waking up.

5. 5

   Soften the raisins

   Put the raisins in a small bowl with the jerez and vinegar. Let them sit 15 minutes while the chiles finish soaking. The raisins swell and the wine takes their sweetness. That sweet-acid balance is what makes this adobo fit pork loin instead of fighting it.

6. 6

   Grind the paste

   Peel the roasted garlic. Grind the spices first on the metate or in a spice grinder, then work in the almonds, sesame, tortilla, bread, raisins with their soaking liquid, onion, garlic, oregano, thyme, soaked chiles, and enough chile soaking broth to move the paste. If using a blender, blend in batches until completely smooth. Not almost smooth. Smooth. A conventual adobo should coat the back of a spoon like velvet.

7. 7

   Strain the adobo

   Pass the paste through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl, pressing hard with a spoon. Scrape the underside of the strainer. The skins stay behind. This step is tedious. Good. La cocina no es decoración, es trabajo.

8. 8

   Fry in lard

   Heat the lard in a barro rojo cazuela or heavy pot over medium. Add the strained adobo carefully. It will sputter. Stir with a wooden spoon for 12 to 15 minutes, until the color deepens to brick red and the fat begins to shine at the edges. La manteca es el sabor. Raw adobo tastes like separate ingredients. Fried adobo becomes one sauce.

9. 9

   Simmer slowly

   Add enough broth to make a thick marinade, usually 1/2 to 1 cup more. Stir in the salt and simmer gently for 30 to 40 minutes, scraping the bottom often. Taste. If the chiles are harsh, add the grated piloncillo. Do not make it sweet. You are rounding the bitterness, not making candy.

10. 10

    Rest overnight

    Cool the adobo completely. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The next day, use it to coat and marinate a mechado pork loin, or thin it with broth and finish it as the sauce after the meat braises. The marinade becomes the sauce on the plate. That is the point. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy chiles that are flexible and fragrant. Ancho should smell like dried fruit. Guajillo should smell clean and red, not dusty. Mulato should be dark, sweet, and almost chocolatey. If the chiles crack like old paper, leave them with the vendor.
• •Jerez matters here because this is a Puebla conventual sauce, not a ranch adobo. If you cannot find real Spanish jerez, use a dry Mexican sherry-style wine. Vinegar alone gives sharpness but not the old convent sweetness.
• •A blender is acceptable after the ingredients are toasted correctly. The metate gives a silkier paste and a deeper integration. El metate es la regla. The blender is the modern compromise.
• •This is a sauce for lomo mechado, not the whole dish. The pork loin gets stuffed, marinated, browned, and braised elsewhere. Keep the sauce thick for marinating, then thin it with broth for the final napado.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the adobo one full day before marinating the lomo mechado. The chile, jerez, almonds, and spices settle overnight and the flavor becomes rounder.
• •The finished adobo keeps refrigerated for 5 days in a glass jar with a thin film of lard over the surface.
• •For longer storage, freeze the adobo in 1-cup portions for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight and fry it again in a little lard before using.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 120g)