Bajio Pork in Red Chile Adobo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Dry comal for toasting chiles and roasting aromatics
• •Wide clay cazuela or heavy Dutch oven
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Wooden spoon for frying the adobo

Instructions

1. 1

   Salt the pork

   Season the pork shoulder with the salt and let it sit while you prepare the adobo. The salt starts working before the meat ever sees the cazuela. Pork shoulder is the cut for this dish because it has fat and connective tissue. Lean loin will dry out and embarrass you.

2. 2

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile guajillo and chile pasilla separately, about 20 to 30 seconds per side, pressing them flat with tongs until the skins darken slightly and smell deep, not burned. The guajillo gives the Bajio red color and a clean fruitiness. The pasilla gives raisin-dark depth. Burn either one and the adobo turns bitter.

   The pasilla is thin and burns quickly. If a chile turns black in spots, throw it out. No me vengas con atajos. Burned chile does not forgive.
3. 3

   Soak the chiles

   Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water. Hot, not boiling. Let them soften for 20 minutes, then drain. Boiling water toughens the skins and pulls bitterness forward. Hot water softens the flesh so the blender can make a smooth adobo.

4. 4

   Roast the aromatics

   On the same comal, roast the jitomates, onion, and unpeeled garlic until the jitomate skins blister, the onion browns at the edges, and the garlic softens inside its paper. Toast the cumin seeds for the last 30 seconds, just until fragrant. Peel the garlic. This is where the sauce stops tasting raw.

5. 5

   Blend the adobo

   Blend the soaked chiles, roasted jitomates, onion, peeled garlic, cumin, oregano, chilcuague if using, vinegar, and 1 cup pork stock until completely smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing hard on the solids. A strained adobo coats the pork cleanly. A lazy adobo leaves skins stuck between your teeth.

6. 6

   Brown the pork

   Heat the manteca de cerdo in a wide clay cazuela or heavy Dutch oven over medium-high. Brown the pork in batches, leaving space between pieces, until the edges take on a deep golden crust. Do not crowd the pot. La manteca es el sabor, and browning in lard gives the stew the Bajio register: practical, rich, and direct.

7. 7

   Fry the adobo

   Lower the heat to medium. Return all the pork to the pot and pour in the strained adobo. It will sputter. Stir and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, scraping the bottom, until the sauce darkens from bright red to brick red and the fat begins to show at the edges. This is not decoration. Frying the adobo is what gives it authority.

8. 8

   Simmer until tender

   Add the remaining 1 cup stock, the bay leaf, and the diced xoconostle if using. Bring to a low simmer, cover partially, and cook for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the pork gives under a fork and the sauce clings to each piece. Add a splash of stock if it thickens too fast.

9. 9

   Rest and serve

   Turn off the heat and let the stew rest for 10 minutes. Taste for salt. Serve in a warm clay cazuela with corn tortillas, beans from the pot, diced white onion, and a little queso ranchero if your table wants it. The sauce should be thick enough to drag a tortilla through. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Buy chiles that still bend a little. Chile guajillo should be deep red and leathery, not brittle and dusty. At Mercado Hidalgo in Guanajuato or Mercado de la Cruz in Queretaro, the chile vendors know this. Preguntale a las senoras del mercado.
• •Chilcuague is powerful. It numbs the tongue and has a sharp herbal bite. Use a tiny pinch or leave it out. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade, but too much chilcuague will take over the pot.
• •Xoconostle gives acidity without making the stew taste like lime. If you cannot find it, use the vinegar and stop there. Do not add pineapple. This is the Bajio, not a costume.
• •Cacahuazintle is not for this stew. It belongs in pozole and certain corn preparations. Naming ingredients also means knowing when not to force them into the wrong dish. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
• •Serve with corn tortillas in this subregion. No cheddar, no sour cream, no iceberg lettuce, no flour tortilla pretending it belongs here. The stew needs tortilla, beans, and maybe queso ranchero. Nothing else.

Advance Preparation

• •The adobo can be toasted, blended, strained, and refrigerated up to 2 days ahead. Fry it in lard when you cook the pork, not before.
• •The finished stew keeps refrigerated for 4 days and tastes better the next day. Reheat gently with a splash of water or pork stock so the adobo loosens without thinning out.
• •For a weeknight, cut and salt the pork in the morning, then keep it covered in the refrigerator. The actual cooking still takes time. Two hours is two hours.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 435g)