Lombo de Porco à Mineira

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 5-liter oven-safe pot or roasting pan
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •2-liter pot for the angu
• •Wooden spoon
• •Whisk

Instructions

1. 1

   Marinate overnight

   Pat the pork dry and set it in a deep dish. Mix the salt, garlic, grated onion, wine, lime juice, colorau, black pepper, and bay leaves, then rub this all over the meat. Cover and refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours, turning once if you remember. The salt needs time to move in, the garlic needs time to stop shouting, and the lime and wine perfume the meat without turning it sour.

   Don't add more lime because you feel dramatic. Too much acid for too long firms the outside of lean pork and makes the texture tight. Two tablespoons are enough.
2. 2

   Dry the meat

   Take the pork out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking. Lift it from the marinade, scrape off the excess garlic and onion so they don't burn, and pat the surface dry with paper towels. Save the marinade. A dry surface browns; a wet one hisses, leaks water, and gives you pale meat pretending it tried.

3. 3

   Brown all sides

   Heat the oven to 160°C (325°F). Warm the lard or oil in a heavy oven-safe pot or roasting pan over medium-high heat. Brown the pork on all sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side, until the surface is golden and smells roasted. If you're doubling the recipe, brown one loin at a time. Crowd the pan and the meat releases water, the heat drops, and you steam it grey instead of building color.

4. 4

   Build the pan

   Move the pork to a plate. Add the sliced onion to the same pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until it murcha, softens, and picks up the brown bits from the bottom. Pour in the saved marinade and 1 cup water, scraping hard with a wooden spoon. Those stuck bits are the beginning of the gravy, so don't wash away the flavor you already paid for.

5. 5

   Roast gently

   Return the pork to the pan, fat side up if it has one. Cover with a lid or foil and roast for 35 minutes, then uncover, spoon some pan juices over the top, and roast another 20 to 30 minutes. Start checking early. Pull the pork when the thickest part reaches 63°C (145°F). Pork loin is lean, so the win is not cooking it forever. The win is stopping while it is still juicy.

6. 6

   Rest before slicing

   Transfer the pork to a board and rest it for 15 minutes, loosely covered. Do not slice it the second it leaves the oven. The juices need time to settle back into the meat; cut too early and they run out onto the board while your slices turn dry and innocent-looking.

7. 7

   Finish the gravy

   Set the roasting pan over medium heat. Simmer the juices for 5 to 8 minutes, scraping and stirring, until the onion softens into the sauce and the liquid tastes rounded, not raw with wine. If it gets too salty or too strong, add a splash of water. If it tastes flat, add a few drops of lime. The gravy should be glossy enough to coat a spoon, but still loose enough to run into the angu.

8. 8

   Cook the angu

   In a 2-liter pot, whisk the cornmeal with 1 cup of the water until smooth before the heat goes on. Add the remaining 3 cups water and the salt, then cook over medium heat, stirring often, until it thickens and the raw corn smell turns sweet, about 15 to 20 minutes. Starting cold keeps lumps from forming. Cooking it long enough gives you soft angu, not gritty paste. Stir in the lard or butter if using.

9. 9

   Plate the pê-efe

   Slice the pork across the grain into 1/2-inch pieces. Spoon angu onto the plate, lay the pork beside it or over it, and pour the pan gravy so it pools where the angu can catch it. Finish with parsley or cheiro-verde if using. Serve with arroz soltinho, feijão caseiro, couve refogada, and farofa. That's the plate: rice, beans, meat, green, and gravy doing useful work.

Chef Tips

• •Buy pork loin, not tenderloin. Tenderloin is smaller and cooks much faster; use this timing on it and you'll make dry little medallions and blame the recipe.
• •A Tuesday shortcut exists: marinate for 2 hours at room in the refrigerator instead of overnight. It will still be dinner. The cost is that the center won't be as seasoned, so slice thinner and be generous with the gravy.
• •No seasoning cube, no powdered pork flavor, no packet. Salt, garlic, onion, bay, wine, lime, and the browned pan do the work. That's comida de verdade, and it tastes like someone cooked.
• •Use a thermometer if you have one. Guessing doneness on pork loin is where confidence goes to get embarrassed. Pull it at 63°C (145°F), rest it, and the slices stay juicy.
• •If you're serving feijão with the plate, soak the beans overnight. They cook more evenly and sit easier. Finish them with a real refogado, then mash a ladle of cooked beans into that onion and garlic base so the caldo turns creamy instead of watery.
• •No wine in the house? Use 1/3 cup water with 1 tablespoon extra lime juice. It won't have the same roundness, but it will still work. A shortcut should tell you what it costs.

Advance Preparation

• •Marinate the pork for at least 8 hours and up to 12 hours. Longer than that with lime can make the outside texture tight.
• •The feijão for the full pê-efe can be cooked a day ahead and reheated while the pork rests.
• •Leftover sliced pork keeps 3 days in the refrigerator with its gravy. Reheat gently in a covered pan with a splash of water so it doesn't dry out.
• •Cooked pork and gravy freeze well for up to 2 months. Freeze the angu separately only if you accept that it will need a hard whisking with water when reheated.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 630g)