Lomo en Xoconostle del Bajio Guanajuatense

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Dry cast iron comal or heavy skillet for toasting chiles
• •Wide 4-quart cazuela de barro, or a heavy Dutch oven if that is what your kitchen has
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Sharp slicing knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Season the pork

   Pat the pork loin dry. Season it all over with the salt and black pepper. Let it stand at room temperature for 25 minutes while you prepare the chiles and xoconostles. Cold meat thrown into hot lard tightens too quickly. Give it a little time.

2. 2

   Prepare the xoconostle

   Trim the ends from each xoconostle. Peel away the tough outer skin, then cut the fruit open and remove the seed pocket from the center. Cut the firm flesh into wedges. Do not use sweet tuna. Do not use more tomatillo and pretend it is the same. Xoconostle has a dry, sour bite that holds through braising. That is the point.

   Wear thin gloves if the fruit still has tiny cactus spines. Mercado vendors often clean them, but not always. Preguntale a las senoras del mercado.
3. 3

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile guajillo about 20 to 25 seconds per side, just until the skins darken slightly and smell fruity. Toast the chile ancho separately for about 30 seconds per side. They should puff in spots, not blacken. Burned chile makes bitter sauce. No me vengas con atajos.

4. 4

   Soak the chiles

   Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water. Hot, not boiling. Let them soften for 18 to 20 minutes. Drain them and discard the soaking water if it tastes bitter. The sauce should taste like chile, not like a wet paper bag.

5. 5

   Char the vegetables

   On the same comal, roast the tomate verde, onion slices, and unpeeled garlic. Turn them until the tomatillos blister and soften, the onion gets browned edges, and the garlic cloves feel soft inside their skins. Peel the garlic. This roasting gives the sauce body and keeps the acidity from tasting thin.

6. 6

   Blend the sauce

   Blend the softened chiles, roasted tomate verde, onion, peeled garlic, cumin seeds, Mexican oregano, and 1 cup of broth until completely smooth. Take the time. A rough sauce leaves chile skins on the tongue. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve if your blender is weak. Recetas probadas y garantizadas means you do the work that gives the result.

7. 7

   Brown the lomo

   Heat the manteca de cerdo in a wide heavy cazuela or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When the fat shimmers, add the pork and brown it on all sides, 10 to 12 minutes total. Do not poke it every ten seconds. Let the crust form. La manteca es el sabor, and that browned layer is what gives the sauce its backbone.

8. 8

   Fry the sauce

   Transfer the browned pork to a plate. Lower the heat to medium. Pour the blended sauce into the hot fat carefully, because it will sputter. Cook, stirring and scraping the browned bits from the bottom, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the sauce darkens from bright red to brick red and the fat begins to show at the edges. This is where the raw chile becomes a guisado.

9. 9

   Braise with xoconostle

   Return the pork to the cazuela. Add the xoconostle wedges, the epazote sprig, and the remaining 1 cup broth. The liquid should come about halfway up the pork, not cover it. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook over low heat for 55 to 70 minutes, turning the pork once, until the center reaches 145F and the sauce tastes concentrated.

10. 10

    Rest and slice

    Move the pork to a cutting board and rest it for 10 minutes. Remove the epazote sprig. Simmer the sauce uncovered for 8 to 12 minutes until it coats a spoon and the xoconostle is tender but still holds its shape. Taste for salt. If the fruit is aggressively sour, add 1 teaspoon piloncillo. Only one. You are balancing the sauce, not making candy.

11. 11

    Serve in cazuela

    Slice the pork across the grain into thick pieces. Lay the slices back into the sauce and spoon the xoconostle around them. Serve from the cazuela with warm corn tortillas and a pot of bayos or flor de mayo beans. The sauce should be bright, red, sour, and glossy enough to stain the tortilla. Asi se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Buy xoconostle at a Mexican mercado that sells nopal, verdolagas, quelites, and fresh chiles, not at a supermarket that treats cactus like decoration. The fruit should be firm, pale pink to greenish, and sour when cut. If it is soft and sweet, it is tuna, not xoconostle.
• •Tomate verde supports the sauce, but it does not replace the xoconostle. The tomatillo gives green acidity and body. Xoconostle gives the Otomi sourness that survives the braise. A substitution is a compromise, and here the compromise changes the dish.
• •Use pork loin because this dish is sliced and served neatly for company. Do not overcook it until it shreds. If you want a fall-apart pork guisado, use shoulder and call it something else.
• •Manteca de cerdo is the right fat. Vegetable oil browns the meat, yes, but it does not give the same round flavor to the chile sauce. La manteca es el sabor.
• •If fresh epazote is unavailable, leave it out. Dried epazote tastes dusty here. Better no epazote than bad epazote.

Advance Preparation

• •The sauce can be made one day ahead through the blending step. Refrigerate it, then fry it in manteca de cerdo when you are ready to braise the pork.
• •The finished dish can be made one day ahead and reheated gently, covered, over low heat. Slice the pork before refrigerating so it warms evenly in the sauce.
• •Do not freeze this dish. Xoconostle turns watery after freezing and the pork loin loses its clean slice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 430g)