Fill your house with the heavenly scent of Tender Pork Chili Verde for Cinco De Mayo this year. Perfectly cooked pork pieces fall apart in a tomatillo and green chili sauce that rival any Mexican Restaurant.
There is Beauty in This Dish’s Simplicity
There are very few steps and very few ingredients to creating the perfect Pork Chili Verde.
Start with a nice piece of boneless pork butt or pork shoulder. This is a very inexpensive piece of meat. Like most cheaper pieces of meat, it has some fat. This is great for chili verde. The fat from a pork shoulder is not overwhelming, and will melt into the stewed meat for a rice, tender texture.
Before stewing any meat, it is important to brown it. Pork Chili Verde is no exception.
Browning the meat properly seals in the juices and allows it to cook in liquid slowly without drying out or tasting boiled. Before adding any liquids to this recipe, be sure to brown all sides of the pork.
Cook it low and slow to bring out the flavor and have moist Tender Pork.
After adding the tomatillos, chilies, and water, turn the heat down and cover. This will help break down the tougher meat and keep it moist.
Reduce the liquids for a full, finished Chili Verde flavor.
After a half hour of simmering, take off the lid and simmer for another half hour uncovered to reduce the cooking liquids and intensify the flavors in the sauce.
If you love great Mexican Food at home try these great dishes.
Leftover Makeover Steak Quesadillas
I’m convinced that anyone who doesn’t like Mexican food is a psychopath. ~Jim Gaffigan, “Mexican Foodland,” Food: A Love Story, 2014 Quotegarden.com
Tender Pork Chili Verde
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Pork Shoulder
- 1 Small Yellow Onion
- 4 Cloves Garlic
- 5 Cups Canned Tomatillos 2 (23oz Cans)
- 8 oz Diced Green Chili Mild or Medium
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Tbsp Salt
- 1 Tsp Pepper
- 1 Tsp Ground Cumin
- 1 Tsp Ground Coriander
- 1 Tbsp Fresh Cilantro
Instructions
- Heat a large pot with heavy bottom on medium heat.
- Dice 1 small yellow onion and peel and mince or crush 4 cloves of garlic. Add olive oil to the hot pot, and then add the onions and let saute until they are starting to turn translucent. Hold the garlic back so that it does not burn and turn bitter.
- Next take the pork shoulder and cube it into 1" pieces. It is best to do this when the meat is cold. Wait to take this out of the refrigerator until just before you need it. Add the garlic and heat through, then add the cubed pork pieces to the pot. Spread the pork out over the bottom of the pan. Let the pork stand and brown a bit before stirring. It is important to sear the pork to hold in the juices.
- Season the pot with salt,pepper, ground cumin, and ground coriander. Stir to let it brown on all sides. Next add the whole canned tomatillos, dice green chilies, fresh cilantro and water. The cilantro can be rinsed and just torn into small pieces.
- Give everything a gentle stir. Cover over and turn to low. Let simmer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, take off the lid and stir/break up all of the remaining tomatillos. Then let simmer with the lid off for 30 more minutes. Pork should be tender enough to break up with a spoon and the sauce should have some liquid, but will have reduced considerably.
- Serve with warm tortillas and Spanish rice.
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