Ingredients for Pork

• 12 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp. paprika
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/2 c. white vinegar
• 1/4 c. water
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 2 lbs. pork tenderloin, cut into medium dice
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flake

Preparation

In a blender, combine garlic, paprika, sugar, salt, tomato paste, vinegar, and water, and blend to a smooth paste. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, and stir until light golden. Add meat and paste, stir well to coat and reduce heat to medium. Stir in red pepper flakes. Cover and cook for about 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and check consistency of sauce. If it seems thin, cook over high heat for three to five minutes to thicken.

Ingredients for Green Bean and Thyme Verakka

• 2 tbsp. coconut oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 lb. green beans, sliced into 1/4" thick coins
• 10 sprigs of thyme, chopped
• 1 tsp. salt

Preparation

Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add mustard seeds. When they start to pop, add cumin seeds. Stir in beans, thyme, and salt. Stir-fry for about four minutes.

Ingredients for Cardamom Cornbread

• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, plus more for pan preparation
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 c. cornmeal
• 1 tsp. crushed cardamom seeds
• 1 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9" square pan or large cast-iron skillet with butter. Melt butter in the pan or skillet, and stir in sugar. Add the buttermilk and eggs, and stir to combine. Stir in flour, baking powder, cornmeal, cardamom seeds, pepper, and salt. Bake for 30 minutes.

To serve, place a square of cornbread on a plate, spoon pork over the cornbread, and top with a large spoonful of stir-fried green beans.

Garden & Gun, December/January 2012-3

Ingredients

• 1 lb pork (I use boneless chops)
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon wine
• 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
• red food coloring

Preparation

Trim the fat from the pork and cut into chunks; each chunk should be between 2-4 bites. Blend all remaining ingredients. The pork and marinade should be fairly bright red- add enough food coloring to give it a nice color. Marinate for at least 3 and preferable 24 hours. Broil or grill for 3-4 minutes on a side or until the pork is done through.

ChrisMc, Food.com

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 pounds pork cheeks, silver skin, fat, and cartilage removed
• 4 celery stalks, roughly chopped
• 2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, quartered
• 1 leek, white part only, sliced
• 1 head garlic, cut in half
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 cups red wine
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 6 cups veal or pork stock
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 bunches baby mâche or 28 oz. can diced tomatoes

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the pork cheeks and sear until well caramelized on all sides, about 4 minutes each side. Remove from the pot and set aside. Add the celery, carrots, onions, leeks, and garlic and sauté until tender and browned, about 10 minutes. Add the honey and mix well. Return the pork to the pot and stir. Add the red wine, bay leaf, and thyme. Bring the liquid to a simmer and reduce by half, about 15 minutes. Add the stock and return to a gentle simmer. Cover the pot, transfer to the oven, and braise until the meat is very tender, about 2 1/2 hours.

Remove the pot from the oven and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. Remove the pork from the pot and set aside. Strain the braising liquid into a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the liquid has reduced by a little more than half, about 10 minutes. Skim the fat from the top. Return the pork to the liquid and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Alternatively: After removing the pork from the pot, do not strain the braising liquid (remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaves). Add a 28-oz. can of diced tomatoes and reduce until it forms a proper tomato sauce. Shred the pork cheeks and return them to the sauce, and serve over pasta.

Adapted from James Beard Foundation

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. olive or vegetable oil
• 1 large white onion, peeled and diced
• 1 chayote, skin and core removed, then sliced into matchsticks
• 8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 5-6 cups cooked pork carnitas
• 1-3 roasted serrano peppers (add to taste, instructions below)
• salt and pepper
• 2 cups potato-masa dumplings (below)
• 2 avocados, diced
• 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 6-8 cups fresh baby arugula
• lime wedges for garnish

for dumplings:

• 1 cup mashed potatoes
• 1/2 cup masa harina
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Preparation (Dumplings)

Combine last 4 ingredients in a bowl and stir together until blended. Use your hands to knead the mixture a few times until smooth. Then pinch off about 1/4 cup of the mixture and roll it into a long tube about 1/2-inch wide in diameter. Use a knife to slice the tube into small coins, about 1/8-inch wide. Repeat with remaining dough to make dumplings. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Preparation (Soup)

Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium high heat. Add the white onion and chayote, and saute for 5 minutes until cooked and the onion is translucent. Add garlic and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Add the chicken broth, carnitas, and serrano peppers (add one at a time to test out the level of heat) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Season generously with salt and pepper. Then ladle the soup into serving bowls, filling them about half full. Then add in a small handful of potato dumplings, avocados and fresh cilantro to each bowl. Then top each with a large handful of baby arugula. Serve with lime wedges for garnish.

Recipe from Gimme Some Oven, after XOCO

Ingredients

• 4 pounds bone-in pork shoulder roast, cut into 1 1/2- to 2-inch slabs
• Salt

Preparation

1. Moist cooking. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut each slab of pork in half and lay the pieces in a baking dish (they should fit into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish without being crowded). Liberally sprinkle with salt (about 1 teaspoon) on all sides. Pour 1/3 cup water around the meat, cover tightly with foil, and bake for 1 hour.

2. Dry cooking. Raise the oven temperature to 450 degrees. Uncover the meat and cook until the liquid has completely reduced and only the rendered fat remains, about 30 minutes. Now, roast, carefully turning the meat every 7 or 8 minutes, until lightly browned, about 20 minutes longer. Break the meat into large pieces and serve on a warm platter, sprinkled with salt.

Rick Bayless

Ingredients

• 1 small shallot, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
• 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 1-inch thick-cut bone-in pork chops (about 2 1/2 pounds total)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Kosher salt
• Lime halves (for serving)

Preparation

Whisk shallot, brown sugar, fish sauce, vinegar, and pepper in a shallow dish. Using a fork, pierce pork chops all over (to allow marinade to penetrate faster) and add to marinade in dish. Turn to coat. Cover and let pork chops marinate at room temperature, turning occasionally, 20 minutes (or in refrigerator overnight).

Remove pork chops from marinade, scraping off excess (reserve marinade for sauce). Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly season pork chops with salt. Cook until browned and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Let pork chops rest 10 minutes before serving.

Meanwhile, bring marinade to a boil in a small saucepan and cook until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 4 minutes.

Serve pork chops with reduced marinade and lime halves.

Bon Appetit, June, 2013

Ingredients

• 1/2 kg. (~1 lb.) dried yellow potatoes (amber in color)
• 3 tbsp. butter or oil
• 1 red onion, chopped finely
• 2 tbsp. minced garlic
• pepper (to taste)
• cumin (to taste)
• 1/2 kg. (~1 lb.) pork (shoulder or belly), cubed
• 1/2 kg. (~1 lb.) chicken, cubed
• 2 tbsp. aji panca paste (or much less of rocoto paste)
• 1 tbsp. aji amarillo paste
• 2 small cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 tbsp. port
• 2 tbsp. Pisco [CP: can sub tequila, in a pinch]
• 1/2 c. unsalted, roasted peanuts, ground medium-fine in a spice grinder
• 1 c. chicken broth
• 6 butter or vanilla cookies, crushed
• 1 piece dark chocolate (or drinking chocolate), grated

If you don’t have aji panca paste, it is much milder than either aji amarillo or rocoto; for instance, a good replacement for 1 tbsp. aji amarillo + 2 tbsp. aji panca is around 1 1/2 tbsp. aji amarillo, or perhaps 2 tbsp. for a spicier dish. (I haven’t tried the rocoto substitution yet.)

Preparation

Wipe off the dried potatoes with a damp cloth, and toast them in a pan without oil for several minutes until they change to a dark golden color. Cover them with water and let stand overnight (or at least two hours). Drain, and wash them several times, until the water runs clear.

Fry the red onion in the oil/butter, until it is almost golden. Add the garlic, pepper, cumin, pork, chicken, aji pastes, cloves, and cinnamon stick. Let all brown and then cover with water and cook for around 10 minutes. Add the drained dried potatoes and boil until the potatoes are almost tender, about 40-60 minutes.

Add the port, Pisco, peanuts, broth, and butter/vanilla cookies (in pieces small enough that they dissolve when cooked). Cook for 15 or 20 minutes over a low heat. Stir occasionally until the potatoes are cooked. Add the chocolate, and let stand before serving. Serve with white rice.

Translated by me from Bibliotecas Virtuales

Ingredients

• 1 cup sliced shallots
• 10 scallions, coarsely chopped
• One 3-inch piece fresh ginger, sliced
• 8 large cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro including thin stems (and roots, if possible)
• 6 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce (nam pla or nuoc mam)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh coarsely ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 pounds pork spare ribs, cut by your butcher across the bone into 2- to 3-inch “racks,” each rack cut between the bones into individual 2- to 3-inch-long riblets
• Thai Chile-Herb Dipping Sauce

Preparation

1. Put the shallots, scallions, ginger, garlic, cilantro, soy sauce, fish sauce, salt, pepper, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Process to a loose, finely chopped paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice.

2. Place pork ribs in a large bowl or a pair of heavy resealable plastic bags. Thoroughly coat the ribs with the marinade, massaging the paste into the flesh for a minute or so. Cover and marinate at room temperature for 2 hours or up to 5 hours in the refrigerator, tossing the ribs once or twice during this time.

3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread the ribs out, bone-side down, on two large, parchment-lined baking sheets and bake until ribs are deeply colored and very tender but not yet falling from the bone, about 11/2 hours, occasionally rotating the pans to encourage even cooking. Remove from the oven and serve with small bowls of Thai Chile-Herb Dipping Sauce.

Lobel’s Meat Bible, via Epicurious

Ingredients

• 3 green bell peppers
• 3 yellow bell peppers
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro
• 2 tbsp curry paste (pref. Indian)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• scant 1 c. peanuts, chopped
• scant 1 c. coconut milk
• 4 tbsp. peanut oil
• 3 small pork tenderloins, about 2 1/2 lb.

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the whole bell peppers on a cookie sheet and roast, turning occasionally, for 20 minutes, until the skins are charred. Remove from the oven and let cool. Peel off the skins and set the whole bell peppers aside.

Chop the stems and leaves of the cilantro, then mix with the curry paste, garlic, and peanuts in a bowl. Alternatively, place the bunch of cilantro, the curry paste, and garlic in a food processor and process until finely chopped and thoroughly combined. Dry-fry this paste in a pan, stirring constantly, until it gives off its aroma. Stir in the coconut milk and cook until reduced.

Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the tenderloins and cook over high heat, turning occasionally, for 10 minutes, until evenly browned and cooked through. Meanwhile, reheat the bell peppers in the oven at 350F.

Arrange the tenderloins and the whole peppers on a board and serve the sauce separately.

Stéphane Reynaud, Pork & Sons

Ingredients

Pork Butt

• 1 whole bone-in pork butt or picnic ham (8 to 10 pounds)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 7 tablespoons brown sugar

Ginger-Scallion Sauce

• 2½ cups thinly sliced scallions, both green and white parts
• ½ cup peeled, minced fresh ginger
• ¼ cup neutral oil (like grapeseed)
• ½ teaspoons light soy sauce
• 1 scant teaspoon sherry vinegar
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

Ssam Sauce

• 2 tablespoons fermented bean-and-chili paste (ssamjang, available in many Asian markets, and online)
• 1 tablespoon chili paste (kochujang, available in many Asian markets, and online)
• ½ cup sherry vinegar
• ½ cup neutral oil (like grapeseed)

Accompaniments

• 2 cups plain white rice, cooked
• 3 heads bibb lettuce, leaves separated, washed and dried
• 1 dozen or more fresh oysters (optional)
• Kimchi (available in many Asian markets, and online)

Preparation

1. Place the pork in a large, shallow bowl. Mix the white sugar and 1 cup of the salt together in another bowl, then rub the mixture all over the meat. Cover it with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, or overnight.

2. When you’re ready to cook, heat oven to 300. Remove pork from refrigerator and discard any juices. Place the pork in a roasting pan and set in the oven and cook for approximately 6 hours, or until it collapses, yielding easily to the tines of a fork. (After the first hour, baste hourly with pan juices.) At this point, you may remove the meat from the oven and allow it to rest for up to an hour.

3. Meanwhile, make the ginger-scallion sauce. In a large bowl, combine the scallions with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and taste, adding salt if needed.

4. Make the ssam sauce. In a medium bowl, combine the chili pastes with the vinegar and oil, and mix well.

5. Prepare rice, wash lettuce and, if using, shuck the oysters. Put kimchi and sauces into serving bowls.

6. When your accompaniments are prepared and you are ready to serve the food, turn oven to 500. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining tablespoon of salt with the brown sugar. Rub this mixture all over the cooked pork. Place in oven for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, or until a dark caramel crust has developed on the meat. Serve hot, with the accompaniments.

Momofuku, via the New York Times