Bingeworthy Peppers and Pork Chili Verde
I do not recall when or where I first encountered pork chili verde. I only know that by the time I moved back to Oxford from southern Arizona in 2008, I was a convert.
I soon quit making my signature Slap Yo Momma chili, with big steak chunks, and began focusing on this aromatic stew with succulent chunks of braised pork, roasted green chiles, tomatillos, and - YES - beans. Please do not come at me with exhortations on what’s “traditional.” Your chili, your business.
Unlike our common, ‘Merican version of chili, green chili with pork actually evolved in Northern Mexico as “Cerdo en Salsa Verde,” or pork in green sauce.
I took a fabulous food tour of Mexico in 2019 and quickly learned that ordering “chile verde” there will gain you a confused look and a plate of raw jalapeños.
This obsession reached new levels during the early lockdown days last year. What could possibly comfort the homebound like a pot of chili, fragrant enough to stop passersby in the street? I even went so far as to grow four kinds of chiles—mulatos, Hatch, Tam jalapeños, and poblanos—because Hatch only becomes available for a couple of weeks each fall.
Stemmed, seeded, halved, and either broiled or grilled to the perfect char, it’s quite easy to then cover the warm chiles with plastic wrap in a bowl to steam the skins off. Peel and chop the chiles, blend the varieties as you wish, vacuum seal, and freeze. Each frozen bag = one large pot of goodness, be it chili, simple beans, or tamales.
I’m so obsessed with smoked chiles, that may become my 2021 project. Smoked Hatch chiles? Yes, please!
Next order of business—make chili powder. Once you go homemade, you’ll never go store-bought again. I don’t have a “measured” recipe, but here’s how to make it:
10 chiles, preferably smoked*, or a mixture of anchos, arbols, California, and any other dried chile you like
A small handful of whole cumin seeds
Garlic powder, oregano, and smoked paprika to taste at the end
If you can find dried, smoked chiles, you will achieve Jedi-master chili powder. Curb Market in Memphis hand-smoked chiles in several varieties and they’re absolutely worth the trip if you’re day-drive close. Etsy also carries hand-smoked chiles, and Mexican groceries often carry fabulous dry chipotles on that wall of mystery ingredients.
Trim the stems off and remove the seeds from the chiles, then tear or cut them into roughly 1” pieces. Toast them in a dry pan with the cumin seeds until fragrant, careful not to overdo it because they will burn and turn acrid. Allow them to cool, add the other spices, then grind everything together in a blade coffee grinder (a blender would probably work) set aside for this purpose.
You can now delight your friends with a small tin of your badass chili powder as a dinner-host happy when we’re able to do such things again.
This Pork Chili Verde recipe lies somewhere among traditional Cerdo en Salsa Verde and a Colorado-style green chili. The traditional versions do not include chili powder and focus more on the green chile flavors.
Find something binge-worthy to watch and enjoy this dish with plenty of garnishes—lime juice, cilantro, sour cream, cheese, and/or Mexican crema.
Pork Chili Verde
Ingredients
3 lbs. pork butt / Boston butt, big chunks of fat trimmed, cut into 1” pieces
1 lb. tomatillos, papery skin removed, halved, or quartered if large. If unavailable, you can use a can of diced tomatoes.
2 lbs. Anaheim, Hatch, Poblano, or other mild green chiles, about 10-12 big peppers
2-3 jalapeño peppers
2 onions, diced
One head of garlic, top 1/4 chopped off
Toasted cumin
Chili powder to taste (optional)
¼ c. masa (corn flour); you can also thicken with tortilla chips that have been pulsed to fine crumbs in the food processor or make a roux in a separate pan if needed to thicken
4 c. chicken broth
BEANS, although not “authentic,” taste fabulous here. Kidneys or pintos.
Limes, cilantro, sour cream, Mexican crema, cheese, all the garnishes
Directions
Always wear gloves when working with hotter varieties of peppers.
Place the pork in a big pot with about half a cup of water, salt, and pepper, and render the fat over medium as you address the chiles. Once the pork looks rendered and browns a bit, about fifteen minutes, remove to a large plate or bowl that will catch the juices. Don’t wash the pot.
While the pork browns, roast the green stuff: Lightly oil two sheet pans. Slice each chile, including jalapeños, in half lengthwise, remove the stems and seeds, and flatten skin side up on the baking sheets. Cut the tomatillos into halves (or quarters if they’re big), and place cut side down on the sheets.
Place one sheet pan at a time under the broiler and keep an eye on it. Remove chiles/tomatillos as they char. You want plenty of black skin, but try not to let them go until the flesh gets black. Charred tomatillos can go straight into a food processor, while the chiles cool in a bowl covered with plastic wrap.
Reduce the oven to 325º once everything’s roasted. When the chiles are cool enough to handle, peel the skins off. Chop half the chiles, set aside, and place the rest in the blender/food processor with the tomatillos. Blend until thick but still a bit chunky. You may need to work in batches. Set aside the chile/tomatillo puree for now.
Heat the pot over medium-high, add a bit of bacon fat (or oil), and add the chopped onions, salt, and pepper. If the fond begins to get too brown, add a bit of water or broth and scrape everything up, but make sure the water all burns off before you add the spices, which bloom in fat. Once the onions have softened, add the cumin and chili powder, stirring to coat until fragrant.
Add the chile puree, chopped chiles, pork with juices, the head of garlic, and either broth or water to fully cover (about four cups). Cover and place in the oven for at least an hour until the pork gets tender.
Add cooked beans, if that’s your business and you pay your own rent, and remove the garlic head. Once the garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze out the soft meat into the chili and stir it in, or put one big clove in each bowl and dip into it at will. I often put two heads of garlic in there and enjoy one squeezed onto crusty bread. This technique works for any garlic-friendly dish with a longish simmer and you’re welcome.
If the chili looks a bit thin, toast some masa in a dry pan, then mix it in. As noted above, you can also use crushed tortilla chips. Cornmeal is probably too coarse.