Three Chile Black Garlic Pork Stew – AKA: Hot Dark Pork
Stews are one of my favorite things to make. They are simple, yet elegant dishes that really satisfy. What I also like about them is that they’re really hard to mess up. If you feel like adding something, just throw it in. Just close your eyes and tell yourself, “It’ll be fine!” The best thing about them is that they are highly modifiable, so feel free to make any modifications as you see fit.
Despite the chiles, this doesn’t pretend to be any authentic dish from south of the border, just something that I concocted because I do love spice, meat, and savory flavors. I came across some black garlic, which is just fermented garlic, and wanted to use it in something creative. Being from California, everything here is pretty readily available, but if you’re from elsewhere, feel free to substitute anything with what you’ve got that’s similar.
I thought that the flavor profiles of the chipotle and anchos in combination of the spice and slight smokiness of the chiles de arbol would make a nice combo, and they surely do.
There are basically six main ingredients that you can play around with: the meat, potatoes, beans, chiles, mushrooms and garlic. Although the name I’ve given the dish is quite precise, as I stated before, changing around the ingredients can be the most fun part of cooking.
(Serves 6-8, or 4 Mes)
- 2 lbs. Pork Shoulder – cubed 1.5 inch pieces
- 6 Red Potatoes – unpeeled, cubed
- 3 cups Baby Bella (Crimini) Mushrooms – roughly chopped
- 1 15 oz. can Butter Beans, drained
- 1 15 oz. can Kidney Beans, drained
- 1 15 oz. can Pinto Beans, drained
- 1 Large Red Onion
- 1 Head Black Garlic
- 2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- 2 Dried Large Ancho Chiles
- 4 Dried Chipotle Chiles
- 3 Dried Chiles de Arbol
- 1 Cup Beef Broth (Plus at least 1 more on hand)
- Kosher Salt
- Sea Salt
- Fresh Cracked Pepper
- 1 tbsp. Cumin
- 2 tbsp. Oregano
- 2 oz. Lime Juice
- Avocado Oil (Or Neutral Oil of Choice)
- Water ready to be boiled in a teapot or saucepan (At least 4 cups if following recipe instructions closely)
Optional Serving Suggestions:
- Basmati Rice
- Corn Tortillas
Optional Garnishes:
- Cilantro
- Cotija Cheese
- Avocado
- Sour Cream
I try to find the most well marbled pork shoulder for making stews since as so many say, fat equals flavor. That’s kind of the point here. If you’re looking for leaner options, you’re not in the right place. If you’ve got some stew beef laying around in the freezer and don’t feel the need to spring for more meat, throw some beef in instead – it’s a 1:1 replacement! Just make sure that it too has got a nice fat content to give the stew a great savory flavor and texture. The Company of Cost (Costco) is a great spot for meat; best in my opinion for cost/benefit.
The chiles I’ve selected would love to spend some time together, but if you can’t find one or more, California or New Mexico chiles can be substituted. These are all dried chiles ready to be reconstituted for the recipe. You COULD get fresh chiles like jalapenos or serranos to substitute for the dried chiles de arbol, but this would skip the reconstitution phase, and many alterations to the dish would need to be made. One could also use canned chipotles, but they usually come in adobo sauce, but hey, that sounds pretty good too.
For the beans, I chose big ‘ol butter beans to be the main event since, well, let’s face it, they really add a punch! The pintos and kidneys add a nice roundness to the palate to fill in the cracks. You can substitute the butter beans for great northern or cannelini beans if you can’t find butter beans as readily. If you can’t find pinto or kidney beans, I’m guessing you’ll have to find a new home other than the rock you currently live under. These are all canned beans making life a bit easier since I’m making you reconstitute dried chiles…you’re welcome 🙂. You can cook your own dried beans and I’ll let you figure that one out, it’s an easy fix.
Now, for the garlic! Black garlic is not as readily available everywhere, but you can even buy it on Amazon at 10:30 at night and have it delivered at 7 in the morning for all you folks that need everything right now! If this doesn’t interest you, yes, regular ‘ol garlic is perfectly fine, but doesn’t black garlic sound waaay more interesting? Just by mentioning the black garlic to your company, I can already see their heads collectively perk to the side like a puppy’s when you mention the “t-word” (treats).
Again, it’s just fermented garlic, not some special strain of garlic only found on a mountain top somewhere in Mongolia, and it’s a bit on the mushy side inside the head when you find it. In the photo above, I’ve removed what is basically a paste and molded it into a small ball. You’ll just drop that sucker in when the time is right! If you opt for plain garlic, add it at the same time as the black garlic, I’d say about 8 medium minced cloves. Yes, 8, you flavorless goobs. This will alter the flavor a bit, but it’ll still be super dope.
I chose baby bellas, or crimini, or brown (all the same thing with different names) as my mushrooms. I find them more flavorful than the younger white caps (still the same thing, but, you guessed it, younger). Portabella would be interesting, but would obviously need to be chopped. Anything like Chanterelles, Trumpet, Hen of the Forest, etc would also make an interesting conversation starter, especially if you choose to use just regular garlic, but we don’t need too many cooks in the kitchen if you’re following my recipe as written.
Lastly, the type of potatoes you use can really matter, which is why I chose red, unpeeled ones. They can simmer longer than russets and therefore hold their shapes and don’t turn to mush nearly as quick. Peel them if you don’t like the texture, it’s really just for the color anyway.
I like to prepare as much as I can “mis en place”, a French term for having everything at the ready beforehand, so try to prep as much before you even start.
Let’s Get Cookin!
1.) Prepare the meat! Remove meat from any packaging and pat dry with paper towels to absorb any liquid. This is a SUPER important first step in ensuring you get a nice browning action since excess water won’t let the meat “sear.” Cube pork shoulder into about 1.5 in. cubes: They will shrink (gasp!). Once cubed, add (roughly) 1 tbsp kosher salt and 1 tsp fresh cracked pepper to meat and mix in a bowl or on a dedicated cutting board. Preheat a 12 inch cast iron skillet (or same pot listed in step 3 if you don’t have a cast iron skillet or perhaps a stainless steel one) medium/high with 2 tbsp neutral oil (I use avocado) until you can see the oil “shimmering.” Don’t use olive oil as it’s smoke point is too low and will affect flavor. Don’t let the oil smoke since that means it’s burning and will alter the flavor further. In addition, you’ll know you’re there when you place the meat in the pan and it has that magical sizzling sound.
You’ll most likely have to do this in 2 batches since you don’t want to over crowd the meat. Turn each piece (yes, EVERY piece with tongs you lazy sack) until ALL sides are lightly browned but not fully cooked. Once all meat is nicely browned, remove the meat and all the yummy liquids and pour into a mixing bowl for later.
2.) While this is going on, feel free to heat your water to (almost) boiling and pour 2 cups into a mixing bowl. Add all your peppers you will be using to reconstitute them in the hot water. Leave ‘em there for half an hour until they have plumped up.
3.) Preheat a 6 or 7 quart stock pot or dutch oven with 2 tbsp neutral oil on medium and when ready, add diced onion, and a little salt and pepper, stirring every minute or so for about 5 minutes until slightly opaque.
4.) Add the tomato paste and black garlic and stir until evenly distributed.
5.) Add the meat that you browned earlier, and all of its lovely juices into the pot and mix it all up!
6.) Let’s get back to the chiles! Add all of the contents of the pepper mixing bowl into a blender or food processor and…well…blend together until everything is…blended…into a nice slurry. Add these contents into the pot and stir.
7.) Now is the time to make some beef broth. I like to use Better than Bouillon paste (feel free to hit me up folks…), but anything you’ve got will work. I add a HEAPING teaspoon to every cup of hot water and stir until mixed. Add 1 cup of prepared beef broth to the pot to equal 3 cups water including the 2 cups of chile slurry.
8.) Bring the heat back up to a boil, but then take down to medium/low to start the long simmer. We’re going to simmer for an hour in total before we see where we’re at. Add the cubed potatoes after 15 minutes of simmering, then add the chopped mushrooms 10 minutes later. Make sure the mushrooms are on the larger size so they don’t fall apart in the stew. Then add the drained beans, the BEANS! You can add the liquid from the cans, but that’s going to add to the overall liquid content and make the stew more soupy. It’s your choice. Lastly, add the 2 oz. of lime juice as a final touch to brighten up this dark and stormy stew’s day.
9.) I like to give it a good stir every 10 minutes which is also a good time to make sure your freakin’ stovetop doesn’t go on a WILD TANGENT AND RUIN A $400 LE CREUSET DUTCH OVEN…but I digress. Let’s just say you don’t want the burner too high for many reasons. Give it a taste every 15 minutes to see if the texture is where you personally want it to be. You want the meat, potatoes, mushrooms and beans to all be soft and melty, but not before it hits your mouth. For me, it takes about an hour and 15 to an hour and a half, adding some more prepared beef broth if necessary at some point. Once it’s done, I like to let everything sit there for at minimum an hour to as long as overnight to let the flavors fully mix. Feel free to have a mini bowl if you just can’t wait.
Variations on a Theme:
There are many ways one can serve this dish. I like to serve it on the reduced side, which makes it more versatile in my opinion. You can add more broth to serve it more as a soupy stew as well. Below are some serving suggestions which I think work very well.
This is shown in it’s non reduced state, topped with Cotija cheese, a crumbly Mexican white cheese and a bit of chopped cilantro.
This is stew, now reduced down after simmering for a longer period of time. Same Cotija cheese and cilantro.
Here, it’s the same reduced stew but plopped in into 2 corn taco size tortillas. The one on the left is served with cubed avocado and sour cream. The one on the right once again has Cotija cheese and cilantro.
This one seems to be the favorite among those I’ve served it to. I’ve included the stew on a bed of Basmati rice, topped again for a final time with cilantro. The fragrant Basmati rice really transforms it from a Mexican/Central American-esque dish to an Indian one quickly, minus the Cotija Cheese of course.
So that’s it everybody! Have fun!
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