cooking / mains

Pork Green Chile with Green Zebra Tomatoes

Berkshire pork shoulder braised low with charred green chiles and green zebra tomatoes from the last farmers market of the season. Cooked at 5,280 feet.

serves 4 · about 5 hours, mostly in the oven · easy, but it takes the afternoon

I made this on Halloween with what I found at the last farmers market of the season: a Berkshire pork shoulder roast, two pounds of green chiles the vendor had already charred, and a big bag of green zebra tomatoes.

The method comes from Kenji López-Alt's chile verde in The Food Lab. His version uses poblanos and cubanelles that you char yourself, plus tomatillos. I swapped in the market chiles and the green zebras, rendered the fat from the roast to sear in, and put the bone in the pot. If you want his version and his reasons for each step, the book is worth having.

It is spicy. The medium chiles carry most of the heat.

Ingredients

Pork

  • 1 bone-in pork shoulder roast, about 3 lb (I had 2.9 lb, which trimmed to about 1⅔ lb of meat)
  • Kosher salt, about 2 tsp Diamond Crystal per pound of trimmed meat

Green purée

  • 2 lb charred green chiles (I used 1 lb mild and 1 lb medium)
  • 1½ lb green zebra tomatoes
  • 5 garlic cloves, unpeeled
  • 1 tbsp neutral oil
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • ¾ cup cilantro leaves

Pot

  • Fat trimmed from the roast (or 2 tbsp neutral oil)
  • 1 medium-large onion, finely diced
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, plus more as needed
  • The bone from the roast

To finish

  • More cilantro, chopped
  • Lime
  • 1 to 2 tbsp masa harina, if you want it thicker

To serve

  • Warm tortillas, sour cream, grated cheese, white onion, lime wedges

Method

1. Peel the chiles

Rub the charred skins off. Stem, seed, and chop. Keep the mild and medium separate until you taste them.

2. Cut and salt the pork

Cut the meat off the bone and keep the bone. Trim off the thick outer fat and save it. Cut the meat into 1-inch cubes and weigh them. Toss with about 2 tsp Diamond Crystal salt per pound. Let it sit 45 minutes to an hour.

3. Render the fat

Cut the trimmed fat into small pieces. Put it in a cold Dutch oven over medium-low heat and cook 15 to 20 minutes, until the fat runs and the bits are crisp. Brown the bone in it for the last few minutes. Take out the bone and the crispy bits. Keep about 2 tbsp of fat in the pot.

4. Make the purée

Heat the broiler. Halve the tomatoes across the middle and cut out the stem scar. Toss them on a foil-lined sheet pan with the garlic, oil, and salt, cut side down. Broil about 10 minutes, turning once, until blistered and slumped.

Squeeze the garlic out of its skins. Put the chiles, tomatoes, garlic, every bit of juice from the pan, and the cilantro in a food processor. Pulse until chunky. Taste it for heat. Mine was very hot at this point. It gets diluted by the broth and the pork.

Refrigerate the purée until you need it.

5. Sear

Heat the oven to 225°F. Pat the pork dry. Heat the fat in the Dutch oven until it smokes. Brown half the pork without moving it for about 3 minutes, then turn it. Add the second half and the onion and cook about 4 minutes, scraping the bottom. Add the cumin and stir for a minute.

6. Braise

Add the broth, the purée, and the bone. Bring it to a boil. Cover with the lid slightly open and put it in the oven.

Check it at 2½ hours. It is done when the cubes fall apart when you press one with a fork. Mine needed about 3 hours. If the liquid drops below the meat, add a splash of broth.

7. Rest overnight

Take out the bone. Split the chile into shallow containers and let them stop steaming before they go in the fridge. The next day, lift the fat off the top.

8. Finish

Reheat gently. If it is brothier than you want, simmer it uncovered for 15 minutes, or whisk the masa harina into a little broth and stir it in. Add salt to taste, chopped cilantro, and a squeeze of lime.

Notes

  • At altitude. Water boils at about 202°F in Denver, so a 225°F oven braise runs slower. Plan on 3 to 4 hours and check early.
  • Green zebras instead of tomatillos. They are juicier and have less pectin, so the chile comes out thinner. That is what the masa is for.
  • Heat. If you want it milder, use mostly mild chiles and keep some of the purée back to stir in at the end.
  • Make it a day ahead. Kenji recommends resting it overnight, and that is how I served it.