Braising – Pork Chile Verde

If you’ve ever had pot roast, Swiss steak, beef stew, or stewed chicken…you’ve had braised meat.

Braising – it sounds different than what it really is.  It’s not grilling or broiling.  Typically, braising is the slow cooking of less tender cuts of meat in some sort of liquid.  The meat may first be seared if desired. It can be done on the stove or in the oven.  You can braise pork, beef, chicken, or even vegetables.  It is what our mothers and grandmothers did for years but probably didn’t know it was called braising.

This post will feature MY version of Braised Pork in a Chile Verde Sauce (Pork Chile Verde).  There are as many versions of this dish as there are cooks who make it – that’s my usual disclaimer and I’m sticking to it!   And, as always, my recipes are amalgams of several I’ve read about over the years – I am not reinventing the wheel, or, pork chile verde as it were. There are only two things that are given:  pork and liquid.  The types of vegetables, especially the chiles, the liquid, and seasonings are entirely up to you.  Generally speaking, chile verde is green (duh!) and contains either tomatillos or green chiles or a combination of both – thus, the green. Use more (and hotter) chiles, more heat.   By the way, if you’re ever in the southwest, ie, Albuquerque, you will always be asked this question at most restaurants, “Red…or green?”  My buddy, Bob, and long time ABQ resident warned me when I visited a few years ago, “Please don’t embarrass me or yourself by asking, “What does that mean?” when they ask you what kind of sauce you prefer.  It’s a regional thing you know!

There are a couple of ways of approaching this dish.  One, make the chile verde and braise the pork separately.  Or, braise the pork ribs in the chile verde.  I chose the latter – much richer flavor profile in my opinion.

1 pound boneless pork country style ribs 2 tbsps canola oil Kosher salt fresh ground pepper 1 cup diced yellow onions 1 medium Anaheim chile (roasted, skin & seeds removed, diced) 1 medium poblano chile (seeds removed diced) 1 medium jalapeno chile (seeds removed, diced) 2 medium tomatillos (roasted, skin & core removed, diced) 2 garlic cloves (minced) 2 tsps ground cumin 1 bay leaf 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped 1 1/2 cups chicken stock 2 tbsps corn starch grated queso fresco

Season pork ribs with salt & pepper & brown on all sides in oil in hot pan, remove, set aside.  In same pan, sweat onions, poblano until soft (do not brown).  Add garlic & cumin for 1 more minute.  Add pork ribs back to pan with juices.  Add chicken stock, enough to barely cover ribs.  Add tomatillos & anaheim chiles & bay leaf.  Cover and simmer for 2-3 hours or until ribs begin to fall apart.  Add more liquid if needed.  Remove ribs and set aside.  Add cilantro.  Using an immersion blender (or in a food processor) blend mixture leaving some texture to the vegetables.  Mix corn starch with 1 cup water and add to pan, bring to boil to thicken.  Taste and season with salt & pepper.

Serve chile verde over steamed white rice and place pork ribs on top adding more sauce.  Garnish with queso fresco & cilantro.