Dashi and sofrito braised pork shoulder

Dashi and sofrito braised pork shoulder

Serves

6 servings, with leftovers that reheat well

Prep

45 min

Cook

3 h 30 min

Total

4 h 15 min

Equipment. Dutch oven, 5 to 7 quart, with a lid, Instant-read thermometer, Heatproof jar or bowl for the chow-chow

Ingredients

Mojo marinade

• 1.8 kg (4 lb) boneless pork shoulder, cut into 5 cm (2 inch) chunks, fat left on
• 13 g kosher salt (about 1.5 tbsp Diamond Crystal or 2.5 tsp Morton)
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) sour orange juice, or 80 ml orange juice plus 40 ml lime juice
• 6 cloves garlic, mashed to a paste with a pinch of salt
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano

Quick chow-chow

• 250 g green cabbage, chopped small
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped small
• 1/2 small onion, chopped small
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 180 ml (3/4 cup) cider vinegar
• 50 g (1/4 cup) sugar
• 1/2 tsp yellow mustard seed
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
• Pinch of red pepper flakes

Sofrito and braise

• 2 tbsp olive oil or lard
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 bay leaf
• 500 ml (2 cups) dashi, from instant granules (follow the packet, about 1 tsp per 500 ml) or made from kombu and bonito flakes
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp mirin

Fresh mojo to finish

• 60 ml (1/4 cup) sour orange juice, or the orange and lime mix
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) olive oil
• 1/2 small white onion, sliced paper thin

To serve

• Steamed white rice, short or long grain, about 75 g raw per person

Method

1. Marinate. Toss the pork with the salt, then the sour orange juice, garlic paste, cumin and oregano. Cover and refrigerate 4 to 12 hours. Past 12 hours the acid starts turning the outside mealy. Keep it in the fridge the whole time, never on the counter.
2. Make the chow-chow while the pork marinates. Toss the cabbage, pepper and onion with 1 tsp salt in a heatproof bowl and leave 30 minutes. Bring the vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, turmeric and pepper flakes to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Drain off the water the vegetables threw, pour the hot brine over them, cool, and refrigerate. It is ready in an hour and keeps a week in the fridge.
3. Heat the oven to 300 F (150 C). Lift the pork out of the marinade and save the marinade. Pat the chunks dry with paper towels. Wet pork will not brown.
4. Heat the oil in the Dutch oven over medium-high until it shimmers. Brown the pork in two or three batches, not touching, 3 to 4 minutes a side, until deep brown on at least two sides. Pale pork makes a pale braise. If the bottom of the pot starts to blacken, turn it down a notch. Move each batch to a plate.
5. Pour off all but 2 tbsp of fat. Turn the heat to medium, add the onion and pepper and cook 8 minutes, scraping up the brown bits as the vegetables give off water, until soft and gold. Add the garlic, tomato paste and bay leaf and stir 2 minutes, until the paste darkens to brick red. Raw tomato paste tastes tinny.
6. Pour in the saved marinade, the dashi, soy and mirin. Scrape the bottom clean. Return the pork and any juices from the plate. The liquid should come about two thirds of the way up the meat. Add water if it does not. The marinade had raw pork in it, so bring the pot to a full, rolling boil on the stove before it goes in the oven.
7. Cover and braise in the oven 2.5 to 3 hours, turning the chunks once halfway. It is done when a fork twists into a chunk with no push back. That is around 195 to 205 F (91 to 96 C) inside. The pork was safe at 145 F (63 C) long before that, but it is not tender until the collagen melts.
8. Lift the pork out. Skim the fat off the liquid with a wide spoon, then boil the liquid on the stove, uncovered, 10 to 15 minutes, until it coats a spoon. Taste it. Dashi and soy add salt as it reduces, so do not salt until now. Pull the pork into big pieces, not shreds, and fold it back into the sauce. Take out the bay leaf.
9. Make the fresh mojo right before serving. Put the garlic and sliced onion in a heatproof bowl. Heat the olive oil in a small pan until it just shimmers, then pour it over the garlic. It will sizzle. Let it sit 1 minute, then stir in the sour orange juice and a pinch of salt. Garlic in oil left at room temperature is a botulism risk, so refrigerate any leftover mojo and use it within 4 days.
10. Serve the pork over rice with plenty of sauce. Spoon the mojo and its onions over the top and put the chow-chow on the side so people can take a forkful with every bite.

What goes wrong

• Flat, dull pork: it was under-salted or under-browned. The salt goes on before the marinade, and the browning isn't optional.
• Mushy outside: it sat in the citrus too long. Twelve hours is the ceiling.
• Tough pork after three hours: it is not done. Shoulder goes through a tight stage before it gives. Cover it and give it another 30 minutes, then test again.
• Sauce too salty: you salted before reducing, or your soy is a strong one. Loosen it with water or unsalted stock and add a squeeze of citrus.
• Greasy plate: the fat was not skimmed. Chill the braise overnight if you have time, and the fat sets on top and lifts off in one piece.

Variations

• Bone-in shoulder works: use about 2.3 kg and cut the meat off the bone in large pieces before browning. Throw the bone into the braise.
• Make it a day ahead. It reheats better than it serves fresh, and the fat is easier to take off cold. Get it into the fridge within two hours of cooking, and reheat it to 165 F (74 C).
• Swap the rice for soft, plain grits.

What to drink

A cold lager, a dry rosé, or unsweetened iced tea with lime.