This is Mexican comfort food. Eat it straight up. With beans. Make tacos. Roll it in flour tortillas and nap with tomatillo salsa. The ultimate wet burrito. No rules. Just good. Any way you go. There’s nothing here not to love. I have a thing for braised dishes. A thing for Mexican cooking. And I have a thing for pork. Chili verde is a holy trinity for me. It isn’t fancy. Just earthy family food. Straightforward. But so good. Doesn’t have to be fancy to be great.
Chili verde starts with pork shoulder
Choice of pork is key. This is a stew. Low and slow. Like barbecue. Lean cuts are out. Pork loin would be terrible. Like eating dust. You need the fat. And connective tissue. That’s where the magic is. The same things that make for good pulled pork make good chili verde. You want meltingly tender. Pork shoulder. That’s what works here. Match made in heaven. Time is key as well. This is slow food. You can’t make this fast. It’s a braise. Braises take time. It’s ready when it’s ready. If you don’t cook it long enough it’s tough. Rubbery. Not good. So take your time. Plan for it. It’s going to take a couple hours. At least. Be warned. You cannot rush a braise. It just doesn’t work.
Brown the pork for deeper flavour
Browning the pork is important too. Look up the Maillard reaction. It’s what happens when meat hits heat. All kinds of complex flavour compounds get created. Those flavours go into your chili verde. Embrace it. It makes everything better. If you take one thing away from this remember browning equals more flavour. More flavour is better. There’s no reason at all why you can’t pull it off. Just slow down. Let it happen. If you can make stew you can make chili verde. If you can’t make stew, follow the instructions and believe. At the end of it you will be a master. It’s not hard. You don’t have to move particularly fast. And the results will blow your friends away. Chili verde. For when you want the biggest flavours. When you want a chili that isn’t run of the mill. When you want to make your mouth happy. This is a dish to maker when you want to impress yourself. Try it. You won’t be disappointed.
