Pork Chile Verde

Untested — not yet cooked. Poblanos and serranos from the garden, tomatillos, and pork shoulder braised until it falls apart, in a green sauce built on charred tomatillos and roasted chiles.

IngredientsClear All

• 2½ lbs boneless pork shoulder (pork butt), cut into 1½-2" pieces — see notes on country-style ribs
• 1½ lbs fresh tomatillos, husks removed and rinsed of their sticky residue
• 4 large poblano peppers
• 4-6 serrano peppers
• 5 cloves garlic, left unpeeled
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, packed
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp Mexican oregano
• 2 tbsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (about 18g), divided (other salts are not 1:1 — see notes)
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp vegetable or avocado oil
• 1 lime, juiced

Instructions

1. Roast the tomatillos and chiles: Heat the broiler to HIGH with a rack in the top position. Spread the whole husked tomatillos, whole poblanos, and whole serranos on a large baking sheet. Broil 5-7 minutes, until the skins are deeply charred and blistered, then flip everything and broil another 4-5 minutes.

2. Add the garlic late: Tuck the unpeeled garlic cloves onto the tray for only the last 3-4 minutes. Peeled cloves left under the broiler the whole time will scorch, and burnt garlic turns the entire batch bitter with no way to pick it back out.

3. Steam the chiles: Move the hot poblanos and serranos to a bowl and cover tightly with a plate or plastic wrap. Let steam 10 minutes — this loosens the skins. Leave the tomatillos and garlic on the tray to cool.

4. Peel and seed: Peel the charred skin off the poblanos, then remove stems and seeds and roughly chop. For the serranos, just pull the stems — don't bother peeling them, they're small and thin-skinned and the char is welcome. Leave the serrano seeds and pith in for full heat. Squeeze the garlic out of its skins.

5. Blend the green sauce: Combine the roasted tomatillos and any juices from the pan, the garlic, chopped poblanos, serranos, and cilantro in a blender. Blend completely smooth. Set aside.

6. Sear the pork: Pat the pork dry and season with 2 tsp of the salt and the black pepper. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high. Working in batches so the pan isn't crowded, sear until deeply golden on all sides. Move to a plate, leaving the fat in the pot.

7. Build the base: Lower to medium. Cook the onion in the pork fat about 5 minutes, until soft and translucent. Stir in the cumin and Mexican oregano and cook 30 seconds, until aromatic.

8. Deglaze: Pour in the blended sauce and the broth, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Stir in another 1 tbsp of salt — the sauce needs seasoning of its own, not just what's on the pork.

9. Braise covered, 1 hour: Return the pork and any juices. Bring to a boil, reduce to low, cover, and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

10. Finish uncovered, 45-60 min: Take the lid off and continue at a low simmer until the pork is fork-tender and falls apart, and the sauce has reduced and thickened enough to coat. A covered pot barely evaporates — this uncovered stretch is what actually turns it from soup into stew.

11. Skim, then finish: Spoon the rendered fat off the surface. Stir in the lime juice off the heat. Taste and correct the salt — that leaves about 1 tsp of the 2 tbsp still to go in, and it may want more than that. Serve hot with warm corn tortillas.

Notes

This recipe has not been cooked yet. It was generated to fit what was in the garden and then corrected on paper. Times and seasoning are best estimates; adjust and update this page after the first run.

Salt — the measurements here are Diamond Crystal. Kosher salt crystals are large and airy, so a spoonful weighs far less than the same spoonful of table salt. Diamond Crystal is the lightest of the three by a wide margin, and swapping brands by volume is how a dish ends up twice as salty as intended:

Roughly: Diamond Crystal is half the weight of table salt for the same volume, so going the other way you'd need about double the volume of Diamond Crystal to replace table salt. Weighing sidesteps the whole problem.

Expect to add more. Even 2 tbsp of Diamond Crystal is only about 18g across roughly 6½ lbs of meat, vegetables, and unsalted broth — under 0.5% by weight, where a finished braise usually lands closer to 1%. This is a starting point that's in the right neighborhood rather than a final answer. Taste at the end and keep going until the chile flavor snaps into focus; another 2-3 tsp would not be surprising.

Country-style ribs: These substitute well for shoulder, but check the label. You want "pork shoulder country-style ribs" or "western-style ribs," cut from the blade end with good marbling and plenty of collagen to melt over a long braise. Avoid anything labeled "pork loin country-style ribs" — they look square, uniform, and lean, and they'll dry into tough chunks over two hours.

Heat control: Serranos run roughly 3-5× hotter than jalapeños. Four is assertive, six is genuinely hot. Most of the capsaicin is in the white pith rather than the seeds themselves, so scraping some pith out of a few peppers is the way to dial it back without losing the flavor. The tomatillos' acidity balances the heat so it builds rather than just burning.

Storage: Better on the second day. Keeps 4 days refrigerated, freezes 3 months.

Serving: Warm corn tortillas, rice, or over eggs. Sour cream and raw white onion cut the heat.

Source

Generated by Gemini from a list of what was ripe in the garden, then adapted.