Asado de Puerco 

Our quest began when my mom and I decided to cook a meal for her brothers and sisters, a large family of ten, whom she had not seen since the pandemic started more than a year ago. Her idea was to make “Asado de Puerco” and her challenge was to make it as delicious as her sister's, my aunt Dora. 

The recipe calls for two kilos of meat but we made a total of five kilos! To our surprise, we had to use two large pots, so we ended up stirring our own pot of meat. It was fun! Two hours later, a couple of mistakes and left over chile mix, we ended up with our version of Asado. 

This was truly a special experience, I got to cook with my mom, something I had not done since I was a child. We had a blast! I hope you can try this recipe with a loved one and create happy memories and why not make it a traditon. 

This blog is dedicated to my aunt Dora who shared her recipe with us and my mom who made it possible. Tradition is definitely passed on by word of mouth and this is exactly what the recipe is, a perpetuation of flavours and good memories that got turned into a beautiful dish!

Ingredients

• 2 guajillo chilies, remove stems and seeds 
• 2 ancho chili pepper, remove stems and seeds 
• 4 cloves of garlic 
• 1k pork leg, cut in medium cubes 
• 1k pork ribs cut in medium cubes 
• 1 bay leaf (laurel) 
• 1 tbsp dried oregano leaves 
• ½ tbsp ground cumin 
• ½ tbsp ground thyme 
• ½ tbsp ground pepper 
• ¼ cup white vinegar 
• 5 cups of water for the chiles 
• 2 cups of stock (your choice) 
• Salt to taste 
• Lard (optional) or vegetable oil 

Directions  

Boil 5 cups of water and put aside. Soak the dried chiles in the water until they soften. Remove them from the water, blend, strain and reserve. 

Heat a large pot over medium heat and place the meat in the pot. Season it with the oregano leaves. To release the flavour of the oregano, crush it with your hands, add the bay leaf, the white vinegar and cover. 

When the meat has released its juice, separate 1 cup to blend with the chiles, garlic, 2 cups of stock and the rest of the spices. 

Continue cooking the meat and stir occasionally until it is soft and the juices evaporate completely. Taste it for salt. 

Let the meat fry in its own fat, if there is not enough fat in your pot, you can add a couple of tbsp of lard and fry until you have a lovely crisp crackling. Stir occasionally. 

Add the liquefied chile mix, cook over medium low heat stirring from time to time until the sauce is well cooked and the meat soft, about 30 min. Taste it for salt again. 

Optional: garnish with pickled red onions and fresh cilantro.   

 Serve with AlbaLisa Organic White Corn Tortillas . 

Happy Cooking!