Third time’s the charm? After two disappointing tries, I finally had a success!!! I loosely followed the recipe featured here. I made just enough for myself again so I quartered the recipe. I didn’t have chile powder, ancho chile powder, or cinnamon sticks so I omitted those. I used olive oil instead of canola oil to brown the meat. I added coriander and increased the amount of cumin (so about 1/4tsp each for just 1lb of meat). I also chopped up a quarter of a poblano pepper (ancho chile is just dried poblano pepper after all) and added that into the water as well.
The result? Perfect texture! I loved the cripsy brown edges and soft insides. The meat tore apart very easily, but still had substance. The fatty parts were especially delicious! The pork flavor definitely came out this time, highlighted by the subtle flavors of the spices. It did need a little acid – some fresh lime juice did the trick!
I will definitely make this again. I might try staying truer to the recipe and buy the chile powders for next time. But I have another recipe that I want to try next. It requires lard!! I’ve never cooked with lard before and I am pretty excited!
Paleo Adventure 