Chile Charred Pork

Name: Chile Charred Pork
Cook time: 150 min
Ingredients: 1 pound pork butt (cut into 1- 2 inch cubes); 1 pound pork ribs (cut into individual ribs); 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar; 1 tablespoon kosher salt; 4 guajillo chiles (stemmed and seeded); 2 chiles de árbol (preferably Chile de Yahualica from Jalisco, stemmed); 4 whole cloves (stemmed); 1 teaspoon cumin seeds; 1 tablespoon sesame seeds; ½ teaspoon dried oregano; ½ teaspoon dried thyme; 1" piece of true cinnamon or canela (or substitute 1 teaspoon ground canela); 2 garlic cloves (peeled); 1 tablespoon peeled and coarsely chopped fresh ginger; 2 ounces grated Mexican chocolate; ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Tatemado de Puerco

Recipe Yield

6 to 8 servings

Cooking time

2 hours 30 minutes

Rate this recipe

4.34 from 6 votes

Ingredients

1 pound pork butt cut into 1- 2 inch cubes
1 pound pork ribs cut into individual ribs
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
4 guajillo chiles stemmed and seeded
2 chiles de árbol preferably Chile de Yahualica from Jalisco, stemmed
4 whole cloves stemmed
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried thyme
1" piece of true cinnamon or canela or substitute 1 teaspoon ground canela
2 garlic cloves peeled
1 tablespoon peeled and coarsely chopped fresh ginger
2 ounces grated Mexican chocolate
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To Prepare

Place the pork butt and ribs in a large bowl, cover with the vinegar, sprinkle with the salt, and mix. Cover and let sit in the refrigerator for one hour.
On a preheated comal or skillet set over medium heat, toast the guajillos and chiles de árbol for a minute per side, until lightly toasted and their texture and color have changed (but don't let them burn), set aside. On the same comal or skillet, toast the stemmed cloves, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, oregano and thyme for just a minute, stirring constantly so they don’t burn. If using the piece of canela stick, toast it for a minute or two.
Place the toasted chiles as well as the garlic cloves and ginger in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until rehydrated and plumped up.
In the jar of a blender, add the rehydrated chiles, cooked garlic and ginger, and a cup of the cooking liquid. Add the toasted cloves, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, oregano, thyme, canela stick or ground cinnamon, grated chocolate, ground black pepper and puree until completely smooth. Let cool to room temperature, then cover the pork with this mixture and marinate in the refrigerator anywhere from 24 to 48 hours.
When ready to cook the meat, preheat the oven to 375°F. Remove the pork from the refrigerator. Once the oven is hot, place the pork in a baking pan or dish, cover with aluminum foil, and roast for 2 hours.
Remove the foil and roast uncovered for another 30 minutes. The meat should completely fall apart when you shred it with a fork. Eat it in lonches or tortas, or tuck it into soft corn tortillas for tacos.

Comments

32comments inChile Charred Pork

Patti C.

Mar 30

Hi Pati,
Love you, love your show and every recipe you’ve inspired me to try has not let me down. I have been watching your show for years. Thank you for sharing your kitchen skills.

Are the ribs supposed to be boneless? If not, at what point do I remove the bones? Or can I use all pork butt and get a similar result? Thanks for your advice! I hope this message finds you and yours well! 🙂

1. Pati Jinich
  
  Mar 31
  
  Use bone in ribs and remove the bones at the very end when you are shredding the meat Patti, enjoy!
  
Dave from Colorado

Mar 24

My wife and absolutely love your cooking show! We’ve prepped everything and we are trying your Chile Charred Pork tomorrow! Keep up the great work!

1. Pati Jinich
  
  Mar 31
  
  Yummy! Let me know how you liked it Dave 🙂
  
Francisco

Jan 13

Hola Pati
Me facina todo lo que presentas en tu programa especialmente lo de Guadalajara.
Soy Tapatio 100% y vivo en San Antonio pero mi corazon esta en la comida mexicana.
En nora buena te felicito

1. Pati Jinich
  
  Jan 29
  
  Muchas gracias Francisco, un abrazo hasta San Antonio 🙂
  
Bertha franco

Aug 15

Thank you Pati for all the recipes and when I cooked some of them my heart and my mind always being in my Mexico. Thanks!!!!

1. Pati Jinich
  
  Sep 05
  
  Aw, so glad to hear, gracias Bertha!
  
Ken

May 02

I can not wait to try this recipe. I saw you make it on your TV show and it looked mouth watering. I always enjoy your shows!

1. Pati Jinich
  
  May 15
  
  So happy you have been tuning in and enjoying the show Ken, gracias!
  
Louise

Mar 15

Hi Pati,
I love your shows. I am planning on making your Chile Charred Pork Sandwiches for my family for “Taco” Tuesday. They are not used to very spicy food. With all the chiles, is this pork considered hot, medium or mild heat?
Thank yo

1. Pati Jinich
  
  Mar 18
  
  I will consider it medium, but if you want to make it mild leave out the Chiles de Arbol. Guajillos are super mild and sweet. Enjoy 😉
  
Tom

Feb 03

Hi Pati and thank you for these recipes. I have a question about this Chile Charred Pork recipe: when I am ready to pour the chili blend onto the pork (you know, just before it marinates for 24-48 hours), should I first drain away the vinegar liquid which is in the bowl or should everything combine together including the chili blend PLUS vinegar?

1. Pati Jinich
  
  Feb 07
  
  Do not drain the vinegar Tom, everything has to mix together with the adobo. Enjoy!
  
Auds

Dec 16

Hola Pati, greetings from Australia. Absolutely love watching your show, it’s my favourite show ever! Made this pork dish was absolutely amazing. Bit of effort involved to find some ingredients as I live in a smallish town, but so worth it. Love watching u cook.with your boys. Keep up the great work.

1. Pati Jinich
  
  Dec 26
  
  Thanks so much! So glad you were able to get the ingredients. Un abrazo!
  
Jolynne

Nov 25

Will this recipe be in your latest cookbook? Treasures of the Mexican Table is in my Christmas list.

Hugs

1. Pati Jinich
  
  Dec 28
  
  This recipe is pretty new so no, it is not in the book Jolynne 🙂
  
Terri DeHoyos

Nov 11

Love the show and your enthusiasm. Just made the pork tortas again, they are a bjg hit and so easy to make.

1. Pati Jinich
  
  Dec 29
  
  Gracias Terry for tuning in and for giving my recipes a chance 🙂
  
Anonymous

Oct 11

Pati, I just love your shows on television. Your enthusiasm is magical. I plan on making the chile charred pork for company this weekend. I want to serve this dish in buns but won’t be making them! Can you suggest a bakery bun that may be a good substitute? Also I am not sure I can find queso panela cheese. Any store bought substitute you can suggest?

I will be serving your avocado and cucumber salad with this. Can I use creme fresh instead of Mexican cream? What would be a substitute for cotija cheese for this recipe?

I know I have asked many questions here. I trust it isn’t too much trouble to answer them. Many thanks, Pati.

1. Pati Jinich
  
  Oct 29
  
  Hola! So happy you have been tuning in and enjoying the show! I hope your dinner with friends went well, sorry that I saw this so late! I hope you found good buns and used the creme fraiche, it always works well. Instead of panela you can always use mozzarella y to substitute cotija just pick any crumbly salty cheese 🙂
  
Dave from Boca

Oct 09

Hi Pati, I really enjoyed watching your episode in Guadalajara on CreateTV. I spent four months there when I was much younger, exploring the markets, museums and all the flavors. It’s a wonderful city. I’m so excited to find this recipe here on your website to re-create the experience. Can’t wait to try it!

1. Pati Jinich
  
  Oct 12
  
  Thanks so much Dave, glad you are tuning in and enjoying the show! Hope you will like this Pork as much as I do 😉
  
Betsy

Oct 05

Absolutely delicious, Pati! I know this will be a repeat in our house.

1. Pati Jinich
  
  Oct 05
  
  So glad you guys liked it Betsy, hugs to all!
  
Patrick A Kearney

Sep 24

Love your food. But I have one question. Why the pound of ribs?

1. Pati Jinich
  
  Sep 28
  
  Basically for flavor Patrick, ribs add this delicious, slightly fatty touch to this recipe 🙂
  
AA

Sep 21

Can’t wait to try this! Are u supposed to discard the salt water and vinegar solution before adding the blended marinade? Or just add it on top?

1. Pati Jinich
  
  Oct 05
  
  Pour it on top AA and mix. Let me know how it comes out.
  
Pettia

Sep 20

Hi Pati,
I recently watched you make Chile charred pork. Looked delicious and I would like to try making it. Having a hard time finding the Chile’s and especially the chocolate. Make I ask what kind of chocolate you use? Also a substitute chocolate if I can’t find the one you use? Also, substitute Chile’s for both mentioned?
Thank you so much. Love your shows.

1. Pati Jinich
  
  Oct 05
  
  Hola Pettia, so happy you are planning to make this pork, you are going to love it. For the chocolate, use any kind of Mexican chocolate like Mayordomo, Ybarra or Abuelita, you can find them online. Dried Guajillos and chiles de arbol are very easy to find in any Latin or Hispanic Market, even some mainstream grocery stores like Safeway, Harris Teeter and Whole foods carry them these days. Good luck!

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