While I was visiting my familia in Monterrey, Mexico in 2011, I was asked to prepare a dish to pass for the big family reunion. The first thing that came to mind was my mom’s recipe for pork chile colorado (red). If I had to pick one dish of hers that was my favorite, it would have to be this one for sure. I think all of my brothers and sisters would agree with me on this one. This was also my first time cooking in a big Mexican cazuela! I loved it! My familia enjoyed the dish that night, and it was my way of having my mom there with me, sharing her foods as she loved to do… #foodieforlife #mexicanfood
Every Time I Watch This Video, I Get Hungry For Asado!
Dried Chile Pods!
What would my life be like without dried chile pods? Boring! If I remember correctly, mom strictly used chile ancho for this recipe. I like to add a mix of ancho and guajillo. Her spices, cumin, garlic, oregano and pepper, were minimal. Some recipes call for a little cinnamon, cloves and thyme. I have even seen where people add a splash of apple cider vinegar.
Dried Chile Pods
Re-hydrated Chile Pods
Not Cooking For Eight?
You don’t have to commit to a whole pork roast when preparing this recipe. Simply choose bone in pork country-style ribs or pork steaks and cut the ingredients in half! It’s that easy.
Bone In Ribs Add more flavor to the recipe!
Pork Country Style Ribs Can Be Substituted For The Pork Butt/Shoulder! Delicious!
In a hurry to eat? Pressure Cooker!
When I need to cook the pork in a hurry, I dust off my pressure cooker. I only do this when preparing half the recipe. Cook the pork in lightly salted water for 40 minutes under pressure. While the pork is cooking prepare the sauce and fry it in a little oil or pork lard on medium/low heat. When the pork is ready, add your chile sauce as instructed and simmer for 25 minutes. The meat will shred easily if you enjoy that texture. If not, reduce the cooking time of the pork by 10 minutes and finish cooking after you add the sauce to the pressure cooker.
On this particular day I cooked the pork meat ahead in the pressure cooker and finished it in the cazuela. I did not add any potatoes. You will season and sear the meat in the pressure cooker and then add the blended chile colorado sauce with some broth before cooking under pressure for 1 hour. For a more shredded version cook under pressure for a total of 90 minutes.
When the asado de puerco cooks down for an extra long time and begins to shred easily, those are some amazing tacos!
Tips~For a variation, you could slice the pork and simmer it in water with salt, onion and garlic, until tender. You could then use that pork broth in the recipe instead of using chicken broth.
Here is a picture from my trip to Monterrey, Mexico. While visiting my family, I prepared a large cazuela of Asado de Puerco-Chile Colorado for the family reunion.
I wanted to add these new pictures to show the difference in color using only chile ancho. The older the peppers are, the darker the sauce will be. I only used chile ancho this time, no other peppers.
People often ask, why add the potatoes? Why not? As far back as I can remember, my Mom always added them in. It’s so delicious to have that tender, saucy pork with a crispy potato in the mix.
If you are fortunate enough to live where the chile ancho is abundant and fresh, you will yield a brighter red sauce. As the peppers age, they get darker and are not as soft, yielding a darker sauce as well.
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Asado de Puerco-Chile Colorado
Ingredients
Chile Sauce
- 10 chile ancho peppers(or pasilla), 140 grams
- 6 guajillo peppers, 60 grams
- 1 1/2 tsps salt
- 1 inch piece Mexican canela
- 4 whole cloves
- 4 cups chicken broth, pork broth or water
You Also Need
- 4 tbsps Avocado oil or pork lard
- 4 pounds pork butt or shoulder cut into 1-inch pieces, if there is bone, don't weigh that with the 4 lbs. of meat. That's extra
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin or fresh ground cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons granulated garlic
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
- 1 1/2-2 teaspoons Mexican oregano crushed between the palms of your hands
- Salt to taste
- 1 medium white onion finely diced
- 6 large cloves of garlic minced
- 2-3 cups of broth/stock pork or chicken
- 2 Medium Russet potatoes, 600 grams washed, cut into 1 inch cubes, fried until crispy and drained onto paper towels
Instructions
Directions
- Remove the stems and seeds from the dried peppers, transfer them to a large saucepan with 6 c of simmering water. Cook on low for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand in water for another 10 minutes. If you prefer, you can lightly toast the peppers after removing the stems and seeds on a medium/low heated griddle or comal for 20-30 seconds per side. This brings out more flavor. Add to simmering water as instructed above.
- In a large pot, preheat 4 tablespoons of oil or pork lard to medium/high heat for 5 minutes. While the oil preheats, season the pork with cumin, granulated garlic, pepper, oregano and salt. Sear the seasoned pork in batches in preheated oil, turning as needed. You want to sear and brown the the pork at a high heat until it gets nice and brown in most spots. Transfer seared pork to a plate. Sear the remaining pork.
- When peppers are soft, drain water and transfer to the blender. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, cinnamon, cloves and 4 cups broth. Blend on high until smooth, set aside. For a smoother sauce, strain it using a wire mesh strainer. I prefer the strained sauce. If you have a power blender, like me, there's no need to strain the chile sauce.
- Add the onions and minced garlic to the pork and cook for a 5-7 minutes. Add all of the sauce from the blender to the pork. Stir well to combine. Taste for salt. Lower the heat and cook mostly covered until pork is tender. This could take 1 1/2 hours or more. If it becomes too thick, you could add 2 cups of reserved broth.
- Fry the potatoes at medium heat until crisp and golden while the pork finishes cooking. Add potatoes to the pork during the last 20 minutes of cooking time. Heat just until warmed through. This was one of my mom’s signature dishes always served with warm, homemade flour tortillas.
Video
Notes
Reader Interactions
Comments
Trackbacks
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[…] La Piña en La Cocina, a very popular blog published by my dear friend Sonia Méndez García. With Sonia I identify myself a lot because she is norteña like me and publishes classic Mexican cuisine favorites as well as her family memories, stories of her childhood and experiences in the kitchen with her mother, the center of her universe and inspiration in her kitchen. […]
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[…] The older peppers will yield a dark red, sometimes chocolate looking color. Both delicious! Click Asado de Puerco recipe here to see the difference in colors of the chile ancho […]
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[…] I used to believe that dried chiles were only for preparing Mexican recipes, such as Chile Colorado Chile Colorado or Red Chile Pork for […]
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[…] Meat is cooked on a spit that can be rotated for hours meaning the meat becomes tender and falls off the bone. Asado is eaten with Chilean salad and local red wine and is also popular in Uruguay. You can find a great Chilean asado recipe here. […]
Would Love to Hear From You
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I’ve got a list of recipes as long as my arm that I’m dying to make from your site! This one looks amazing! Love the idea of adding fried potatoes.
My mom always added the fried potatoes to her chile colorado. And that fried potato flavor is just so delicious covered in all that sauce!
Is this the same recipe you used from that batch you gave me? I believe it was sans potatoes but it had beans if I’m not mistaken.
I don’t recall ever adding beans to chile colorado. And I shared it with you? Lol! I don’t remember Alan.
wish you had print friendly recipes
LaDonna, give me 10 minutes and I can make it print friendly. I have hundreds of recipes that I have not gone through yet. I guess I did not realize I didn’t do that one yet. Hold on for 10 minutes.
It is print friendly already. Do you see where it says print under the little picture where the recipe starts?
Are the chiles you use dried?
Yes, the peppers are dried chiles for this recipe.
I have updated the post and added pictures of the dried chiles.
Absolutely delicious! I mad it exactly as written except the leftover potatoes I was going to use got gobbled before dinner so I didn’t do potatoes. Thank you for this delicious recipe!
Oh good!! That recipe is near and dear to my heart! Reminds me so much of my Mom.
What a wonderful interesting site thank you for sharing about your beautiful family and the recipes are so mouth watering.i am anxious in making the above. Thank you again Sincerely 🌹
This is wonderful Bernie! So happy you found my site! This recipe is near and dear to my heart!
Should the pork be simmered covered or open?
I cook it partially covered most of the time.
I know this is a long shot but here it goes…So I will take this to a family tomorrow, it is 11:34 PM. I made it a day ahead because I work. I will come home and reheat and take it over to their house. Should I add the fried potatoes right now or tomorrow when I reheat it?
I am so sorry for the late response Maria. I would add the potatoes as directed in the recipe. They will be much more flavorful once reheated.
Sonia This recipe is the “Bomb” The only place I was able to enjoy this much love on a plate beside being at home was a little restaurant in Monterey Park CA that only served it once a week Now I enjoy it all the time. Thank you and your Mom for the love !!!
Daniel, thank you! It’s a recipe near and dear to my heart for sure!
Hi Sonia, I made the sauce, but only had guajuillo and pasilla dried chili’s on hand. 13 guajillo, 5 pasilla. I fried the strained sauce and it just tasted bitter. I did not use as much broth, maybe that was my problem. Any suggestions for a bitter flavored sauce?
Hi Cathy! Sometimes if the dried chiles are older it can yield a bitter sauce. Did you use any of the cooking water to blend the chiles? I typically use broth or fresh water to avoid bitter flavors in the sauce. If I do notice a bitter flavor I cook the sauce with a couple splashes of apple cider vinegar and make sure I am seasoning well. Some people suggest adding a little sugar, but I have never done that.
And, yes, adding more broth and letting it cook down ma help as well.
So what happens to the meat seasonings when using the pressure cooker?
Not sure I understand your question? What happens is that everything cooks together, and you have the most tender version of asado de puerco. If I prepare it on the pressure cooker, I sesaon and sear the pork just as I would in the stove top version before adding the chile colorado sauce and broth, if needed