Don't Cry for Me, Argentina!

This week, we are observing Día de Malvinas, Day of the Veterans and Fallen of the Malvinas War (aka: the Falklands War), which is a public holiday observed on April 2, in Argentina.  It is a day set aside to pay tribute to Argentina’s fallen soldiers and citizens who were killed by the British during the occupation of the Falkland Islands which began April 2, 1982.

In reading about Argentina, I learned that cooking almost always includes asado, roasted meat.  The options out there for roasted meat recipes from Argentina are amazing.  Knowing that not everyone loves chicken as much as me, I decided to look at pork and beef recipes.  In the end, I decided to go with Bondiola, braised pork. 

Normally, I would have made this entirely on the grill but our poor little grill is on its last leg and we have not yet had a chance to look at options for replacing it.  It has lived a good life considering the fact that I grill year-round no matter what the weather.  Yes, often in the rain and, on many occasions, in snow.

I said before that Bondiola is braised, which sounds kind of fancy schmansy but really it is not.  All it means is that a combined cooking method is used.  First, the meat is seared at a high temperature to brown the outer layer then it finishes cooking at a lower temperature in a liquid.  This is an excellent method for cooking cheaper, tougher cuts of meat because the long, slow cook in liquid helps to break down the tough fibers into something that almost melts in your mouth.

Be sure to sear the pork prior to adding the liquid.

Because my poor, little grill is ailing, I decided to pan sear my pork roast in the frying pan on high heat with a little olive oil.  I cannot express how important this step is because a good sear helps seal in the juices as the meat cooks.  After searing the meat, I set it aside for a few minutes so the pan and the burner could cool while I prepped the vegetables. 

For my Bondiola, I went with Méxican grilling onions because my local grocery store did not have any other type of small onions in stock this week.  I added a couple of cloves of garlic, simply because I tend to add garlic to everything.  (Seriously, is there anything in the world that cannot be made better with garlic?  I don’t think so.)  I also added a 28-ounce can of sweet potatoes in syrup.  If you do not like sweet potatoes, you can add pretty much any kind of fruit in syrup or, I suppose, any kind of fresh fruit and some honey or maple syrup.  What I am getting at here is that you want something sweet and you want to use a bit of that sweet syrup in the dish as well. 

One other thing that I did a bit different with this recipe is that instead of a stout or “black” beer that would normally be used, I just used a regular 16-ounce can of beer in the recipe because that is what I had on hand.  If you have not guessed yet, I am a big fan of making use of what you have around so nothing goes to waste.  Using a lighter beer in the recipe will alter the flavor a bit but the resulting dish is still amazing!

The really nice thing about Bondiola is that while it may sound complicated it is really quite easy.  Searing the meat does not take very long.  Once you have everything in the pan, for the most part, you can just let it do its thing.  It should take about 3 hours to cook over medium heat.  You want the liquid to cook down quite a bit so you are left with a nice sauce.  I do pop my head into the kitchen at regular intervals just to make sure that the liquid has not completely cooked down.  This was not a problem for me but if you are cooking at too high a temperature, you do run the risk of evaporating all of the liquid so do check back a few times during the process to make sure you have not done this.

My Bondiola turned out full-flavored amazing.  I served it alongside the roasted vegetables, which literally melted in our mouths, and with a side of rice.

Ready to cook for 3 hours.

Bondiola

Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients

·        1 3 to 4-pound pork shoulder

·        Salt to taste

·        Pepper to taste

·        1 tablespoon olive oil

·        6 Méxican grilling onions or other small onions, cleaned

·        2 cloves of garlic, whole

·        1 28-ounce can of sweet potatoes in syrup

·        2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce*

·        1 bottle stout or black beer

Directions

1.   Preheat oil in pan on high heat.

2.    Season pork with salt and pepper.

3.   Sear over high heat until pork forms a golden crust on all sides.

4.   Remove pan from heat and set aside while you prepare vegetables.

5.   Add onions, garlic and sweet potatoes to pan.

6.   Drizzle meat with sweet soy sauce and 2 – 4 tablespoons of the syrup from the sweet potatoes then add the entire bottle of beer.

7.   Cover and cook for 3 hours over medium heat.  (If you are worried about doneness, use a meat thermometer to check that the internal temperature of the pork reaches at least 145°F.)

8.   Remove pan from heat and remove pork to a serving platter and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes.

9.   Slice pork across the grain and serve with the roasted vegetables and topped with liquid remaining in the pan or slice thin and serve as a sandwich.

*NOTE:  If, like me, you have trouble finding sweet soy sauce in your local grocery store, you can easily make your own by following any online recipe or by using the same recipe as I used on epicurious.com.  It was super easy to make and I was done, start to finish in about 10 minutes.  I made mine a couple of days in advance and stored it in a glass jar in the refrigerator.  Sweet soy sauce is sweeter and much thicker than standard soy sauce.

Allow the pork to rest for at least 15 minutes.

What is your favorite international recipe?  Comment below and let me know!

The liquid reduces by quite a bit.