Chile Verde (Green Chili)

Ingredients:

2kg pork shoulder, cubed
500ml chicken stock
1kg cooked rice
1 tbsp Mexican oregano
1/4 tsp ground cumin
oil
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
coriander leaves (cilantro), to garnish
limes to garnish

For the Green Sauce:
10 tomatillos (approx 500g), de-husked, stems removed and washed
3 jalapeños
2 white onions
3 poblanos (or 2 larger ones)
4 garlic cloves
1/2 bunch coriander (cilantro)

Method:

Season the pork pieces with salt and black pepper, then put aside until needed.

Add the prepared tomatillos to a roasting tin along with the rinsed poblanos and roast them in an oven pre-heated 200°C. After 15 minutes flip the poblanos over and continue cooking for about 15 more minutes until the tomatillos are disintegrating. Now remove from the oven.

In the meantime, place a pan over medium-high heat, add a splash of oil and use to brown the meat (you may need to do this in batches, cooking for around 2 minutes per side). Now add the remaining green sauce ingredients to a blender: 2 peeled onions, 3 de-stemmed jalapeños, 4 peeled garlic cloves, and 1/2 bunch of rinsed coriander (with the top part of the stems, discard the lower, thicker, parts). Once the poblanos have fully roasted, remove them from the oven and let them cool down for a few minutes. Pull off and discard as much of the skin as you can. De-stem and de-seed them. Add the poblanos and tomatillos to the blender and pulse to chop, then run the motor until everything is thoroughly combined. (You may need to process in two batches.)

Drain off any excess fat from the meat (but retain as much as you can, as it contains a lot of flavour). Add half the
chicken stock to the pan along with a little salt, to taste. Season with freshly-ground black pepper, 1 tbsp Mexican oregano, and 1/4 tsp ground cumin. Bring to a simmer, using a spatula to scrape up any bits of fond that have stuck to the base of the pan.

Add the blended green sauce to the browned pork then mix in the remaining stock. It's probably best to add the remaining stock to the blender and swish it around to extract all the leftover green bits.

At this point, bring the Chile Verde to boil, reduce to a simmer then cover and continue simmering for 2-3 hours.

Check the pork after two hours cooking. If it's tender and pulls apart easily then it's ready to serve. If it's tough then give it some more simmering time. I generally find it takes around 2 1/2 hours. Taste the chili and adjust the seasonings if needed.

Serve hot on a bed of rice and, if desired, garnish with freshly-chopped coriander leaves and add a squeeze of lime.

Spoon the chili into bowls, making sure to add plenty of the sauce, as the sauce is the key to the flavour of Chile Verde.