Green Chili Pork Stew
This is a very versatile recipe because you can make it on the stovetop or you can make it in the Instant Pot. It’s also perfect for a Dutch oven, and you can use both methods together depending on how you like to cook. You can also add spice to make it spicier, or delete if you don’t like spicy.
Before the Food Channel became the Food Network, I happened to be watching some show and the guest chef made this most wonderful stew. It had country pork ribs, tortillas, and the sauce was made in a blender. I was so impressed with what he did that I went out, bought the ingredients, and made it the very next day. It was delicious and became one of my favorites. It’s been so long that I don’t remember what it was even called, but I called it Green Chili Pork Stew.
It’s funny who your life changes over the years, different relationships, different priorities. You put your favorites away in some dusty mental attic to make room for all the other new and exciting foods. Then you find yourself on a cold, rainy day about to make Chili Colorado, when you spy some tortillas and decide at the last minute to make that wonderful stew from so very long ago.
When I made this, I didn’t have country pork ribs, I had pork stew meat, which was just as good. However, now that I’ve had it again, I’m going to go out and get some country ribs. Country-style ribs are cut from the blade end of the loin close to the pork shoulder. They are meatier than other rib cuts. They contain no rib bones but are instead contain parts of the shoulder blade (scapula).
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Green Chili Pork Stew
Equipment
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds Country-style pork ribs
- ½ cup *Flour
- 1 tablespoon bacon fat , or lard
- 1 medium Onion, chopped
- 1 clove Garlic, chopped
- 1 small can jalapenos
- 1 small can green chilies
- 1 tablespoon *chicken base
- 12 ounces hot water
- 3 corn tortillas
- ½ cup pearl onion
- 1 teaspoon Armenian Red Pepper paste
~~ --Chili Mix-- ~~
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 teaspoon chipotle
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- If you are using ribs, trim them of any excess fat. If you are using stewing meat, then cut the pieces into 1 1/2 inch or so pieces.
- Mix the ingredients for the chili mix. Put the flour in a clean paper bag, and add 1 tablespoon of the chili mix.
Stovetop Method
- Heat the bacon fat in a large skillet. Add the onion and garlic, and sauté until translucent.
- Meanwhile, put the meat into the bag and shake it all about to completely cover the meat.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon to the onion mixture and stir it up.
- In batches, sear the meat in the pot, moving it around so they all get a little of the onion/chili mixture on them. Don't crowd the pot. When all the meat has been seared, return it to the pot and take it off the heat.
Instant Pot Method
- Put the Instant Pot on Saute mode
- Heat the bacon fat. Add the onion and garlic, and sauté until translucent.
- After coating the ribs, brown them in the onion and garlic mixture already in the pot.
- Put the water or base in with the ribs and pressure cook them for 15 minutes.
For the Sauce
- In a blender, put the jalapeno and green chilies with the chicken base and hot water. For the Instant Pot method, just put in the base and the juices from the ribs.
- Char the tortillas on the stovetop, then break them up into the blender.
- Puree the mixture, then add that to the meat in the pan.
- For the Stovetop Method, put on low heat, cover, and stew until the meat is tender, about 30 to 45 minutes. For the Instant Pot Method, put the pot on Saute and pour the sauce into the pot making sure the ribs are well coated and the sauce is heated.
- Add the pearl onions and the Armenian red pepper sauce, and stir to combine.
That looks really good, can you make it with flour tortillas?
I imagine you could, but the taste and texture would be way off. Go with corn, it’s healthier, less fat. Oddly enough, in the research I have been doing, the corn that is used to make corn tortillas does not seem to be genetically modified, so if your concern is about GMO, you might be safe. I know that Mexico is not allowing any genetically modified crops, so if you can get to a Hispanic market, that would be the way to go.
Hello! I just want to offer you a big thumbs up for your great recipe. I will be returning to your blog for more soon. Do you have more Mexican recipes that you haven’t posted yet?
I constantly emailed this post page to all my friends, I think they will enjoy this recipe as much as I did.