A story goes with me making this in the wee hours today. A young man , at my age I can call a 41 year old a young man. When he was young in High School he worked for us in our Bicycle Shop. He was a avid cyclist and raced all over our part of the world. He also loved to hunt. After school he joined the Army. Which became his career. From time to time over the years he’d drop by when passing. He’d become a sniper and was sent all the world. It was always good to see him and talk about things. He’s like our son.
I got a phone call from him the other day and he said he was coming into town and wanted to see us. That was super !! But then he told me was now disabled, that crushed me to say the least. We didn’t talk about what happened then but about his wife and kids , the positive things he’s involved in now and the old times. I figure we can talk about what happened when he gets here. He’s always liked my Caribbean cooking so I thought this dish and a few beers could ease things for me.
Being me I added to this basic recipe !! I used a lot more green onions , garlic, cilantro , and peppers. I also used red bells and Trinidad Congo's and a lot more than a 1/4 of a hot pepper like the recipe called for. I have a bunch of Trinidad Perfumes so I tossed in a handful of those.I love the aroma they add. Other additions I made were carrots , okra, more tomatoes, and Goya brand Dry Pigeon Peas. Goya Pigeon Peas come in Green , which means they were canned “fresh” like sweet peas or Dry which means they were dried then cooked like pintos or black beans.
Another thing I did differently was I “seasoned” the pork like I do my chicken. I added the pork to most of the vegetables and let them sit over night. I didn’t use the pigeon peas, tomatoes, okra ( I used frozen) or tomatoes. I prefer to add those at later stages of the cooking process. Then I scrape off the veggie seasoning mix and start browning the pork.
One of things that I like that Trinidadian's do and that is different than any other style I’ve seen is they use brown sugar in the cooking oil. They let it get almost caramelized then brown what ever meat they’re using. Pretty sweet .... that’s a joke ! It works neat.
Below is the recipe I started with. The pictures are as I added the veggie seasoning mix to the pork, the next is just the finished stew in my caldron of love. I’m letting it sit and later I’ll make white rice , mashed yams with thyme and butter , a salad. Maybe some fruit too. I’ll try to take a few plated shots also.
Peace,
P. Dreadie
.......................................................................................................................................................
Trinidad Pork Stew
3lbs pork – cubed into 3/4 inch pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 cloves of garlic – thinly sliced or crushed
1 teaspoon fresh or bottled ginger – sliced. (use 1/2 if it’s ginger powder)
2 tablespoon vegetable oil (one that can withstand high heat)
1 medium onion – chopped
1 medium tomato – chopped
2 tablespoon cilantro (or 2 tbs Trinidad green meat seasoning)
1 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
3 cups water
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 hot pepper (only if you like your food spicy)
1 green onion or chive – chopped
2 sprigs of fresh thyme (1 teaspoon dried)
1 lime or lemon or 3 tablespoons of vinegar
1 small shallot
Prepare the seasoning mix by dicing the onion, pepper, ginger, green onion, garlic, cilantro, shallot and tomato.
Time to get cooking. In a heavy bottom pot add the oil over high heat. As the oil starts to smoke or move along freely in the pot add the sugar. With a long handle spoon (to avoid splatters onto your hand) move the sugar around. You’re looking for the sugar to melt, change color and get to the point when it’s ready to caramelize.
Quickly start adding the seasoned pork as the sugar starts looking like the picture above. Stir around to evenly coat all the pieces of meat. Then lower the heat and simmer covered for about 10-15 minutes.
Now uncover the pot and raise the heat to high. We’re trying to get rid of all the natural juices that formed while it was simmering. In the meantime, add the 3 cups of water to the bowl that had the seasoned pork. We’re trying to pick up any bits of seasonings that were left behind.
As soon as all the liquid is gone and all the pieces of pork is evenly browned, add the 3 cups of water ( I used chicken stock )and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat, cover and let simmer for about 40-45 minutes. We’d like to get a nice thick gravy and have the pieces of pork as tender as possible. If after the 45 minutes you have too much liquid, be sure to turn up the heat and let some burn off.
I got a phone call from him the other day and he said he was coming into town and wanted to see us. That was super !! But then he told me was now disabled, that crushed me to say the least. We didn’t talk about what happened then but about his wife and kids , the positive things he’s involved in now and the old times. I figure we can talk about what happened when he gets here. He’s always liked my Caribbean cooking so I thought this dish and a few beers could ease things for me.
Being me I added to this basic recipe !! I used a lot more green onions , garlic, cilantro , and peppers. I also used red bells and Trinidad Congo's and a lot more than a 1/4 of a hot pepper like the recipe called for. I have a bunch of Trinidad Perfumes so I tossed in a handful of those.I love the aroma they add. Other additions I made were carrots , okra, more tomatoes, and Goya brand Dry Pigeon Peas. Goya Pigeon Peas come in Green , which means they were canned “fresh” like sweet peas or Dry which means they were dried then cooked like pintos or black beans.
Another thing I did differently was I “seasoned” the pork like I do my chicken. I added the pork to most of the vegetables and let them sit over night. I didn’t use the pigeon peas, tomatoes, okra ( I used frozen) or tomatoes. I prefer to add those at later stages of the cooking process. Then I scrape off the veggie seasoning mix and start browning the pork.
One of things that I like that Trinidadian's do and that is different than any other style I’ve seen is they use brown sugar in the cooking oil. They let it get almost caramelized then brown what ever meat they’re using. Pretty sweet .... that’s a joke ! It works neat.
Below is the recipe I started with. The pictures are as I added the veggie seasoning mix to the pork, the next is just the finished stew in my caldron of love. I’m letting it sit and later I’ll make white rice , mashed yams with thyme and butter , a salad. Maybe some fruit too. I’ll try to take a few plated shots also.
Peace,
P. Dreadie
.......................................................................................................................................................
Trinidad Pork Stew
3lbs pork – cubed into 3/4 inch pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 cloves of garlic – thinly sliced or crushed
1 teaspoon fresh or bottled ginger – sliced. (use 1/2 if it’s ginger powder)
2 tablespoon vegetable oil (one that can withstand high heat)
1 medium onion – chopped
1 medium tomato – chopped
2 tablespoon cilantro (or 2 tbs Trinidad green meat seasoning)
1 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
3 cups water
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 hot pepper (only if you like your food spicy)
1 green onion or chive – chopped
2 sprigs of fresh thyme (1 teaspoon dried)
1 lime or lemon or 3 tablespoons of vinegar
1 small shallot
Prepare the seasoning mix by dicing the onion, pepper, ginger, green onion, garlic, cilantro, shallot and tomato.
Time to get cooking. In a heavy bottom pot add the oil over high heat. As the oil starts to smoke or move along freely in the pot add the sugar. With a long handle spoon (to avoid splatters onto your hand) move the sugar around. You’re looking for the sugar to melt, change color and get to the point when it’s ready to caramelize.
Quickly start adding the seasoned pork as the sugar starts looking like the picture above. Stir around to evenly coat all the pieces of meat. Then lower the heat and simmer covered for about 10-15 minutes.
Now uncover the pot and raise the heat to high. We’re trying to get rid of all the natural juices that formed while it was simmering. In the meantime, add the 3 cups of water to the bowl that had the seasoned pork. We’re trying to pick up any bits of seasonings that were left behind.
As soon as all the liquid is gone and all the pieces of pork is evenly browned, add the 3 cups of water ( I used chicken stock )and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat, cover and let simmer for about 40-45 minutes. We’d like to get a nice thick gravy and have the pieces of pork as tender as possible. If after the 45 minutes you have too much liquid, be sure to turn up the heat and let some burn off.
