Pork Carnitas Torta Ahogada
I don’t want to bury the lead here so I’ll start out by saying: DON’T PASS THIS UP BECAUSE YOU HATE SANDWICHES OR IT HAS TOO MANY INGREDIENTS. Just make the pork carnitas from this dish and move on along: It’s lights out. But first, read this post...
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Let’s just say you’re a big fan of Diners Drive ins and Dives. Let’s also say that you and the fam watch it often on the Food Network, drooling over the gluttonous dishes and taking notes of all the dives you want to hit one day...so you, too, can experience Flavortown USA. But then let’s say there’s a global pandemic, making it impossible to travel the country and leaving you licking the TV screen in sadness and despair. Wah wah waaaaaaaaah.
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Ok. I’m not saying that hypothetical situation is ME exactly...but I will admit that I’m so sick of my own food that the sight of anyone other than me cooking ridiculously decadent food in a restaurant is oddly satisfying and super exciting. It also makes me extremely hungry and kind of bummed out but you take the good with the bad.
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Last weekend my husband and I stumbled upon a Triple-D episode featuring a Portland dive called Guero. The chef made a Mexican sandwich called Torta Ahogada and I had to pick my husbands jaw up off the ground as she assembled it with Guy Fieri providing colorful commentary. Picture this: toasted bolillo roll, loaded with pork carnitas, a simple white onion-habanero slaw, queso fresco and then drowned in a red chile sauce once plated. Fun Fact: Torta Ahogada translates to drowned sandwich so expect this bread to be saturated in flavor and spice with every bite.
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Cut to Jory, licking his chops. And Cue his wife, offering to attempt to recreate it for him. I took the liberty to make a few changes, adding a Cilantro Lime Aioli and subbing in Pickled Onions & Jalepeños but the gist is the same. Craving satisfied, but I’ll definitely be hitting up Guero in PDX one day to see how I did!
STEP BY STEP PICTURES:
Torta Ahogada
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon coriander
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 pounds pork shoulder roast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup broth, any kind
- 1 cup orange juice, fresh squeezed or store-bought
- ¼ cup fresh squeezed lime juice
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon oregano leaves
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 15oz can diced fire-roasted tomatoes, undrained
- 15oz can tomato sauce
- 4oz can green chiles, undrained
- 2 chipotle chiles in adobo, from the can PLUS
- 1 tablespoon adobo sauce, from the can of chipotles in adobo above
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ cup cilantro leaves
- ⅔ cup mayonnaise
- Zest from 1 lime
- 2 tablespoons fresh squeeze lime juice
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ red onion, halved and sliced thin
- 2 jalapeños, thinly sliced
- 1 cup red wine vinegar
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cup shredded cabbage
- Fresh lime
- Crumbled queso fresco
- 4 sandwich rolls, or a long loaf cut into 4 pieces
Instructions:
- Click the sauté setting on the Instant Pot. Add the oil, followed by half of the pork, and sear, turning every 30 seconds, until the pork is browned on all sides. Transfer pork to a separate plate, and repeat with the remaining pork, searing until it has browned on all sides. Press cancel to turn off the heat.
- Place the pork back in the instant pot. Pour in broth, orange juice and lime juice. Close lid securely and cook on high pressure for 30 minutes, followed by a 15 minute natural release.
- CROCK POT INSTRUCTIONS:
- Coat the pork in half of the rub as instructed above, then place it in the crock pot along with the broth, orange juice & lime juice. Cook on high for 7 hours and follow the recipe as instructed below.
- Place the oven rack 6” from the top coils and turn the broiler on high.
- Once the natural release is over, remove the lid and transfer the pork to the sheet tray and spread it out into one even layer. Shred the port with two forks or a set of tongs. Reserve the carnitas stock, this is GOLD. Sprinkle the other half of the spice rub over the top of the carnitas and pour about ⅓ cup of the stock over the pork. Place the sheet tray on the top rack of the oven and broil for 6-8 minutes depending on how hot your broiler runs. Remove once the meat is brown and crispy. Drizzle another ¼ cup of carnitas broth over the top. Save this broth in case you need it in the future to moisten dry meat, make a gravy or use as a soup stock (hello, Pozole, anyone??)
- Place butter in a large saucepan on medium heat. Once melted, whisk in the flour constantly for about 1 ½ minutes. This is called a roux and it thickens the sauce. Add all the spices and continue to whisk in. It’ll be clumpy and that’s ok. Pour in the vegetable stock, lime juice, vinegar, fire-roasted tomatoes (and their juices), tomato sauce, green chiles (and their juices), 2 whole chipotle chiles in adobo from the can and 1 tablespoon of the sauce from that can. Bring to a boil, then once you see those big bubbles, reduce it to a simmer for about 15 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender or a large food processor until smooth. Reserve.
- Place all ingredients in a mini food processor and puree until fully chopped and well blended.
- Place the onions and jalepeños in a medium heat-resistant bowl. Bring vinegar, sugar and salt to a low simmer in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves, about 3 - 4 minutes. Pour vinegar mixture over onions and let cool to room temperature.
- Toast the rolls just until lightly browned. Squeeze the juice of one lime over the shredded cabbage and toss well. Spread each side of the roll with a generous shmear of Cilantro Lime Aioli. Top one side of the roll with a scoop of pulled pork. Sprinkle some queso fresco on top. Add a small scoop of pickled onions/jalepeños and a spoonful of the cabbage-lime slaw. Set the other half of the toasted roll over the top and place on a plate. Ladle ½ cup of Ahogada sauce over the top of the sandwich, letting the sauce pool onto the plate for more dipping.