Coconut Braised Pork Shoulder

Earlier this week, Mark Bittman had a recipe for Coconut-Braised Beef on his blog. Maybe I was hungry because I had nothing for lunch on Friday but a sweet potato, but when I saw that recipe, I made the executive decision that I would make it this weekend. I had pretty much everything I needed except coconut milk, and being obsessed, I of course went to the grocery at 9:30 on a Friday night in the middle of a snowstorm after drinking Miller Lites all evening at happy hour.

Then, when I got home I realized that I did not have a beef chuck roast in my freezer, I had a pork shoulder. Since I was not about to venture back into the not-quite Class 3 killstorm for some beef, I decided pork would have to do. And let me tell you, it did just fine. In fact, it was pretty spectacular, and was a delicious dish on a cold, snowy night.

Coconut Braised Pork Shoulder a la Mark Bittman

2-3 hot dried red chilies (remove some of the seeds to lessen the heat)

4 garlic cloves, peeled

2 inch piece of of ginger, peeled and chopped coarsely

1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tsp. onion powder

Juice and zest of 2 limes

1 tsp. salt

Fresh ground pepper

Canola oil

3.5 lb pork shoulder

1 cup beef broth

2 cans (14.5 oz) coconut milk (regular or light)

salt to taste

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Pulse chilies, garlic, ginger, chili powder, onion powder, lime juice and zest, salt, and a couple cranks of fresh ground pepper in a food processor until a paste forms.

2. Sprinkle pork shoulder liberally with salt and set aside. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a dutch oven or oven proof pot. Add the spice paste and cook until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Add the pork shoulder to the pot, spooning the spice paste over the meat.

3. Brown the shoulder on all sides. Remove the pork from the pot, and deglaze the pot with the beef broth, add the pork shoulder back to the pot and add the two cans of coconut milk.

4. Put the lid on the pot and put the pot in the oven for 3-4 hours. You can peek in occasionally and baste the shoulder with the sauce. It's done when the meat just starts collapsing and the fat has melted and pulled away:

5. Remove the shoulder to a separate place and remove the remaining large pieces of fat. Pour the sauce into a measuring cup and skim the fat off the top. Return the trimmed pork to the pot with the sauce. Serve with rice, or roasted cauliflower. Yum!