Sweet Chipotle Pork
A slow-baked Sunday dish from Veracruz home kitchens — pork shredded back into a glossy chipotle-and-prune sauce, with fresh orange juice doing the tenderising.
Start the night before — soak the prunes and marinate the pork.
Ingredients
- 1.2kgpork leg, cut into 4–5cm chunks (will be shredded)
- 18gsea salt (about 1 tbsp)
- 40gwhite onion, roughly chopped
- 10ggarlic (2–3 cloves)
- 140mlfresh orange juice (not from a carton)
- 200gpitted prunes, soaked overnight in water
- 4gdried chipotle chillies (1–2 chillies), deseeded
- 14gchicken stock powder (about 1 tbsp)
- 60mlvegetable oil (about 4 tbsp)
Method
- The night before: soak the prunes in cold water to hydrate. Cover and leave overnight.
- Marinate the pork: in a bowl, combine the pork chunks with the salt, onion, garlic, and fresh orange juice. Cover and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes — overnight is better.
- When ready to cook, toast the dried chipotle in a dry pan over medium heat for 2–3 minutes, turning often. This wakes up the smoke before blending.
- Make the sauce: drain the prunes and blend with the toasted chipotle and chicken stock powder until smooth. Add a splash of water if it needs loosening.
- Heat the oil in a heavy ovenproof pan or roasting tin over medium-high heat. Lift the pork out of the marinade and sear on all sides until deeply browned.
- Pour the chipotle sauce over the seared pork, coating every piece. Cover the tin tightly with foil.
- Bake at 160°C fan (180°C conventional) for 1.5–2 hours, until the pork is fork-tender.
- Shred in the sauce, not after: pull the pork apart directly in the tin with two forks. The strands soak up the glossy chipotle and prune sauce as you go — this is the step that makes the dish.
- Rest 5 minutes, then serve warm with corn tortillas, rice, or as a taco filling.