One-Pot Wonders

Vinha d'alhos - Portuguese Pork

September 20, 2015
0
0 Ratings
Photo by Haute in Paradise ||
  • Serves 6
Author Notes

This is a one pot solution to my grandmother's vinegar marinaded pork. Packed with garlic and chili peppers and boneless pork and cooked to fork tender. —Haute in Paradise ||

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 3 pounds Pork Shoulder/Pork Butt (Boneless)
  • 2.5 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1.5 cups White Wine
  • 1 Head of Garlic - Peeled and Smashed
  • 3 Bay Leaves
  • 4 sprigs Fresh Thyme
  • 6 Chili peppers, de-stemmed and de-seeded
  • 1 tablespoon Chili pepper water optional
  • 2 tablespoons Shoyu - soy sauce
  • 1 cup All purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup Olive Oil
  • 1 Onion - sliced
  • 2 Carrots - cut into circles
  • 1 Celery - chopped
  • 4 Large baking potatoes - peeled and cut in half length wise
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 325F.
  2. Cube pork into large chunks about 3” x 3” then salt and pepper. Using fresh cracked black pepper and Hawaiian rock salt really elevates this dish. Then dredge the pork in flour and place on the side.
  3. Using a large Dutch oven heat olive oil to on high heat. When the oil is ready start browning each side of the chunks of pork. Make sure to brown each side. When done browning the pieces remove and put aside. I suggest putting a large piece of tin foil on the counter next to the stove and letting the pork rest there while you brown the other pieces.
  4. Turn heat down to medium and place onions, garlic, and carrots in the pot. If there isn’t a lot of olive oil left on the bottom of the pan don’t be afraid to add 2 more tablespoons of olive oil. Sautee the veggies for about 4 minutes. Make sure to scrap up the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Then pour in wine, shoyu, vinegar, and chili pepper water, and chili peppers. Finally add the bay leaves, and thyme. Bring to a simmer then add meat back into the pot. I pour all the extra juices that the tin foil might have gathered will I made the sauce.
  5. Place in the oven and cook for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Open the lid and then place potatoes around in the pan. Put back in the oven and continue cooking for about 45 minutes. The meat should be tender to a fork. Remove the bay leaves and the thyme sprigs, discard.
Contest Entries

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Simone Girard
    Simone Girard
  • Smaug
    Smaug
  • Peter Machado
    Peter Machado
  • Lynn D.
    Lynn D.

6 Reviews

Simone G. June 11, 2020
Nope, nope, nope. This is all vinegar tasting. The pork should be marinated in this mixture of vinegar, soy sauce, etc then salt, peppered, and fried. After sauté of veggies then add broth of choice to equal what the vinegar mixture was. Otherwise the other way the vinegar is just way to much and unedible.
 
Peter M. October 22, 2020
Hi Simone
How would I marinate - would I use just the ingredients - vinegar, wine,soysauce - exactly the measurements from the recipe? (Ok I'm very new to this)
Thanks
 
Peter M. October 22, 2020
I also realize I'm replying to a 2 year old comment. Here is the recipe url
https://food52.com/recipes/38408-vinha-d-alhos-portuguese-pork
 
Smaug July 13, 2018
This recipe needs clarification- "chili peppers" could mean any of several hundred things- some authors use the term for any sort of peppers at all; the author seems to mean dried peppers, presumably soaked since he speaks of "chili water", though soaking isn't mentioned in the directions. It could still be any sort of pepper from an Ancho to a Tuxtla. Peppers are not, at any rate, a traditional ingredient of this dish.
 
A November 25, 2018
Chili pepper water is chopped up Hawaiian chili peppers in water. Hawaiichili pepper are fresh and small, about 1.5” long but hot. I don’t know the Scoville rating forthem, but definitely hotter thanThai chili peppers. People generally have it as a chaser by the teaspoon when eating Hawaii food.
 
Lynn D. June 27, 2018
I'm excited to try this. I have eaten pork vindaloo at Indian restaurants and am looking forward to trying the original Portuguese dish.