When you step up to a tacos de guisados place like Tacos El Güero or El Jarocho in Mexico City, you can count on one of the earthenware cazuelas bubbling with tender pork and the green you may know as purslane. Your encounters with purslane, however, may not have been in the kitchen, but instead in the garden where we’re taught that it’s a weed to get rid of. If that’s you, you’re missing out on true deliciousness. In Europe, they love its crunch in salads, but Mexico has long championed its lemony flavor in simmered preparations, almost always rich with pork and bright with tomatoes or tomatillos. One taste of this dish and you’ll understand how the homey flavors trigger my Mexican friends to say, “This tastes just like my grandma’s kitchen.”
Most well-stocked Mexican groceries (and in a lot of farmers markets around Chicago) display purslane under signs that read “verdolagas.” At first, you may be surprised by their stemminess, but below I guide you through how to prepare them for the dish. I love this tomato version with a little chorizo, but to make the green version, I replace the tomatoes with tomatillos (before blending, roast them under a hot broiler until softened and blackened, about 6 minutes on each side) and increase the pork to 1 ¼ pounds.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 tablespoons fresh-rendered pork lard, bacon drippings or vegetable oil
- 1 pound pork shoulder, cut into pieces a little smaller than 1 inch
- Salt
- 1/4 pound Mexican chorizo, casing removed
- 1/2 medium white onion, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 15 1/2-ounce can tomatoes (fire-roasted for the best flavor) ---OR--- 1 pound plum tomatoes (like San Marzanos for the best texture), roughly chopped
- 2 canned chipotles en adobe, , plus a tablespoon or so of their canning liquid
- 8 ounces potatoes, cut into pieces a little less than ½”
- A 10-ounce bunch of purslane (verdolagas), top 2-inches of each stem cut off (where the majority of the leaves are) and mixed with all remaining leaves (about 4 cups)
- 12 warm corn tortillas
- About 1/2 cup crumbled Mexican queso fresco or other fresh cheese such as feta or goat cheese
INSTRUCTIONS
Brown the pork and chorizo. In a very large (12-inch) skillet, heat the lard or oil over medium-high. When hot, sprinkle the pork with salt and brown it in batches, turning the pieces until richly colored on all sides. Remove to a plate. When all the pork is browned and removed, reduce the heat to medium and add the chorizo and onion. Stir regularly, breaking up clumps, until the chorizo is fully cooked and the onion is beginning to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute more.
Blend the tomatoes and chiles, simmer the dish. While the chorizo is cooking, in a blender jar, combine the tomatoes, chipotles and canning liquid. Blend to a coarse-textured puree. When the chorizo is ready, return the pork to the pan and add the tomato-chile puree. Stir in ¾ cup water. Partially cover and simmer over medium-low heat until the meat is tender, about 1 hour.
Cook the potatoes. Collect the potatoes in a microwave-safe bowl, and sprinkle with a couple tablespoons water and a generous amount of salt. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, poke a few holes in the top and microwave at 100% for 4 minutes. Drain off all the water.
Finish. The simmered pork mixture should be thick enough to hold its shape in a spoon (otherwise the filling will run out of your tacos). Raise the temperature to medium, stir in the potatoes and verdolagas, re-cover and simmer until they are tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Taste and season with salt, usually about ½ teaspoon. Serve with warm tortillas and queso fresco for everyone to make tacos.
