Peruvian Pork Stew With Chiles, Lime and Apples

I followed the directions and used the ingredients called for — delicious, certainly not bland.

I used dried guajillo chiles and Honeysuckle apples and made a few changes:

1. Browned the pork in a 7-quart Dutch oven;

2. Removed pork and sautéed onions, etc., in the same pan, adding salt & pepper.

3. Deglazed pan with Sherry, added the broth & lime juice, and returned pork to finish cooking.

You could add other veggies, too — mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, parsnips, etc., all good!

Have made several times-always makes people happy. Have subbed a ginger beer or ginger apple cider for 1/2 the stock on occasion.

It's a nice base for a recipe, but the spices need adjusting. I feel that I should have stewed it with cilantro and added more lime juice than suggested in the recipe; plus, it needs to be spiced up with something other than mild dry chilies.

I've used apple cider too and think it adds a nice extra layer of flavour particularly during Autumn.

I made some alterations:

- you don't need to cut the pork into 2-inch chunks. Cut into a few big pieces, brown them, then cook in a Dutch oven at 300 degrees for 1 1/2 hours and the meat will break apart with a wooden spoon.

- I cut the broth to 2 1/2 cups so the meat would braise instead of boil.

- after reading the comments, I threw a handful of cilantro and a half teaspoon of cayenne pepper into the pot to spice it up.

Came out good!

Don't skip the peeling of the apples for sure. Helps it break down into the gravy.

I noticed there were a few comments about the stew needing some more flavor. I Dusted the apples with the clove and some cinnamon ahead of time, added crushed garlic to the olive oil in the Dutch oven, and used about 5 Arbol chiles. As the vegetables were sautéing I dusted them with some cumin, paprika and oregano. Once the stew came to a boil I added a whole jalapeño and some red Chile powder—I usually don’t share when I alter but it was to die for.

re: smaller cubes of pork; remember that low and slow cooking is what breaks down the connective tissue and makes the unctuous mouth feel and that also makes pork shoulder so tasty. If too small, chunks will lose texture. Diners can break down the larger cubes at serving using a knife and fork.

Question - could you do this recipe in an instant pot?

This stew is outstanding, although, next time I will cut the cubes of pork smaller!

Have to say I find the end product pleasant but fairly bland. A warm apple sauce is soothing enough, but I could use ideas about adding spice interest to play off the sweetness of the apples. I did add more dried chilles than the recipe, but still...
The ginger beer/apple cider might be a good step.

1. Use pork loin instead of pork shoulder to avoid so much fat. Or, pre-cook pork shoulder pieces, cool and skim fat before adding to recipe.

2. One onion is enough. Two seems a little heavy

Didn't have cloves so subbed for all spice, used fresh chilies. Followed suggestions and added extra all spice and lime juice as well as 3 cloves of smashed garlic. Tasted great!

Loved this--and a big hit with guests. I did not peel my apples. I added cilantro stems tied in twine while all this came together--just a nice flavor addition to the fresh cilantro. Also added about 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and 1 tsp cinnamon.
Also thickened the broth lightly with a slurry--just 2 T flour.
Very nice with brown basmati rice.

I made this with a handful of pasilla and 3 New Mexico dried chilies, and at the end prepared them like I would for posole: puréed in a blender with some garlic. I strained that and added it back to the stew. In my opinion, without doing this, you will lose a lot of the flavor of the chilies (and this recipe needs that spice)!