Carne do Porco à Alentejana is a delicious Portuguese dish . Very easy to make and tasty to have once in a while if you are a meat lover. So here is my guide to prepare this delicious dish.
Serve 5 to 6
Ingredients
1 kg Pork loin in bite sized pieces
1.2 kg Vietnamese clams or the clams you prefer
700 g Potatoes in bite sized cubes
8 to 9 tbsp Olive oil to seal and cook the meat
A handful of fresh Coriander
4 Peri Peri (optional)
Pickles
Black Olives
A handful of salt to clean the clams
To marinate the meat
½ Onion finely sliced
5 cloves of crushed garlic
4 fresh bay leaves
½ tsp smoked Paprika
Generous amount of black pepper
1.5 tbsp salt preserved pepper paste
1 tbsp Olive oil
½ large orange juice
250 ml to 300 ml white Wine
A few pinches of grated nutmeg
½ tsp of dried rosemary
Salt to taste
To season the Potatoes
1 tbsp Olive oil
Salt to taste
black Pepper to taste
½ tsp dried Rosemary
½ tsp smoked Paprika
How to make:
First prepare all the ingredients above.
Put the chopped meat cubes into a basin along with the spices to marinate from the list above. Mix very well the meat into the spices. Cover it and marinate for at least 2 hours or for the best result over night.
To clean the clams, add a handful of salt in 1.5 liters of water. Put in frozen or fresh clams, mix well. Let it sit for about 1 hour so the clams will release the excess dirt and sand then rinse with clean water. Reserve.
Potatoes cubes, wash well in clean water to take the starch off. Remove the excess water and put in a baking tray. Session with the seasoning spices above and mix it very well to coat the potatoes evenly. Put in the preheated oven at 180c for 35 to 40 minutes. In 15 minutes turn it over to cook evenly.
To seal the meat. First after 2 hours, separate the meat from the marination. Make sure to remove the marination sauce well from each cubes so then the meat seals well. Heat a pan on a high heat, add oil then let it heat until you see smoke on the pan. On the surface of the pan put meat one by one, not on top of another one then seal them evenly until you see caramelized color outside and inside uncooked which means the juices of the meat remains inside. Takes about 2 to 3 minutes. In the same way, seal all the meat. Reserve on a plate. Now, If needed, turn over the potatoes that are roasting.
Time to cook the meat. Heat a pan on a high heat. Add in 5 tbsp of Olive oil or Pork fat/Lard. Put in the sealed meat. Fry it for 2 minutes. Add the marinade sauce, mix well and cook it for 5 minutes. Add in the clams, combine it well, put the lid on then cook it for 3 minutes. Meanwhile chop the fresh coriander and the Peri Peri (optional). After 3 minutes, take the lid off, combine it well and add in the chopped coriander and Peri Peri. Combine well and the dish is done.
By this time the Potatoes must be roasted well. Now it's time to assemble everything to make a dish. In a deep tray put the potatoes on the bottom, spread evenly and the cooked meat and the clams too. On the meat put chopped pickles, olives and finish with the chopped fresh coriander.
The dish we enjoy as a main meal with some refreshing salad or piece of bread or just as it is like a snack. Enjoy!
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