Fritada

Pujol’s fritada de chancho cooks pork with garlic, onion and shallot, first reducing water and then orange juice. The browned pork is served with yuca, mote, fried ripe plantain, curtido, avocado and ají criollo.

The pork pieces are seasoned with ground cumin, the supplied crushed garlic, salt and pepper. If time allows, they can rest in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Pork, white onion, the selected shallot, the whole garlic cloves and three cups of water go into a large pan. They cook until almost all of that water has gone; a cup of orange juice is added next and reduced until the liquid has evaporated.

The pork browns in its own fat, with a wooden spoon turning the pieces occasionally so that they colour evenly. Prepared yuca, mote and fried ripe plantains are added to the same pan.

The fritada is served with those additions, onion-and-tomato curtido, avocado and ají criollo. Garlic is divided between the seasoning and the pan, while the pork’s released fat supplies the final browning medium.