Garlic Pork

The first time I tried this was on a visit to Trinidad some years back. I nearly died with pleasure.  It was tasting too good to be true.

In Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, garlic pork is a favourite to be served on Christmas morning and during the holiday season.  In my home, we had various pork dishes such as baked pork leg in the oven, in the form of picnic ham or stewed but we never had garlic pork as far as I could remember.  I grew up in St. Vincent and the islanders there are heavy pork lovers; however, I can't recall going to any household during the Christmas season and was offered garlic pork. 

For those persons that never spent a Christmas in the islands, know that food plays a huge part in Christmas celebrations.  On Christmas eve, it was the norm to smell the aroma of black cake, homemade bread and ham baking to perfection in the oven.  After breakfast on Christmas morning in my home was when we would open all the gifts from under the tree.  Apart from the food smell on Christmas morning, the redecorating of the house was another big thing for Caribbean people.  New curtains, cushion covers, bed sheets, painting over of the house is a norm to see every year at the homes of most Caribbean people who celebrates Christmas.  The sounds of Christmas music and caroling were all beautiful memories when I was growing up and hearing the laughter of all invited guests just goes to show how we, the Caribbean people have so many things in common than different. 

Garlic pork is one of those dishes where the influence came from people who arrived from other countries and settled in the Caribbean. When looking at the preparation, one can only assume that it was done out of necessity as most persons back then did not have a fridge to store meat.

Here’s a recipe that I tried thanks to www.caribbeanpot.com on the classic Christmas dish called garlic pork and I must say that it did come out well. 

You’ll Need…
4 lbs pork
2 cups vinegar (everyday white vinegar)
1 scotch bonnet or habanero pepper (any hot pepper you like)
1/2 cup Chadon beni (optional)
2 tablespoon salt
20 cloves garlic
oil for frying (vegetable or any oil which can handle high heat)
* You’ll need some patience as this must marinate for a few days at least.

Notes. It is not a must to add Chadon beni to the dish but it is what makes it unique for Trinibagonians. Thyme works great with this as well as oregano. If using thyme and/or oregano, use about 1-2 tablespoon chopped. After marinating, you can boil the pork, then fry or just fry it. Some recipes  also call for cider vinegar.. since this will be marinating in a ton of garlic, you can just use the basic vinegar.

Next, trim the pork. If using a leg portion with the middle bone, just cut away into 1 inch cubes. You can also leave back a bit of the fat if this is your preference. Try to use  a cheap piece of pork and not something expensive like a tenderloin (unless you don't mind spending the money). For those of you worried about the fat, a regular loin would be a great option for this.

Next, rinse the pieces of cut pork with a little vinegar and water and drained. Then chop the Chadon beni, garlic and pepper very fine. You can also certainly put everything except the pork into a food processor or blender and make a paste instead.

In a bowl, place the vinegar, salt, Chadon Veni, pepper and garlic and gave it a good whisk.

Up next is to marinate this. Traditionally this is marinated in an earthen jar or anything that’s non reactive, or use a freezer strength zip lock bag (double up on in case of any leaks). Then, place the washed and drained pieces of pork, then pour the seasoning mixture in and make sure every piece got coated. Try to remove all the air so the only thing the meat gets into contact with during the marinating process is the seasoning/vinegar.

 After doubling up on the bags, place it in the fridge and allowed it to marinate for 4-5 days. During which time massage it a couple times at least, to move the pieces of meat and seasoning around a bit. You will notice a couple things…. if your bag/s is not sealed good, you will have a very strong garlicky scent when you open your fridge (not good) and the pieces of meat will go from being pink to a very non attractive pale white. That is normal. The vinegar is breaking down the meat and curing it at the same time. Traditionally, this was left in a cool dark corner of the kitchen/house and not in the fridge as the recipe asked for.

After 4-5 days remove it from the fridge and drain it using a colander. Then, remove most of the big pieces of garlic and discard them. Now try to get as much liquid/moisture away from the pork. Squeeze, then place on paper towels, as we all know what will happen when liquid hits heated oil.

 In a heavy saucepan, heat a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil (enough to cover the bottom of the pan) on a med/high setting. Ensuring you’ve dried up most of the liquid the pork was marinating in, start adding a few pieces to the pan. Try not to overcrowd the pan or if they touch they can form steam and you’ll get boiled pork rather than fried. You may have to cook the pieces for about 7-10 minutes or so and flip them around so you get that golden brown color on all sides. You’ll obviously have to do these in batches. Have a paper towel lined plate waiting to soak up all the excess oil when they were done cooking.

During each batch you may be required to add a bit more oil to the pan to avoid the pieces of meat sticking. While this fry you may notice that (if you have pieces of fat) it will ‘burst’ and splatter, so use a splatter screen if you have one. How long and how brown/crisp you want your garlic pork pieces is entirely up to you.