Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Firecracker Pork with Habanero Pesto


This is my version of a dish from a local restaurant called Fuzio's.  It is the signature dish on their menu and while it doesn't sound like the ingredients go together...they do.  This is one of Benjamin's favorite meals now.  I made this on a weekday but I wouldn't recommend that unless you want to eat at 8pm like we did.  This is a low and slow kind of meal that is perfect for a weekend because most of the cooking is in the oven.  This makes enough pork to have leftovers but that is another post!  Try this and let me know what you think...that's what the comment section is for!  Don't be shy!

The Ingredients:
2 pork tenderloins, cut into 3" pieces
Olive Oil
6 cloves garlic
4 green onions
1 yellow onion, cut into chunks
2 bunches of cilantro, cut off stems
5 tbsp ginger, sliced
5 cups pineapple juice
1-2 cups low sodium soy sauce

Habanero Pesto
2 bunches of cilantro, cut off stems
5 cloves garlic
2 habanero peppers
about 1/4 cup of ollive oil

1 1/2 lbs cavatelli or large elbow macaroni
sour cream

The Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare the sauce.  Put garlic, green onions, yellow onion, ginger and cilantro in a food processor.  Pulse 8-10 times until paste forms.  Put mixture in a large pot, add pineapple juice and 1 cup soy sauce.  Bring to a simmer.  Taste, if needed, add more soy sauce.  Brown the pork on all sides and when well browned add to the large pot with the sauce.  Bake for 2 hours until pork is fork tender.  Remove pork from the sauce.  Bring the sauce up to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.  In the meantime, shred the pork, cover with foil to keep warm.  Make the habanero pesto: add the garlic, cilantro, and 2 habanero's (seeds and membranes removed...carefully), pulse 3-4 times.  Slowly add the oil until the consistency is like pesto.  Set aside.  Make the pasta...cook for 2 minutes less than package recommends.  Drain the pasta and add to the reduced sauce.  Cook for 2 minutes.  To serve:  place pasta in individual bowls, top with shredded pork and a dollop of habanero pesto and sour cream. 

1 comment:

  1. Hi- so excited to try this! Sacto native, so I know exactly where this dish is from and since I have tried it about 5 years ago I have never ordered anything else.
    I made a large shredded pork tenderloin and was thinking of things to make besides sliders and tacos and the habenero pesto dish came to mind. I googled habenero pesto and there was your post about 4 or 5 down. Gonna make the pesto and try it tonight.
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete