Mexican-Style Braised Pork Shoulder Steaks
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil, plus 1 tsp
- 1/2 onion, cut into chunks
- 1/2 red pepper, deseeded and cut into chunks
- 1/2 yellow pepper, deseeded and cut into chunks
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
- 1 x 200g can sweetcorn kernels, drained
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 2 tsp honey
- zest and juice of 1/2 lime
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 4 pork shoulder steaks, about 170g each
- 1–2 tsp chopped coriander, to garnish (optional)
Preheat the oven to 160C fan/180C/gas mark 4.
In a medium saucepan, heat one tablespoon of the vegetable oil over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for two minutes, stirring. Now add the peppers and cook for another three minutes, then add the garlic and cook for one minute. Add the tomatoes and sweetcorn, then turn the heat down to low and stir. Now add the rest of the ingredients, except the pork and coriander, along with 50ml of water. Give it a good stir, then keep over a low heat while you brown the pork.
Heat the remaining one teaspoon of oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the pork steaks and cook on one side for around three minutes, then turn and repeat. Once you have a good colour on both sides, take them out and place in an ovenproof dish – mine was 30x15x6cm, but I think a 20x20x5cm would work as well. Now pour the veg sauce all over the pork, making sure you have some under the pork and all the pork is covered.
Cover tightly with foil and bake in the oven for around two to two and a quarter hours. Halfway through, take it out of the oven and stir, making sure the pork is still covered in sauce. It’s done when the pork is almost falling apart and is melt-in-the-mouth. Garnish with the chopped coriander.
I serve mine with some simple boiled rice to soak up all the amazing sauce. Enjoy.
