Tomatillo Peanut Sauce with Pork

This recipe, from the Veracruz region of Mexico, balances tart tomatillos with buttery peanuts in saucy concoction that can be used in any salsa verde kind of way.  Without the meat, you might use it as an enchilada sauce, burrito sauce, or pour it over some tacos.  But, I like it cooked with stewed pork or chicken, and served either over rice or in a tortilla.  The recipe was adapted from Diana Kennedy’s The Essential Cuisines of Mexico.  In the book she describes learning it from young cook, Senora Virginia Villalon, in the 1970s in a small restaurant in Panuco.  It is described as a green mole sauce.

I made a few minor changes to the recipe.  She suggests using 2-3 pounds of pork, which I found excessive, and opted to use closer to a pound.  If you are a big meat eater, or you want to serve 6 instead of 4, you might want to go for the full amount.  I generally use pork shoulder or country-style spareribs– or any sort of fatty, inexpensive pork cut.   If you are opting for chicken, I would probably go with thighs.  The original recipe specifies raw peanuts that are later fried, but I found roasted peanuts worked well and were easier to find and work with.   Also, the original sauce recipe suggests adding up to  2 1/2 cups of broth, making the sauce into the consistency of “thin cream”, but I liked it a bit thicker for the meat dish.  If I were using it as a salsa verde for enchiladas, I would definitely thin it out.

Tomatillo Peanut Sauce with Pork or Puerco en Mole Verde de Cacahuate
Adapted from Diana Kennedy’s The Essential Cuisines of Mexico
Serves 4

The Meat:
1 pound pork shoulder, cut in 1 inch cubes
1/3 c onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp salt, or to taste

The Sauce:
1 cup roasted peanuts
2 cups chopped tomatillos
1/2 cup cilantro
6 peppercorns, crushed or about 1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 poblano chile or 3-4 serrano chiles (the spicy option), chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tablespoons pastured pork lard or vegetable oil
1/2 cup onions, sliced thin

For the meat: Combine the pork, onion, garlic cloves and salt in a sauce pan.  Add water just to cover the meat and bring to a boil.  Turn down heat to low, and simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes.  Drain the meat, saving the broth for the sauce.

For the sauce: Combine peanuts, tomatillos, cilantro, peppercorns, chiles, garlic and 3/4 c of reserved meat broth or water in a blender.  Blend until smooth, adding more broth or water if needed to make it blend.
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in heavy pan and fry the sliced onions until golden.  Add the pork, and fry for another minute.  Add the blended sauce, and continue to cook for two or three minutes.  Add another cup of broth or water, adjust the salt, and turn down heat to simmer for 20 minutes.

Serve with rice or tortillas, topped with cilantro, sour cream and lime wedges.