Pork Belly Black Bean Sopas

By lorik

This delicious dish features pork belly with black beans, yogurt sauce and a roasted tomatillo salsa. Yum!

Ingredients

• PORK BELLY:
• 2 cups apple
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cumin
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano leaves
• 2 1/2 pounds pork belly, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups low sodium chicken stock
• BLACK BEANS:
• 2 cans black beans, drained
• 1/2 cup red onion, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced plus extra for garnish
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• Pinch of salt
• YOGURT SAUCE:
• 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ROASTED TOMATILLO SALSA:
• 8 ounces tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled
• 3 dried chipotle chiles, stemmed
• 1 ⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt
• ASSEMBLY:
• 6 Sopas (I use Cacique brand Sopas)
• Crumbled Cotija or shredded Chihuahua cheese

Details

Servings 4
Preparation time 400mins
Cooking time 640mins

Preparation

Step 1

PORK BELLY:

In a container or large freezer bag, combine the apple juice, garlic powder, cinnamon, cumin, bay leaves, and oregano. Add the pork belly and refrigerate while it marinates for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

Remove the pork belly from the fridge an hour before cooking.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Tip the marinade into a large Dutch oven and spread the pork belly pieces in a single layer in the pan. Pour over your stock. Add salt. Cook for 2 hours with a lid on.

After 2 hours, remove the lid and cook the pork belly for another hour. This will cook off the remaining liquid and finish rendering the pork fat.

Remove the pork belly from the oven. Transfer the pork pieces to a large, flat-bottomed skillet. Pour cooking liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a fat separator and allow to settle. (at this point you could store separately in the refrigerator overnight.) Pour off the cooking liquid until you get to the fat layer, add fat to the skillet with the pork belly pieces. Avoid any solids from the bottom of the pan, as these will burn!

Over medium heat, continue to cook the pork belly in its own rendered fat. The pan should be bubbling but not spitting. Flip the pork belly pieces so that they brown evenly on all sides. This should take about 30 minutes.

When all sides are brown and a little crispy, remove the pork belly from the pan and drain on some paper towels.

Add Sopas, 2 or 3 at a time to the skillet with the pork fat and cook on each side until lightly golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

BLACK BEANS:

In a medium bowl, add beans along with red onion, cilantro, cumin, and paprika. Add a pinch of salt and lightly mash all the ingredients together

YOGURT SAUCE:

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl and refrigerate. This sauce can be made in advance and will last for a week in the refrigerator. It's a lovely addition to grain bowls also.

SALSA:

Heat oven to 500°F. Place tomatillos on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast, turning halfway through cooking, until blackened in spots and cooked through, about 20 minutes; let cool.

Meanwhile, heat a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat; add garlic and chiles, and toast, turning, until chiles and garlic are blistered and blackened in spots, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a blender along with tomatillos, salt, and 1⁄2 cup water; blend until smooth. Let cool.

This salsa can be made in advance and kept in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

ASSEMBLY:

Place cooked sopas on prepared baking sheet. Fill the indentation with the black beans, top with pork belly, drizzle with some of the salsa and add shredded cheese on top (if using Cotija cheese, add after baking). Baked until warmed through and cheese is melted.

Top with yogurt sauce and cilantro and add additional salsa if desired.