Marinated overnight and then slow cooked until falling apart tender, Carne Adovada melds the flavors of New Mexico Red Chiles, cumin, oregano and garlic in this traditional New Mexican pork dish. Recipe below.
New Mexico loves its chile peppers. There is simply no way you can overstate this fact. According to a fascinating article by Bonny Wolf at NPR’s Kitchen Window, New Mexico is the largest producer of chiles in the United States. And as Ms. Wolf sees it, there’s more to the state’s fascination than mere agricultural pride:
…In New Mexico, chiles are more than a crop. They’re a culture, a way of life. It is unimaginable to New Mexicans that people eat food untouched by their state’s chile.
There’s even an official state question: Red or green?
And if you can’t decide if you want red chile or green chile, you may answer, “Christmas,” and you’ll get some of both.
Interestingly, red or green, it’s the same New Mexico chile [also known as the California or Anaheim chile], just at different stages of development, either picked green or allowed to ripen into red on the vine. It’s what happens to the chiles afterward that makes the difference in the sauces’ flavors. Again, Ms. Wolf: “Green chiles are roasted, peeled, seeded and either used right away or frozen. Dried red chiles are ground into powder or strung into the lovely, deep-red ristras — strings in Spanish — you see hanging in many New Mexican homes. Northerners usually hang ristras for decoration while New Mexican cooks use the pods throughout the year to season food. Because the climate is so dry, there’s no fear of mold.”
On our recent trip to New Mexico, we rarely went a meal without being asked the official state question. And there wasn’t a wrong answer—both were delicious. We got our first sampling of both at Duran’s Central Pharmacy in Albuquerque; you actually walk through the pharmacy to get to an unassuming restaurant that serves up great New Mexican fare at very reasonable prices. We encountered excellent examples of red and green chiles in a number of restaurants: Little Anita’s, also in Albuquerque, and Maria’s, a friendly, rambling, down-to-earth place in Santa Fe recommended to me by Toni over at Daily Bread Journal, to name a couple.
We had plenty of delicious non-New Mexican food too. Crêpes at La Crêpe Michel in Albuquerque’s Old Town, transcendent burgers in the beautiful patio at Apple Tree in Taos, inventive tapas at La Boca in Santa Fe… And on our last night in New Mexico, craving something like we’d find at home in Chicago, we headed over to the neighborhood around the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and ended up in a Korean BBQ joint. Just what we were looking for.
But my favorite New Mexican dish, hands down, was Carne Adovada. A traditional New Mexican dish, it is meat—most often pork—slow cooked in adobo sauce. We had it at the rightfully popular Tomasita’s in Santa Fe. Housed in a 1904 red brick station house adjacent to the Santa Fe train station, Tomasita’s has been a fixture since long before the railyards became the Railyard District, an up and coming neighborhood of hip shops and restaurants [and a welcome relief from the tourist hothouse that the heart of Santa Fe can be].
From the first bite, I knew I would have to try to make carne adovada. It was falling apart tender and coated in an almost velvety red chile sauce, not buried under it as many New Mexican dishes seemed to be. And it had a wonderful blend of flavors with just the right amount of heat. This hearty dish can be served with flour tortillas, in taco shells or with rice and beans, as I did here.
There are about as many takes on carne adovada as there are cooks. They range from fairly complex [like one from Kate in the Kitchen that has you make your own adobo sauce from dried chiles] to overly simple. One version from a Santa Fe cooking school, of all places, dispensed with the marinating and only cooked it for an hour! Even I could tell that was a recipe for an underflavored, chewy disaster.
In the end, I settled on a recipe somewhere in the middle complexitywise and doctored the heck out of the spice levels. Then when it came out of the oven and the sauce was a watery, bland mess that wasn’t sticking to the blondish chunks of tender meat, I did more doctoring, with the ever supportive Marion at my side. Here’s how that played out, by the way. First I looked at the way too liquid sauce. Not good. Then I tasted it. Even less good. Then I called for back-up. Marion suggested we transfer the meat to a bowl and work on the sauce, adding more spices and boiling it to reduce it. A good start tastewise, but still far from the velvety coating sauce we remembered from Tomasita’s. I’m sure I had a deer-in-the-headlights look at this point, until Marion uttered three magic words: “Make a roux.” I did. It worked. In the recipe below, I’m going to write it as if it’s how I’d planned to cook it all along. And how I will cook it the next time I make it.
Carne Adovada
Serves 4 to 6
2 tablespoons canola oil
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
4 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons New Mexico red chile powder, divided [see Kitchen Notes]
2-1/2 cups warm water
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano, divided
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper [see Kitchen Notes]
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 pounds cubed pork stew meat, from pork shoulder or pork butt
2 tablespoons butter
Put on a kettle of water to boil. In a skillet or frying pan, heat oil over medium heat. Whisk in 3 tablespoons of flour and brown until light golden brown. [I used the DIREKT Whisk from IKEA; to me, it’s the perfect tool for preventing lumps in sauces. Anytime you see whisk or stir in this recipe, I was using this well-designed device.] Blend in 4 tablespoons of chile powder. Slowly add water, whisking until lumps are removed. Add garlic, 2 teaspoons oregano, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt. Simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and let cool.
Place pork in a one-gallon, zippered plastic food storage bag. When chile mixture has cooled, add it to pork, seal bag and mix until pork is covered with chile. Marinate pork for at least 12 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350º F. Transfer pork and marinade to a covered dutch oven or roasting pan. Roast pork in preheated oven for at least 2-1/2 hours, or until meat is very tender. You can also cook it in a slow cooker—I was seeing times of 4 hours or more; but since I don’t have a slow cooker, I can’t give you accurate timing.
Remove from oven, transfer meat to a large bowl with a slotted spoon and cover to keep warm. Place dutch oven with sauce over a medium flame on the stove and stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon of oregano and 2 teaspoons of chile powder.
Make a roux. This quick and easy faux roux, a simple restaurant cheat, will thicken the chile sauce nicely. Heat a small nonstick skillet over a medium flame. Melt the butter in the skillet and gradually add the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour, whisking constantly until it is completely blended and a golden brown.
Transfer butter/flour mixture to chile sauce, whisking it in to thoroughly blend and thicken. Remove from heat. Return meat and any accumulated juices to sauce and mix to coat. Serve.
Kitchen Notes
Finding New Mexico red chile powder. Some Latino markets carry New Mexico chile powder, which is essentially ground New Mexico chiles. Interestingly, here in Chicago, I had better luck finding the dried chiles. There are many online sources for the powder. The Spice House, where I found it locally, also sells it through their website. You’ll find some recipes for using it there too.
Adjust the heat, with cayenne pepper. When I first made the chile sauce, I sampled it before adding it to the pork to marinate. It had a nice, spicy kick to it. The original recipe hadn’t called for cayenne, but I had considered adding it to heat things up a little. I didn’t because the marinade tasted plenty spicy; but during the long cooking process, it mellowed considerably. I would definitely add some cayenne to the marinade and maybe even adjust it at the end with a little more. Know your own tastebuds and those of your fellow diners as you decide whether to turn up the heat or not.
A final hot note. We know what makes chiles hot—the heat comes from capsaicin, found in the seeds and veins or ribs—the whitish ridges inside the peppers. But why are chiles hot? As in what’s the evolutionary benefit that made them develop their fieriness? Turns out it’s for self-defense, against fungi, no less. My friend Carolyn sent me this interesting Yahoo! News article on how heat protects chiles from fungi, but doesn’t faze the birds who help spread their seeds.
Also this week in Blue Kitchen, 8/13/2008
Coffee, wine and conflicting health stories. Two articles look at coffee health myths and contradictory research on wine and breast cancer, at WTF? Random food for thought.
The Liars, or things we learn from our kids. My daughter reintroduces me to a rock band that has become waaay more interesting than when I first heard them, at What’s on the kitchen boombox?
wow i’ve never had this. and although unrelated, i have never had proper chili con carne. how sad am i?! something out of a can ain’t authentic babe.
anyway, this looks fab. reminds me of chicken korma i don’t know why but i hope to try it soon!
This looks scrumptious, but alas, I’m not a pork person. Could you make this with beef — and if so, what cuts of beef might work?
I was going to ask the same thing as Lydia – I wonder if this would also work with chicken or beef. It sounds great though, I love chiles! I miss being able to grow my own; too many big trees on my neighbors lawn blocking a day of full sun!
diva—That’s one of the great things about food. No matter how many different things we try, there’s always something new to explore out there. If you’re looking for some chili [as in con carne] recipes to try, you could start with my chili, Marion’s chili or my white chili with chicken. Each has its own surprises making it less than traditional [but honestly, no one has a lock on tradition when it comes to chili], but each is delicious.
Lydia—This would work fine with chicken [often mentioned as a substitute], but with less cooking time. And honestly, I think the flavors would play quite nicely with beef stew meat or beef chuck roast. When cooler weather returns, I plan to revisit this recipe—I think beef will be one of my variations to try.
one food guy—Unless your yard is in total shade, you might be able to get some jalapeños to grow.
Wow. Love this week’s subject. I’m wild about hot peppers. As I was picking out tomatoes at my little town’s produce stand yesterday, I watched the proprietor stack jars of mango habanero chutney. Omigosh! I didn’t buy any, but thought about the combination all night long. To the palate!
This looks fun! I just made some mole not long ago, took forever but was worth it! Thanks!
Joe @ mycookingquest
Hi. Stumbled across your blog and the fabulous picture of carne adobada and felt compelled to write…..
First: The Whole Foods in New York has been carrying a whole line of New Mexican dried chile stuffs. Not that I wouldn’t encourage hunting down the local Mexican foods market, but these ingredients seem to be easier and easier to find…
Second: People should also try making the sauce/marinade/braising liquid from whole dried chiles, the flavor is so wonderful. It’s really easy: Take a whole lot of dried red chiles, stem and seed them, put them in a pot with an onion and some garlic and cover with water. Bring to a boil for a few minutes, then let stand for half an hour (or forever. whatever you want) Then, puree whole mess in a food processor and pass through a sieve. Now cook your meat in it.
Third: Did you eat at the Frontier in ABQ? Or Garcias? Or Los Cuates? I miss those places so very much…..
lk
I should never tastespot when bored and hungry b/c this looks delicious.
My grandmother makes this for me 🙂
I love it and I love that you posted about it and that I discovered it on Tastespotting because I have never heard it mentioned outside of my family (although I don’t live in NM).
Thanks for the splendid report on your New Mexico experiences!
carolyn—There really is an explosion of inventive pickling going on these days. We just bought a small jar of spicy pickled mushrooms at our farmers market this past weekend.
Joe—Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for all the helpful information, HERTBALL! I think I may have to try to make my own red chile sauce—it does sound fairly straightforward. Regarding the restaurants, Frontier had been on our to do list, but we just didn’t have enough time in Albuquerque. It seemed like a really interesting, diverse city—we need to get back there sometime.
Thanks, Jerry!
Halie—Wow, thanks! Sounds like you’ve got a special grandmother.
Hi, Helmut. Well, at least a report on our culinary experiences there. Armies aren’t the only ones who travel on their stomachs, it would seem.
I’m off to Santa Fe tomorrow, in fact, so just wrote down all your restaurant/menu tips!
I do indeed 🙂
Although I think that she uses red chile sauce instead of powder. I’ll need to have her teach me!
Alanna—Have a great time! It’s beautiful there and the food really is wonderful.
Halie—You might start with the recipe I mentioned above from Kate in the Kitchen. I’m going to give it a try. Of course, if you can get your grandmother to show you how to make hers, not only will you get the taste you love, you’ll get a wonderful gift from your grandmother, a family to continue to pass along.
That looks really tasty!
I’ve never had or heard of this before, but from what you said and that photo, I have to make this. This sounds awesome!
You’ve piqued my interest big time! This dish encompasses all the components I love in a spicy dish. I think I am going to give this one a try for sure.
Boy! My TO Do list is HUGE!!!
You make me farsick for Santa Fe! It’s been years since I’ve been but I haven’t found a good green sauce anywhere else… Sigh….
My mouth is watering. This is On The List. 🙂
Okay, mister. First of all, you went to New Mexico without telling me first. You know that my family lives in Taos, that I got married there, and that I spend about a cumulative month in the state each year, doncha? And you go and you don’t even ask first where to eat? ARGH! However, it certainly sounds like you’ve done alright and have come home appreciating the splendor of New Mexican food. It really is darned good, isn’t it?
Secondly, I use whole chiles–after soaking in hot water and getting pureed, they give much more body to the sauce, so I haven’t needed a roux. I’m certain there are neighborhoods in Chicago where you can find bags of whole chiles relatively inexpensively.
Finally, when push comes to shove, when I absolutely have to choose, it’s chile verde for me.
Kevin—Thanks for stopping by!
Mike, it’s turn about fair play—you’re always coming up with something new and tempting too.
Donald—Give it a try. And read HERTBALL’s and Christina’s comments about making your own sauce before you do.
katie—And this from someone who lives in France! But I know what you mean; there are so many places that can tug at me at different times.
Jennifer—As I said to Mike, turn about fair play.
Christina—My apologies! I totally spaced about your New Mexico connection—I’m sure you would have steered us to some wonderful places. But I get a sense now of what it must be like to get on your bad side in the classroom. Wow. That said, I definitely will seek out whole chiles the next time I make this dish. Interestingly, they were actually easier to find here in Chicago than the powdered chiles.
I do hope you know that I’m joshing with ya. I really am glad you had a good culinary time in New Mexico. I also hope you enjoyed its beauty. I’m just back and I already miss the skies.
Christina—Yep, I do know you were kidding. Me too. I have to tell you, with all the great food we ate and nice people we met and cool things we did, the landscape trumped everything. What a breathtakingly beautiful place.
Wow! All these years I’ve lived here, and I never knew why chiles were hot. Self-defense? Wild. I knew about the capsaicin in the seeds, didn’t know for certain that it was also concentrated in the ‘ribs’. Anti-fungal, huh? Maybe I should apply it to my toes.
Here’s a mystery for ya: when we take the roasted, peeled chiles and store them frozen, they come out of the freezer hotter than when they went in.
– Terry M.
O’Maolchathaigh—If you apply it to your toes, I’m sure I’ll hear your screams all the way up here in Chicago. Regarding your mystery, I noticed recently that when I ate some Chipotle leftovers after they’d been in the fridge for a day [yes, I eat there sometimes—shut up], the salsa was markedly hotter. No idea why that happens, but handy to know.
hey, great looking recipe, I’m going to try and make it here in florida hope i can find the right kind of pepper powder.
your site was posted yesterday on linkfilter and I found it there and was reading through all your recipes, enjoyed reading them a lot, thanks and keep up the good work
-chris
I have to make a rather large correction to your statement that a ‘green chile’ is the same as a ‘california’ or ‘anaheim’ chile. It is in fact not the same things. Traditional and real green chile is grown in Hatch, New Mexico, and is a completely different chile. It is a much hotter chile, and is even hotter when harvested during the hottest summers. For some reason, the dryness of the soil and the heat during the summers is something that cannot be replicated anywhere else in the US. In addition, New Mexican chile is roasted over an open flame to separate the chile pod from its skin, which is not used for cooking, and to add the amazing smoky flavor that separates New Mexican Green Chile from all of the other chiles in the world. If the chile you had tasted the same as Anaheim or California Chile Peppers, then I am very sorry to say that you did not get a true tast of New Mexican Green Chile.
chris—Thanks for stopping by. I hope you keep coming back!
Carla—You raise an interesting question here. Searching numerous sites, I’ve found sources that, like you, say New Mexican chiles are a separate beast altogether and that Anaheims are merely similar. Other sources say they’re the same thing. Since you’re a native, I guess I’ll take your word for it. And since my New Mexican chile powder came from the Spice House, I’m going to assume I had the real deal—they’re very persnickety about their spices.
Hey, native New Mexican here, and we sure do love our carne. I’m actually gonna make some tonight. I’ve never used the powder blend though. We just boil the red chiles and puree them.
This dish is delicious with Huevos Rancheros. (You put the eggs, carne, beans, and papitas on a tortilla and smother it in the chile of your choice.)
If anyone else is coming to Albuquerque, I have to recommend Sadies. It’s my favorite restaurant, and good job on finding Duran’s, it’s great too.
Loved your article. It’s interesting to learn about how much we love chile because we take it for granted. 🙂
O’Maolchathaigh- So true. We actually got a good batch from Hatch last year that before being frozen made a guy pass out because it was so hot. I wonder how it tastes after being in the freezer…
Thanks, Taylor! Your version of Huevos Rancheros sounds amazing, by the way.
I realize this is an old post, but I just stumbled across your site and have spent an hour or so reading through the archives. I was born, raised and am currently living in NM and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Carla’s right, the Hatch chiles are their own special breed, as are those from Chimayo, NM. We take pride in them. 🙂
If you ever make it back to the Land of Enchantment, I hope you’ll take the time to notice that there is much more to the state then Albuquerque and Santa Fe. It is a beautiful place with beautiful people and a culture all it’s own.
Thanks for stopping by, Stephanie. You are absolutely right about the beauty of New Mexico and its people. We also made it to Taos and lucked out being there on a day of dances at the Pueblo. And we visited with Ed Grothus at The Black Hole in Los Alamos and drove out to see the glorious Rio Grande Gorge. On a previous trip, I actually stayed with friends in the tiny mountain village of Jemez Springs. I know there’s still much of the state left unvisited and we do plan to get back. But even with our limited NM experience, we can attest that constantly changing and beautiful vistas awaited us around every turn, and the people—whether natives or transplants—were warm and welcoming.
You can also buy pre-marinated Carne Adovada at supermarkets for very cheap sometimes! I love living in New Mexico. 😀
Casey H—Marion and I often talk wistfully about our wonderful visit to New Mexico. I can see why you love living there.
Yummmm … I’m excited to try this out in my slow cooker. And, of course, to give some of my money to The Spice House. 🙂
Kate—I’m guessing this dish is perfect for a slow cooker [and yet another reason I should try one]. Let me know how it turns out! And the nice thing about giving money to The Spice House is the amounts are reasonably and the stuff is insanely good.
Growing up in New Mexico, I would never think of adding butter or cumin to my Carne Adovada, but who knows all these different takes on mexican or spanish food has to be changed for different taste-buds. I love and will pass on my family receipe of how to make Carne Adovada the way my mother, and grandmother taught me. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Maybe you should stop by and taste my Carne Adovada!
P. Tapia—If I get down New Mexico way again, I just might take you up on it! Thanks for stopping by.
yes NM chile is unique. To Carla, yes, Hatch has great chile but I prefer Northern chile. It is usually hotter. Not as meaty as hatch but good heat. I also like Barker Chile. Usually grown in southern NM. It is also very spicy. I am a New Mexico native and agree everything in NM has chile. Sometimes we put too much for out of staters taste but that is how we eat our food.
I presently live in china and miss NM chile. Last time I was there brought back some powdered red chile from chimayo. I consider that the best red chile in the world and I am not kidding. I find plenty of chili here in china and I am presently making carne adovada but it is not the same.
I know that everyone that tries NM chili becomes addicted to it. That is why we call it a chili fix when we just have to have some.
BTW good choices of restruants on this blog. Those are some of my favorites. I also like Roberto’s in Las Cruces (close to Hatch)
BTW Terry
Good recipe. I also would never think of adding butter to it. Remember that NM cooking is basically simple and butter is a bit rich. Not sure how that would taste.
I agree with the comment about Anaheim chili. I lived in CA for a year and they use that in cooking there alot. Actually if you taste NM chili, Anaheim has no taste. Way too mild. I prefer at least a little heat but what can I say. I live in NM.
Here in China, chili is called la jiao. I always ask before I buy in the market, “Hao la ma?” Means is it hot? always say yes but not as spicy as NM.
Was just in Sante Fe and , I too, love Tomasita’s Carne Adovada.
They gave me their actual recipe.
Carne Adovada with Chile Caribe
16-20 red chili pods, seeded and with stems removed(these are the long red dried chilis , you can get them at Mexican markets
4 cloves garlic
1T salt
1/4 t cumin
1 T oregano
4 pounds lean pork (they use tenderloin)
Stem and seed chili. Soak pods in warm water for 20 min to softem. Drain. Place chilis a few at a time in a blender with enough water to creat a desired consistancy and blend until smooth. Add rest of spice to make chili caribe, the sauce for the marinade.(Quite thick, like pancake batter). Place cubed pork in a baking pan and add the chili caribe. Cover and let stand for 8-24 hours in refrigerator. Bake at 350 for 60 minutes. Serves 10..
Just made it and it came out perfect.
Gotta love Sante Fe!
Anthony—Thanks for all your insights about peppers. And I love the idea of you cooking New Mexican cuisine in China!
Jeanne! Wow! What a wonderful find—thanks for sharing it here.
I’m from Silver City which is west of hatch NM. Down here we marinade the meat in a adovada suace for a day or two, then we make a sort of kabob. we alternate chunks of pork with sliced purple/red onion. the grill it on the BBQ. THey can be eaten off the grill and left overs make for great and quick burritos.
Lived in ABQ. and Sadies on 4th st. always has the best carne adovada, not to mention pitchers of margaritas to wash it down with.
Aye Chi hua hua….Both heat and taste a must for good chili(sic). The Rosales brought some up from Lemitar last “August” for their road side stand on 4th NW just south of Los Ranchos Rd….one of their greens was the hottest I’ve ever had. (Ergo, being able to use “less” in these tough times makes our frozen stash of roasted/peeled green last longer during the year.) Your next “must” for a ‘non-traditional’ carne adovada, is stopping on Central about 12th St. for the classic hole-in-the-wall from the Fifties of old Route 66…The Dog House…. for a foot long, (NM red) chili(sic) cheese dog con onions! They actually split the dog to bring out its full grilled flavor! (BTW, lacking a cerveza, never get cola with red chili(sic)…orange is better.) I’ve had close to 500 feet of them. For reviews focusing on home grown restaurants specifically in ABQ and NM, check out http://nmgastronome.com/blog/
“Chow”
Living in NM, I thought I would offer another suggestion to you when making the carne. Rather than baking, fry it up in a skillet until all of water from the chilie sauce cooks off. Another option is to add a little peeled and chopped potato to the mix.