Reducipe – Pork Adobo

I’ve been trying to share this household favorite for a while now but I kept forgetting to take photos of the rub components. Finally I didn’t forget this time and it’s ready to post.

My Pork Adobo is an adaptation from a recipe I found in a diet cookbook. Not only is it good for your wallet, it’s good for you!

This is a great recipe to serve to a mixed group of dieters and non-dieters because everyone will love it and feel satisfied. Serve it with charra beans (I’ll post that recipe soon) or a green salad and you have a nice little meal.

This is a simple combination of lean pork, sweet onions, and spicy tomato sauce all rolled up in a tortilla. How can you go wrong?

Pork Adobo

1-2 teaspoons canola oil
2 large sweet onions, sliced
1 teaspoon sugar
Kosher salt
1/4 cup water
10-15 oz tomato sauce
1 can chipotle peppers in adobo, pressed through strainer, reserve sauce
1-2 lb pork tenderloin
Flour tortillas

Rub:
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cider vinegar

Combine the rub ingredients in a small bowl. Rub the mixture into the pork and let marinade for at least 30 minutes in fridge.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a roasting pan with foil. Place the pork in the pan and roast until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of meat reads 155 degrees, about 25 minutes.

While pork is roasting, heat a large skillet over medium low heat. Add the oil then add onions, sugar, salt, and water. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally until softened and lightly browned – about 20 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce and the strained adobo sauce and simmer uncovered until flavors blend, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and keep warm.

After you remove the pork from the oven, transfer pork to cutting board and let stand for 10 minutes. Wrap tortillas in foil and place in oven to warm. Thinly slice the pork and stir into the onion mixture. Spoon into tortillas and serve like tacos. Serves 6-8.

Be sure to cook the onions over medium low heat so they become soft and translucent without becoming caramelized. If the onions are too long they can be awkward to eat in the tacos. It’s best to keep the slices bite size. I find that cutting the onion slices into fourths works really well.

Use more Adobo sauce to increase spiciness or less if you prefer a milder flavor. I tend to like my tacos saucy so I use the full 15oz tomato sauce.

Please do not skip the resting period for the pork after you remove it from the oven. It is very important that you let it rest and give the juices time to redistribute within the meat. If you don’t, be warned that you will have a cutting board full of juices and dry meat. (this is a cooking school tip)

The best part is that this meal is even better the next day as leftovers! Just heat up the Pork Adobo and tortillas in the microwave and roll into tacos.

If you want to stretch the meat even further you can add beans to this recipe although the texture suffers a little. Personally, I prefer to cut the slices of meat into quarters and add more onions to increase the yield. Either way the dish is very economical. Enjoy!