Arroz con Chancho

This recipe is called Arroz con Chancho, which translates to rice with pig. Spanish can sometimes be confusing because it often varies from country to country. I was once speaking to some Cubans about roasting some meat and one mentioned what they had roasted over the weekend. I didn't hear him clearly so I asked him to repeat himself. His friend said "Oh, si aquí se dice oveja." Translation: oh, yeah here they say oveja" Oveja means sheep. I asked what he had originally said and he said "Borrego" which technically also means 'sheep' but specifically it means 'lamb.' It can get confusing.

Off the top of my head, I can think of three ways to say 'pig' in Spanish: cerdo, puerco, and marrano. Growing up we always called pigs 'marranos' and pork was 'puerco'; cerdo wasn't used very often. I bring this up because when I saw the name for this recipe, I had to look up 'chancho.' Based on context clues, I quickly figured out it meant pork but I was curious to learn more. It appears that 'chancho' is more common in South America, which explains why I'm not familiar. So moral of the story: Español is muy dificil. Spanish is very hard.

Ingredients

2/3 cup veggie oil

2 1/4 lb pork, cut into 1 1/4 inch chunks. I used 1 lb pork loin.

1 red onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped. I used 2.

3 tbsps Panca Chili Paste.  I wasn't able to find panca peppers or anything similar so I ended up buying the paste itself. I'm glad I did because I think I'll be able to use it again. It reminded me of dulce de tamarindo, which is a tamarind flavored candy popular in Mexico. I believe it's made of tamarind and chili powder and it's awesome! Ancho chili would be a good substitute.

1 tbsp Mirasol Chili Paste. I couldn't find mirasol peppers or anything similar so I just eliminated this.

1 tsp tumeric

3 1/2 cups  veggie broth. I used 2.

3 cups white rice. I used 1 1/2.

1/3 cup peas.

1 cup chopped cabbage.

1 carrot, diced.

1/2 red bell pepper, seeded, membrane removed, thinly sliced.

1 yellow pepper, seeded, membrane removed, thinly sliced.

1 tbsp chopped cilantro

S&P

Heat the oil, season the pork with S&P, and fry until brown on all sides. Remove the pork and set aside. Add the onion and garlic and saute until the onion is translucent. Add the chili pastes and cook until the pastes have thickened; add the tumeric. Stir in the pork and veggie broth. Bring to a simmer and cook until the meat is tender, roughly 20 minutes.. Add the rice, peas, cabbage, and carrot, cover, and cook for another 30 minutes until the rice is fluffy. Stir in the bell and yellow pepper and let it sit for a few minutes. Scatter the chopped cilantro on top and serve.

I was originally going to make a heart of palms salad from the book but I wasn't feeling it. I decided to make my own with quinoa, red onion, red bell pepper, heart of palms, and lemon juice. I wasn't sure how it'd turn out because I have zero experience with cooking with heart of palms but it turned out well. If you've never had them, heart of palms kinda taste like artichokes.

This meal was de-li-cious! The panca sauce tasted like tamarind so it was a little tangy. The cabbage made it buttery and the carrots and peas added a sweetness. It was so good, James went back four times. Four times! He never does that. The girls even liked it, too!!

I'm really impressed that we've yet to have a bad meal. Peru is supposed to be a foodie's dream and I can see why. Their cuisine is so vast because they have so many different climates and while there are often similar ingredients, each meal had been unique. With Nepal, I used a lot of the same spices over and over again so there wasn't a lot of variety in flavor but that has not been the case with Peru.

We might revisit Peru later in the year because I feel like we haven't even begun to experience this mind-blowingly good cuisine!