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Mexican Wedding Stew with Pork (Asado de Bodas)
This is our version of the traditional chili-rich Mexican stew prepared for special occasions. The ingredients vary by region, but to keep things simple we opted to use widely available ancho and guajillo chilies and cocoa powder instead of Mexican chocolate. With warm spices and a touch of fruitiness from raisins, the flavor profile falls somewhere between a mole negro and a basic asado de puerco. The corn tortillas that are toasted and pureed with the softened chilies give the sauce a velvety consistency that clings to the fork-tender chunks of pork. Serve with rice or warmed tortillas.
6-8
Servings
Tip
Don't forget to drain the tomatoes before use. The liquid will add too much moisture and acidity to the stew, throwing off the consistency and flavor balance.
4 hours
45 minutes active
Ingredients
-
3
ounces (5 medium) ancho chilies, stemmed, seeded and torn into pieces
-
3
ounces (10 medium) guajillo chilies, stemmed, seeded and torn into pieces
Directions
-
01Heat the oven to 325°F with a rack in the lower-middle position. In a 12-inch skillet over medium-high, toast the chilies, pressing with a wide metal spatula and flipping halfway through, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a medium bowl and add the boiling water; reserve the skillet. Let stand until the chilies are softened, about 20 minutes, then drain.
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February 12, 2023
Lovely!
Elegant dish with rich flavor. Made as written. Served with Black Beans and tortilla's. The initial prep took longer than I expected (I can be slow with my prep) but after that not much work. Meat was tender at after the last hour with the lid off (3 hours total in the oven).
As is my experience with the other Milk Street Mexican recipes that I've tried, this stew is deeply delicious and satisfying. I made this one as written, while cutting the pork and preparing the puree the evening before. Served with homemade Mexican rice and corn tortillas, it was a hit! Note that I recommend weighing the chilies to achieve the 3 oz. weight specified. 5 ancho chilies came close, but I needed 16 guajillo chilies to get to 3 oz.
Thanks again, Diane & Milk Street!
Hello. I do not have fresh ANCHO CHILIES or GUAJILLO. Sometimes I can find dry Ancho chilies. What can I substitute these with to still get a good flavor?
Hi Diana -
The recipe calls for dried ancho and guajillo chilies. If you can't find guajillo chilies, you can use all ancho chilies. Dried chilies and fresh chilies actually have different names. Ancho chilies are made from fresh poblano chilies and guajillo chiles are made from fresh mirasol chilies (which are almost impossible to find outside of Mexico).
Best,
The Milk Street Team
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Excellent outcome for this recipe as written for ingredients and technique. Easily scaled down for all ingredients if you're starting with a bit smaller pork butt as I was. We are big fans of mole of all kinds at our house and this stew had similar flavors as a mole negro or rojo but with a lot less work involved. It is delicious the day made and like many braised dishes improves the second day. One of many things I enjoy about Milk Street recipes is how reliable they are for outcomes so I typically follow them in first making of a dish. As here. But one note about salt in this. It puzzled me that instructions didn't call for salt until the very end before serving. I tasted the dish when I uncovered it for the last hour of cooking time. We are a household of 'less is more' salt palates but even at that, this dish really needed salt at that point so I added it then to give it time to fully season the stew in the last hour of cooking. I'm wondering if the intention of the recipe developer here was to leave this completely unseasoned until the end? Left to my own devices I would have at least salted the pork a couple of hours in advance of using it.