Jamaican Stew Pork
For all the pork lovers, this one is for you. This Jamaican Stew Pork recipe is a classic comfort food and a favorite of mine. With its savory and delicious gravy, the pork is tenderized and served best with rice and peas and a side of classic potato salad.
Making this Jamaican Stew Pork recipe has got to be my proudest moment yet.
Honestly, I’ve never cooked pork before in my life.
I’ve had stew pork before; my mom would cook it occasionally for Sunday dinners, but I never cooked the entire dish by myself.
I went to do my usual grocery shopping and checked out the supermarket’s latest deals on meat.
To my surprise, they had some boneless stew pork on special, and knowing me, I couldn’t resist.
So I finished my shopping and got home to figure out how to cook stew pork.
The more I thought about it, I said, “It can’t be that hard to cook it, right?”
Luckily, it wasn’t, but it does take some time, especially if you want to get it right.
What Is Stew Pork?
This one-pot comfort food is a savory meal cooked with boneless pork meat (pork shoulder or pork loin roast), various vegetables, and seasonings and simmered in a delicious gravy-like sauce to combine all the flavors.
There are many variations to making stew pork, but this recipe is the Jamaican-Caribbean version.
Ingredients To Use
- Pork – I used some boneless stew pork meat I bought at my local supermarket. You can also use boneless pork shoulder or pork loin.
- Seasonings – in Jamaica, we call anything that gives the meat or pot flavor “seasoning’. The seasonings used in this recipe were onion, escallion, garlic, thyme, salt, all-purpose seasoning, brown sugar, turmeric powder, cumin, pimento seeds, and jalapeno powder.
- Sauces – used are browning sauce and ketchup.
- Vegetables – used for this recipe were carrots and irish potatoes.
- Scotch bonnet pepper
- Oil
How To Make Jamaican Stew Pork
I was so pleased with the result of this recipe that I had to get seconds and almost thirds, haha.
For the best results, you’ll need a little patience.
It’ll certainly be worthwhile when you’re through. To get started:
- Remove any fat from the meat, then cut into 1-inch cubes. Wash with vinegar or lime juice, then set aside.
- Place pork in a large bowl and season your meat with all the ingredients except carrots, potatoes, oil, thyme, and scotch bonnet pepper. Allow to marinate.
- On medium flame, heat oil until hot. Add pieces of pork into the oil and allow to brown or sear. Cover the pot. While the meat is cooking, boil some water to add during the cooking process.
- As the meat is cooking, the water will evaporate, so be sure to add the boiling water to it to prevent it from burning.
- Add all seasonings to your stew pork and allow to cook.
- Once the meat has reached the desired tenderness, add the remaining ingredients. Cover the pot and allow to cook for another 10-15 minutes.
- Serve.
Serving Suggestions
For this dish, the serving options can be up to you.
I like to pair my stew pork with rice and peas and my favorite side of potato salad.
You can also try:
- Plain or pumpkin rice
- Coleslaw
- Flatbreads
- Some boiled foods – boiled dumplings, yams, green bananas, sweet potatoes, etc.
- Fresh vegetable salad – to keep it light since it’s already a heavy dish.
- Polenta
Tips For Making Jamaican Stew Pork
By far one of my favorite comfort foods, I want to leave you with some of the best tips to make it yours, too.
- Although I used turmeric powder for this recipe (because I ran out), ginger is a better alternative. I asked my mom about the benefit of ginger in stew pork, and it’s said to help with the digestion of the meat. So keep that in mind when cooking.
- Adding boiling water to the meat helps speed up the cooking process and tenderizes the pork stew better than cold or room-temperature water.
- To help thicken your gravy for this dish, make a slurry from flour or cornstarch and water to add to your meat.
Storing and Reheating
- You can store your leftover stew pork in an airtight container and place it in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- When reheating, place the stew pork in a pot over low heat and allow to reheat slowly. Stir until it reaches the desired consistency.
Other Jamaican Recipes To Try:
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Jamaican Stew Pork
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb boneless pork stew (cut into 1-inch cubes)
- 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 small onion (finely chopped)
- 2 stalk escallion (finely chopped)
- 2 tbsp. Browning sauce
- 2 tsp. Salt
- 2 tbsp. All-purpose seasoning
- ¼ cup ketchup
- ½ tsp. Turmeric powder I used turmeric since I didn’t have ginger
- 2 tsp. Brown sugar
- 1 tsp. Jalapeno powder
- ¼ tsp. Cumin
- A few pimento seeds
- 2 sprigs of Thyme
- 2 tbsp. Vegetable Oil
- 1 medium irish potato (diced or chopped)
- 1 large Carrots (sliced)
- 1 Scotch bonnet pepper
Instructions
- Remove any fat and skin from the meat and cut into 1-inch cubes. Wash with vinegar or lime juice. Set aside.
- Season your meat with all the ingredients except thyme, oil, irish potato, carrot, and scotch bonnet pepper.
- Allow meat to marinate for 1-2 hours or overnight.
- Shake off seasonings like onion and escallion from the meat and set aside. We will add the seasoning later.
- Heat oil on medium flame in a large dutch pot until slightly smokey.
- Add each piece of meat to the oil. Allow meat to “brown” or sear until brown. Cover meat and allow to cook for 15 minutes.
- While cooking, boil some water to add throughout the cooking process. As the meat is cooking, the water will evaporate. It also helps to tenderize the pork stew faster as it’s cooking.
- Add boiling water and seasoning to the meat, then cover to simmer for another 15 minutes. Adjust with salt if needed.
- Once the meat has reached the desired tenderness, add irish potato, carrot, thyme, and scotch bonnet pepper. Prick the scotch bonnet pepper with a fork or knife to allow the juices of the pepper to flow through the pot.
- Allow your pork stew to cook for 10 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are tender.
- If the gravy is too thin, create a slurry from flour and water, then add it to your meat. Allow it to cook for 2-3 minutes, then remove from heat.
- Serve with desired sides.
Notes
Notes For Cooking Jamaican Stew Pork
- Although I used turmeric powder for this recipe (because I ran out), ginger is a better alternative. I asked my mom about the benefit of ginger in stew pork, and it’s said to help with the digestion of the meat. So keep that in mind when cooking.
- Adding boiling water to the meat helps speed up the cooking process and tenderizes the pork stew better than cold or room-temperature water.
- To help thicken your gravy for this dish, make a slurry from flour or cornstarch and water to add to your meat.
