Jamaican Stew Pork
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.
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.