Chef John's Irish Pork Stew
I'm sure you've heard that corned beef and cabbage is not authentic St. Patrick's Day food. I decided to do a little mash-up and this Irish pork stew with baby cabbage was the result. Baby cabbage can be a little hard to find, but you can use Brussels sprouts, and no one will know the difference.
I'm sure you've heard that corned beef and cabbage is not authentic St. Patrick's Day food. I decided to do a little mash-up and this Irish pork stew with baby cabbage was the result. Baby cabbage can be a little hard to find, but you can use Brussels sprouts, and no one will know the difference.
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 3 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 stalks celery cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 (2 1/2 pound) boneless pork shoulder cut into 2-inch cubes
- 3/4 teaspoon caraway seed
- 1 (12 fluid ounce) bottle dark beer (such as guinnessâ®)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 12 brussels sprouts halved
- 3 cups mashed potatoes or as needed
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or to taste
- Carbohydrate 23.921008253124 g
- Cholesterol 313.850520835513 mg
- Fat 65.9043510015535 g
- Fiber 2.2608154262784 g
- Protein 78.7709410001251 g
- Saturated Fat 19.2481594762692 g
- Serving Size 1 1 serving (557g)
- Sodium 663.991813905196 mg
- Sugar 21.6601928268456 g
- Trans Fat 5.58432664242791 g
- Calories 1024 calories
Step-by-step
- Season pork cubes with salt and black pepper.
- Heat vegetable oil in a pot over high heat. Working in batches, cook and stir pork in hot oil until browned on all sides, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer pork to a bowl and reduce heat to medium.
- Melt butter in the pot. Cook and stir onion with a pinch of salt in hot butter until onion is softened and translucent, 7 to 10 minutes. Add garlic; saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir flour into onion mixture; cook and stir until flour is completely incorporated, about 2 minutes. Add bay leaf and caraway seed; cook for 2 minutes more. Pour beer into onion mixture. Cook and stir until thickened, 1 to 3 minutes.
- Stir pork, chicken broth, carrots, and celery into beer mixture; bring to simmer. Stir 1/4 cup parsley and balsamic vinegar into stew, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until pork is fork-tender, about 2 hours.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the Brussels sprouts and cook uncovered until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Drain.
- Stir Brussels sprouts into stew and simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide mashed potatoes between 6 bowls. Ladle stew over potatoes and top each with a pinch of parsley.
Dark stout beer forms the backbone of this robust stew, providing deep malty notes that cut through the richness of marbled pork shoulder. Culinary tradition across Ireland frequently favored pork over beef before the latter became a prominent export, utilizing cheaper, harder-working cuts that demand slow cooking to break down tough connective tissue. Working in batches when searing the 2-inch pork cubes is essential; crowding the pot traps steam and prevents the Maillard reaction needed to build a foundational browned crust. Cooking the flour and onion mixture together for two minutes before deglazing eliminates any raw starch taste, ensuring the resulting sauce thickens smoothly without tasting pasty. Simmering the braise on medium-low heat for roughly two hours allows the collagen within the meat to fully gelatinize, creating a velvety consistency in the broth. If baby cabbage proves unavailable at the market, halved Brussels sprouts offer a structurally similar cruciferous alternative that holds its shape during the final five-minute simmer. Home cooks seeking modifications can easily substitute gluten-free stout and a measure of rice flour for the thickener without altering the overall flavor profile. Ladling the finished braise directly over three cups of hot mashed potatoes absorbs the flavorful liquids effectively.
