Modified from a recipe in the “That Sounds So Good” cookbook by Carla Lalli Music, which I highly recommend.

Cook time: 20min prep the day before. 4hrs day-of (mostly inactive).

Makes 8+ servings. Bake some bread to go with it.

Ingredients

  • 3lb bone-in pork shoulder/butt, or ~2lb boneless (less is okay)
  • 1lb dry black eyed peas (or other small white beans)
  • 2 large carrots
  • 1 medium onion (or ~8oz frozen pearl onions)
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • small handful of thyme springs
  • olive oil for drizzling
  • 1 Tbsp sherry vinegar or red/white wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp paprika (if possible, smoked hot paprika)
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 bay leafs
  • (optional) 1/2 tsp MSG
  • salt & pepper

NOTE: this recipe requires a large pot such as a dutch oven which is both stove-safe and oven-safe at 325F. I use a 6qt dutch oven and it is barely big enough. You also need a sheet pan, which will get dirty, as well as a blender, food processor, or immersion blender.

TODO: try adding leeks to roast with pork in final step

Directions

The day before

Make a spice mix of the paprika, cayenne, chili powder, cumin, and coriander, 1tsp black pepper. Unpackage the meat, and rub it on all sides first with 1 Tbsp salt, then with the entirety of the spice mix. Wrap the meat or place it in a covered container, and refrigerate.

Sift the dry beans for any debris, rinse them, then place the beans in a large bowl with 12 cups of water (the amount of water matters!). Let the beans sit a room temperature.

The day-of

Preheat the oven to 325F. Find a large dutch oven (or similar large, coverable, oven-safe & stovetop-safe vessel). Add the soaked beans along with their liquid to the dutch oven, and heat at medium on the stovetop to a simmer. Begin the next step while it is heating up.

Peel and coarsely chop the carrots. Also, chop the onions (if using frozen pearl onions, they can be used directly from the frozen bag). Trim and smash the garlic cloves. Rinse the thyme sprigs. Add the carrots, onion, garlic, thyme, and bay leafs to the pot and mix.

Place the pork in the pot atop the beans, fattiest-side-up. It should be nestled in the water with the top just poking out a bit. Lightly drizzle the top with olive oil. Continue heating the pot over the stove until it comes to a simmer, occasionally stirring the beans gently without disturbing the pork.

Once the pot simmers, cover, and transfer to the oven. Cook for ~2 hours. To check if it is done, taste it: the meat should pull apart and be tender throughout, and the beans should have a pleasant soft texture.

Remove the large pot from the oven, set it aside to cool a bit. Increase the oven temp to 375F. Find a large sheet pan; optionally cover it with aluminum foil, though I usually cook directly on it. Transfer the pork from the pot to the sheet pan, still fat-side-up. Ladle cooking liquid (but not solids) from the pot into the sheet pan, until there is a shallow ~1/2inch layer.

Transfer the sheet pan to the oven and roast for an additional 30-45min, until the pork gets a tasty brown and crisp layer along the outside. Every 10-15 min, check the pork and ladle in more water as needed to maintain a layer. The liquid bath should thicken & darken, but don’t let it outright blacken and burn—keep an eye on it, this can happen quite fast. Once the pork is done, remove the sheet pan from the oven.

Go back to the pot with the beans, and discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Take approximately 1/4 of the bean mixture, blend it, and return it to the pot to give it a thick and creamy consistency.

Once the pork has cooled slightly, transfer it to a cutting board and roughly cut the meat into bitesize pieces, it should tear and shred like pulled pork. Tip the sheet pan into the bean pot and scrape the thickened juice into the pot. Add the meat to the pot as well and combine.

Finish the flavors by stirring in the vinegar and MSG (if using). Season with additional salt, pepper, and cayenne powder to taste (I usually add 2tsp salt, 1/2tsp cayenne, and many healthy grinds of pepper). If necessary, bring back up to temp over low heat while stirring to combine flavors.

Serve in in bowls like a stew, preferably with fresh bread!