Chorizos
Submitted by CAILEY
Homemade Mexican chorizo: coarsely ground pork cured with toasted ancho and pasilla chilies, garlic, vinegar, and warm spices. Bulk sausage that matures in the fridge for three days.
YIELD
10 servingsPREP
35 minCOOK
0 minREADY
3 daysThis is Mexican chorizo (not the cured Spanish kind), a coarse, brick-red bulk sausage that stains the pan orange the moment you hit it with heat. Real-deal stuff, the way Diana Kennedy and generations of cooks in Michoacán make it. Toasted ancho and pasilla chilies do the heavy work on color and flavor; the pork fat keeps it juicy.
Toasting the chiles is where the flavor lives. Turn them constantly over medium heat until they puff and smell toasty. Burnt chiles taste acrid and there’s no rescuing them. Stem and seed while still warm and pliable, they crisp up fast as they cool.
The cure needs time. Three days minimum in the fridge, stirred daily, so the vinegar, spices, and chilies penetrate the meat. A full week if you’re skipping casings. Rush this step and it tastes flat and raw.
Freeze in portioned packs. Pull one out, crumble into a hot pan, and you’ve got taco filling, breakfast scramble base, or the heart of a plate of papas con chorizo.
Pro Tips
- Grind the pork coarsely; fine grinds turn pasty after the acid cure.
- Keep fat-to-meat ratio near 20%; leaner chorizo crumbles dry in the pan.
- White vinegar is traditional, apple cider vinegar adds subtle sweetness.
- Wear gloves when handling the chile paste or wash thoroughly; the oils linger.
Variations
- Add a tablespoon of Mexican cinnamon and a pinch of clove for a warmer, more Oaxacan style.
- Stuff into hog casings and air-dry for firmer links.
- Swap one ancho for a chipotle in adobo for smokier depth.
Ingredients
Directions
Chop the meat roughly, (or purchase ground pork), together with the fat.
Toast the chilies well, turning them from time to time so they do not burn.
While they are still warm and flexible, slit them open and remove the seeds and veins.
As they cool off they will become crisp.
Grind the spices together withe the chilies.
Mix the ground spices and chilies with the rest of the ingredients and rub them well into the meat with your hands.
Cover the mixture and set it aside in the refrigerator to season for 3 days, stirring it well each day.
Normally the meat would be put into sausage casings, however, I just use it straight from the bowl.
If you don’t want to stuff the meat into casings at all, leave it to mature for about a week.
Store it in containers in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator.
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