Torta Ahogada

Ingredients

• 1kg boneless pork shoulder, cut into 5cm chunks
• 250g lard
• 1 orange, halved
• 1/2 white onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
• 2 tsp fine sea salt
• 250ml water
• 4 birote salado rolls, or small crusty sourdough baguettes
• 200g refried beans, warmed
• 600g ripe tomatoes
• 1/2 white onion, extra
• 3 garlic cloves, extra
• 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano, for the sauce
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 400ml chicken stock
• 30g chiles de árbol
• 120ml white vinegar
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin, for the chile sauce
• 1 tsp salt, for the chile sauce
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• juice of 3 limes
• 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano, for the onions

Before you cook

• Cut the pork shoulder into 5cm chunks and season them with the salt.
• Slice the red onion paper-thin, cover it with the lime juice and a teaspoon of oregano, and leave it to pickle for an hour.
• Stem the chiles de árbol.
• Halve the tomatoes and peel all the garlic and onion pieces.

Steps

1. Put the pork, lard, orange halves, half onion, four garlic cloves, bay leaves, oregano and 250ml of water into a heavy pot.
2. Bring it to a simmer over medium heat, then turn the heat right down.
3. Cook the pork uncovered for two hours, turning it now and then, until the water has boiled off and the meat is frying quietly in the pure lard.
4. Raise the heat and fry the pork for a final ten minutes, until the edges are brown and crisp.
5. Lift the carnitas onto a board, let them cool for five minutes, then chop them coarsely.
6. Char the tomatoes, the extra half onion and three garlic cloves in a dry pan over high heat for eight minutes, until blackened in patches.
7. Blend the charred vegetables with the oregano, cumin and chicken stock until smooth, then pass the sauce through a sieve into a saucepan.
8. Simmer the tomato broth for fifteen minutes and season it with salt. It should be thin enough to drink, because a thick sauce will not soak through the bread.
9. Toast the chiles de árbol in a dry pan over medium heat for thirty seconds, shaking, until they darken slightly.
10. Cover the toasted chiles with boiling water and soak them for fifteen minutes.
11. Blend the drained chiles with the vinegar, cumin, salt and 150ml of fresh water until smooth, then sieve it into a jug. Taste it carefully, as it is meant to be genuinely fierce.
12. Split each birote lengthways, leaving a hinge, and pull out a little of the soft crumb from the top half.
13. Spread refried beans across the bottom half of each roll.
14. Pile the chopped carnitas on top and close the sandwich.
15. Sit each torta in a shallow bowl and ladle the hot tomato broth over it until the bread is soaked but the crust has not dissolved.
16. Spoon over as much of the chile de árbol sauce as you dare.
17. Top with the pickled red onions and eat immediately, with plenty of napkins.