Alphabetic Recipes J — Jamaican Jerk Pork Recipe

Today we have a classic Jamaican recipe for a traditional recipe for a classic dish of pork in a spicy Jerk marinade that's either grilled (broiled) or barbecued to cook.

Today's is the eleventh entry of my new series of Alphabetic recipes. Each day for the next month and more, I will be adding a new recipe linked to a different letter of the alphabet. As I collect recipes from all over the globe, and have lots of Welsh recipes, I am going to use a blend of the Welsh and English alphabets:

A | B | C | D | E | F | Ff | G | H | I | J | K | L | Ll | M | N | O | P | Q | R | Rh | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

so there will be 30 entries in total. As today is the eleventh day in this series I am providing a recipe starting with the letter 'J'.

Today we have two Js, Jamaica and Jerk. This is a traditional Jamaican recipe for a classic dish of grilled or barbecued pork in a spicy and aromatic marinade.

Jamaican Jerk Pork Recipe

This is a traditional Jamaican recipe for fried pork in a spicy and aromatic coating. The basic recipe dates back to the original inhabitants of Jamaica, the Carib-Arawak Indians who used this method of spicing for pit-cooked meats.

Ingredients:

4 pork leg steaks (about 225g each)
1 Habanero (or Scotch Bonnet) chilli
1 tbsp ground allspice
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp ground sage
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp minced fresh garlic
1 tbsp brown sugar
60ml olive oil
60ml soy sauce
180ml white vine vinegar
120ml orange juice
juice of 1 lime
3 spring onions, finely chopped
225g finely-chopped onion

Method:

Trim off any excess fat from the pork. Finely chop the chilli (de-seed for a milder effect).

In a large bowl, combine the allspice, thyme, cayenne pepper, black pepper, sage, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, garlic and sugar. Using a balloon whisk, slowly beat in the olive oil, soy sauce, vinegar, orange juice and lime juice, ensuring everything is beaten until smooth. Finally add the Habanero peppers and the onion.

Mix the marinade ingredients thoroughly then add the trimmed pork steaks. Turn several times in the marinade to ensure they are well coated then cover everything with clingfilm (plastic wrap) and set aside to marinate for a minimum of 1 hour (over night in the refrigerator is best).

When ready to cook, remove the pork from the marinade and grill or barbecue for about 8 minutes per side, or until fully cooked through. During the cooking time, base frequently with any left-over marinade (this significantly improves the flavour). You can also boil the excess marinade to serve as a warm dipping sauce to accompany the meat.

This recipe can also be made with chicken or turkey breasts (just substitute these for the pork).

The recipe presented here is based, with permission, on the Celtnet Jamaican Jerk Chicken recipe.

This recipe is brought to you in conjunction with the Celtnet Guide to Recipes Beginning with 'J'.