I have been making this tasty stew for twelve years now, and I am kinda surprised at how I am still able to improve on an already good dish.
One of the big issues for serving this to a crowd is that some of our friends have rather severe nut allergies, so, no peanut butter stirred into the stew. Not a big deal, see, because the stew is (to me, anyway) every bit as good sans peanut butter; I just passed a bowl of peanut butter for folk to add to their own bowls as they like.
Then; it hit me.
I was already making extra sauce because folk really seem to enjoy it with the rice and all; why not, then, strain out some of that same sauce and stir peanut butter into it in a pitcher? That way, folx need not whisk their stew together at the table – thus saving my table linens (bonus!).
Worked a treat, and nine folx left the dinner happy, and with leftovers.
INGREDIENTS
Stew:
•9 cloves garlic, minced
•6 cups red pepper strips
•4 cups chopped sweet onion
•1 jalapeño, sliced
•2 tsp crushed red pepper
•1 tsp Aleppo pepper
•1/2 cup rice vinegar
•2 (17 oz) bottles teriyaki sauce
•1/2 cup water
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce*
•5 lb pork shoulder roast
•1-1/2 lb pork steaks
•3 tbsp brown sugar
•2 tbsp lime juice
Peanut Butter Sauce:
•Peanut butter
•Strained liquid from the stew
Toppings:
•Dark green scallion bits
•Dry-roasted peanuts
•Chopped fresh basil
•Chopped fresh parsley
•Lime wedges
*No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No Problem! Simply add a bit of decent sherry (none of that “cooking” stuff) and a dash or three of your fave hot sauce, to taste.
Add all of the stew ingredients to a large (seven quart) slow cooker, stirring to mix well and coat the veggies and pork.
Cover and cook on LOW for six hours, or on HIGH for eight hours.
Note: as with most any stew, this is much better made a day in advance. After the first slow cooking, I separate the pork from the veggies and sauce, then stash them in the fridge overnight.
The next day, I skim any fat off the stew liquid, and then shred and/or dice the pork into small pieces before reheating in a large Dutch oven.
When ready to serve, strain some of that hot stew liquid into a pitcher and add spoonfuls of peanut butter to make a sauce folx can add or choose not to.
Serve over rice – I like yellow rice with asparagus sautéed in garlic infused olive oil – with the toppings.
Note: yeh, I realize that cilantro is a traditional topping, but some folx don’t care for that, either, so basil and parsley it was.
Enjoy.