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1
Simmer the pork and skin
60 minutes
Gentle simmer (about 95°C / 200°F)
Put the pork shoulder and pork skin in a large pot, cover with about 1.5 litres of cold water, add half the salt, and bring to a gentle simmer. Skim off any foam, then cover and simmer for about 1 hour, until the pork is tender and the skin is soft and pliable.
Keep the heat low — a rolling boil toughens the skin instead of softening it.
Done when: The pork yields easily to a fork and the skin bends without resistance.
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2
Cook the mote with aji amarillo and palillo
45 minutes
Gentle simmer (about 95°C / 200°F)
Drain the soaked mote and put it in a second pot with fresh water. Simmer for about 35 minutes until the kernels are tender and splitting. Stir in the aji amarillo paste and half the salt, and cook 10 minutes more. Scoop out a cup of the cooked mote, mash it roughly, and stir it back with the palillo and a splash of water; cook 5 minutes until the mote turns golden and lightly creamy.
Mashing a cup of the mote is the old trick that thickens it without flour.
Done when: The kernels are tender, golden, and lightly bound together, not watery.
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3
Season and brown the pork
15 minutes
Medium-high heat (about 180°C / 350°F)
Lift the pork and skin from their pot and pat dry. Mix half the aji colorado paste with the crushed garlic, cumin, pepper and a pinch of salt, and rub it all over the pork. Brown the pieces in a dry, hot pan in their own fat for 2–3 minutes per side until deep golden at the edges.
Pat the pork dry first — wet meat steams instead of browning.
Done when: The pork is deep golden and the fat at the edges is crisp and glistening.
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4
Fry the aji sauce and finish the stew
15 minutes
Medium heat (about 170°C / 340°F)
In the same pan, heat the oil and fry the remaining aji colorado paste with the chopped onion for about 10 minutes, stirring, until the sauce is thick, dark red and the oil separates at the edges. Add the browned pork and skin, pour in a cup of the pork cooking liquid, and simmer for 5 minutes until the sauce clings to the meat and the dish is juicy, not dry.
Frying the paste until the oil separates is what turns raw chilli heat into a round, deep flavour.
Done when: The sauce is thick and glossy, coats the pork, and the meat is steaming hot throughout, above 74°C (165°F) at the centre.
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5
Boil the potatoes and serve
20 minutes
Boiling water (100°C / 212°F)
Boil the potatoes in salted water for 15–20 minutes until tender all the way through, then drain. Plate the pork and skin with their red sauce, spoon the golden mote alongside, add the boiled potatoes, and scatter the chopped parsley over everything. Serve at once, while the sauce is still glistening.
A skewer should slide through the largest potato with no resistance.
Done when: Each plate shows red-sauced pork, golden mote, white potatoes and green parsley — the four colours of the dish.
auto_awesome Finishing Touches & Plating
Serve immediately, while the pork is hot, the sauce is glossy and the mote is still steaming — this is a dish that waits for no one.
Bolivia
2h 25m
