the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Damned Authentic Jamaican Jerk Pork

Longtime friends and readers know that we tend to favor spicy and robustly flavored foods around our camp; this week’s recipe – Damned Authentic Jamaican Jerk Pork – fits that bill perfectly.

I’ve always loved the floral heat that authentic jerk pork (and chicken) brings to the flavor table, though I have to admit, I’ve at times been a bit intimidated by what looks to be a somewhat daunting prep to prepare the spice paste essential to true jerk pork.

In all honesty, it’s simply not that big of a production, and can be done (with decent knife skills) in under 20 minutes (really more like 13-14 minutes) if you stay on task and work efficiently.

Jamaican Jerk features the floral heat of Scotch Bonnet peppers, which can be a bit of challenge to find in some parts of the States, but take note that habaneros are a kissin’ cousin to the Scotch Bonnet (though to our palates they not quite as floral).

The peppers are potent – try a recipe with the low end of the pepper range listed, and move up the pepper scale to suit your tastes – my wife loves the front-end, short burst of heat of the habanero and keeps telling me to up the pepper count in the next batch.

And while I typically handle all other peppers without gloves, I do wear a glove when seeding and cutting up habaneros or Scotch Bonnets – one eye rub after not doing so years ago taught me an indelible lesson.

Of note, you can cook this one entirely on the grill (indirect for most of it, finish direct heat) or do as we do and smoke the pork to an internal temp of 150ish, then finish on the grill (to 190-195) for a nice crispy and caramelized crust. That’s our latest cook in the smoker (left) and finishing on the grill (right).

Another point of Jamaican Jerk tradition has to do with the cooking wood involved – typically it’s pimento wood – which can be a bit tough to source in many locales. We’ve found that oak or pecan with a bit of apple works damned well with this prep, and while many recipes call for throwing bay leaves and or allspice berries on the fire, I typically don’t. (We’ll experiment more and report back in a few weeks…)

Hot damn, this one’s really good.

1/4 to 1/2 pound Scotch Bonnet peppers (see comment above about using Habaneros), stemmed and rough chopped
1/2 large green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, chopped medium
1 small white or yellow onion, chopped medium
1 medium shallot, chopped medium
1/2 bunch green onions, white and green parts cut into 1-inch pieces
2 medium garlic cloves, chopped
1.5-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled, chopped medium
1 tsp dried thyme (a generous 2 tsp if using fresh)
3/4 tsp dried basil (3 large leaves chopped if using fresh)
2 and 1/2 tsp ground allspice, you’ll probably want more…
1 tsp good ground cinnamon
1 tsp good fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup coarse salt
2 tbsp avocado or olive oil
1 tbsp soy sauce (perhaps more)

4-5 pounds of pork shoulder, deboned, butterflied

Combine the hot peppers, green bell pepper, onion, shallot, green onions, garlic, ginger, thyme, basil, allspice, cinnamon, pepper, salt, and your oil of choice in your trusty food processor bowl and process to a smooth paste.

Pulse in the soy sauce, and taste the robustly spiced, pretty damn salty mixture, adding more seasoning (allspice and soy sauce usually for me) as needed, along with up to 1/4 cup water to loosen the paste up if needed.

Now take the deboned pork shoulder and pound to a uniform thickness (shoot for 1 and 1/2 inches) if needed, then make a series of 1/2-inch deep cuts, 2 inches apart, aligned with the short side of your flattened pork shoulder. Now flip the shoulder over and make a similar series of cuts on the other side parallel with those on the first side.

Slather half of the spice paste onto a nonreactive pan (or whatever you’re using to marinate the pork), lay the pork on, then coat with the rest of the spice paste. Marinate for a minimum of two hours and up to eight.

When ready to cook, you have a couple of options – complete the entire cook on the grill or smoke the pork shoulder first, then finish on the grill for a nifty crust.

We like to smoke this over low heat (225-250) until the interior temp is 145 to 150 ( that’s 90-120 minutes typically for us pending the size of the shoulder), then finish over hardwood charcoal on the grill to get a tasty and attractive char on the shoulder sections. For those cooking to internal temp (as I do), you’re looking for 190-195 typically.

If completing the entire cook on the grill, most recipes call for a 40-60 minute cook using indirect heat, with a finish using direct heat to lay in a nice caramelization and crust.

Rest for 10-15 minutes, then slice or do as the Jamaican’s do and whack it into bite size pieces with a cleaver.

Beware, this one’s really good and you’ll be coming back for more. The spice paste recipe easily doubles and will keep sealed in an airtight container in the fridge for several weeks.

Enjoy.