Homemade Mexican Chorizo

By UncleDick

Wonderful layers of flavors you cannot get from most commercial Chorizo’s.
This is a great recipe to experiment with other chiles and cocoa powder and make it your own.

You can substitute other dried chili combinations such as New Mexico, or California that add different levels of spicyness, and, as I did, I smoked the pork butt before baking, I have also adding a touch of chocolate powder to add a nice subtle richness to the Chorzo.

Ingredients

• 1 pound slow roasted pork, or ground pork
• 6 dried guajillo or ancho chiles
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

Step 1

SLOW ROASTED PORK:
Season a pork butt with cumin, salt, pepper, and garlic, cooked at 225°F for 6 hours.

In a dry skillet heated on high, or hot oven, toast the chiles on each side for about 10 seconds or just until they start to puff. Fill the skillet with enough water to cover chiles. Leave the heat on until water begins to boil and then turn off the heat and let chiles soak until soft, about 30 minutes.

After chiles are moist, drain the water and place the chiles and vinegar in a blender, also adding the diced onion and chopped garlic. Puree until a smooth, bright red paste is formed (can add a splash of water or vinegar if it’s too dry to blend). It should look like ketchup.

I prefer the slow roasted pork rather than fresh ground pork for storage and food safety reasons.

Finely dice cooked pork to almost ground pork texture. Add the chile purée to the ground pork, along with the rest of the spices. Mix well. To test the flavors, pinch off a small piece and fry it up in a skillet for a minute or so. Taste it and add more spices if needed.

You can let it sit for a few hours so the flavors will meld, but I find it’s delicious just after making as well. Will keep in the refrigerator for a few days, and it freezes nicely. My preference is a little spicier so I upped the cayenne and added the black pepper to the basic recipe