Ahh, “vina dosh,” this Portuguese wine and garlic pork recipe is my family’s tradition to make during Christmas. The recipe started getting passed down more than 80 years ago when my grandparents came to America from the Azore Islands! And now, I’m sharing the recipe that was passed down to me with you. It’s easy to make but requires a lot of patience to wait for the marinade to do its magic. But, oh so worth the wait! Serve it with Portuguese linguiça, a pot of semi-sweet, bacon-laced baked beans, and some Portuguese sweet bread. Hawaiian sweet bread works in a pinch. You can use white wine or red wine in the marinade.
Preparation Details
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 2 days 40 mins
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups red wine vinegar
- ¾ cup red wine
- 7 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tablespoons ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 8 whole cloves, or to taste
- 3 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 (3 pound) boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Steps
- Whisk red wine vinegar, red wine, garlic, black pepper, salt, cloves, bay leaves, and thyme together in a bowl; pour into a resealable plastic bag. Add pork, coat with marinade, squeeze out excess air, and seal the bag. Marinate in the refrigerator 2 to 4 days, turning occasionally.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Remove pork from marinade and shake off excess, Reserve 1/2 cup marinade; discard remaining marinade. Put pork and reserved 1/2 cup marinade in a baking dish.
- Bake in the preheated oven until pork is completely warmed, about 20 minutes. Drain as much liquid from pork as possible.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add pork to the skillet in batches; cook and stir until completely browned and no longer pink in centers, 10 to 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining pork.
