Porco à alentejana: pork and clams

Ingredients

• For the marinade
• 800 g pork shoulder or loin, cut into 3–4 cm cubes
• 3 tbsp massa de pimentão (sweet red pepper paste), from a Portuguese specialty food shop
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 kg clams, purged in cold salted water
• 150 ml dry white wine
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 small bunch cilantro (fresh coriander), roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil, for sautéing

Method

1. 1
   Combine the pork cubes with the massa de pimentão, olive oil, and crushed garlic. Coat thoroughly, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight. The paste must fully penetrate the meat; the colour when drawn from the refrigerator will be deep brick-red.
2. 2
   Heat a wide, heavy pan over high heat until smoking. Add a film of olive oil. Sear the pork in batches — never crowding the pan — until each surface is deeply caramelised and a dark fond has formed on the base of the pan. This is where the dish lives or dies: pale pork produces no fond, and without the fond there is no flavour base. Remove each batch and set aside.
3. 3
   Return the pan to the heat. Deglaze with the white wine, scraping up all the fond. The liquid will hiss violently, then settle to a steady simmer as the fond dissolves into the wine.
4. 4
   Return the seared pork to the pan. Scatter the purged clams over the surface in a single layer. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook over high heat for 4–5 minutes without lifting the lid or stirring. The dish is ready when all the clams have opened; discard any that remain shut.
5. 5
   Remove the pan from the heat. Add the lemon juice and scatter the cilantro over the surface. Do not stir; serve immediately. The aroma of cilantro and lemon will bloom as they hit the residual heat of the pan.