Portugal (national street food)
Portugal's great street food — thin slices of pork shoulder marinated in white wine, garlic, pimentão (sweet red pepper paste), bay leaf, and sometimes piri piri, then cooked quickly in a hot pan and served in a papo-seco (crusty Portuguese roll). The bifana is street-corner food eaten standing up, and the best ones — at street stalls during Lisbon's Festas dos Santos Populares in June, or at the legendary Cervejaria Ramiro — have a specific character: the pork is soft, the sauce is slightly acidic from the wine and pepper paste, and the roll is slightly soggy where it has absorbed the cooking juices. Like the francesinha, the bifana is an institution rather than a recipe.
The pork must be thin — 3-4mm slices, pounded if needed. The marinade time matters: minimum 2 hours, overnight preferred. Cook on a very hot flat griddle or pan — the pork should sear, not steam. The cooking juices are the sauce — add a splash of the marinade to the pan and reduce with the pork. The roll (papo-seco) must be fresh and slightly crusty. Serve immediately.
The pimentão (massa de pimentão) is essential to the authentic bifana — this Portuguese red pepper fermented paste is available from specialty shops. Mustard is the traditional condiment — a smear on the inside of the roll before the pork goes in. Some vendors add a raw egg directly onto the hot pork in the pan — it cooks on the surface and adds richness. Pair with Sagres or Super Bock.
Thick pork slices — the texture becomes chewy rather than tender. Cooking too gently — the pork steams instead of searing. Using a soft roll — the bread should contrast with the soft pork. Not making the sauce from the pan juices — the bifana is not a dry sandwich.
My Portugal by George Mendes