Mondongo, a Classic Latin Stew

I’m a foodie, I love all types of food, However, I have come to appreciate peasant food. Peasant food is cheap food. This is the case with Mondongo. A stew made from tripe, pork shoulder and beans. The pork shoulder is cheap cut of meat, and, the tripe is offal, and, that’s a hard sell to the more discerning pallet. But, the stew is delicious and hearty. There’s a story to be told and some food to cook, please join me.

Mondongo has it’s roots in Latin America and the Caribbean. It’s essentially a stew made from cheaper off-cuts of meat and beans. There are many regional variations to the dish, dependent on what’s available and cost. But, it will always have beans and tripe in the ingredient list.

Peasant food, by definition, has to be cheap. Made with locally sourced ingredients. Cheaper cuts of meat need more prep and more cooking time, but, that’s what makes this food so good. Beef stew is a good example, chuck, is not prime cut. However let it cook for 8 hours with vegetables and herbs, and what you get is amazing, deep flavors. These take time to develop. Cooking a pork shoulder is the same, and the end result is mouthwateringly good. And we will get all this with mondongo, but ,we will shorten the cooking time by using a pressure cooker, the end result will be the same.

A brief explanation about pressure cookers. Firstly, they are safer these days than they were in the past, less chance of exploding. The electronic computerized pressure cookers we use today are easier to use, with programmable start and stop times. However, their greatest advantage is that they cook so much quicker. There are a few reasons for this, and, it all boils down to science.

Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit at sea level. However, by raising the pressure, the water boils at a higher temp. The temperature in a pressure cooker at full pressure can be up to 250 degrees, so, you’re cooking hotter. Normally, when you cook in a pan, the heat is not evenly surrounding whatever you’re cooking, and, obviously rises out of the pan. However, in a pressure cooker, the heat stays inside the cooker, and, envelopes the food evenly, helping to cook faster.

Some of the new pressure cookers allow you to sauté and seer in them before putting on the lid to cook. If yours does, good. I’m going old school with this process, I’ll prep in one pan, deglaze the bits, and put everything in the pressure cooker to cook.

Now on to the dish. Tripe. It is the lining of the stomach of ruminating animals; cows, sheep as an example. These animals have 5 stomachs, and there is a different tripe from each one. Smooth, honeycomb, leaf and reed, depending on which stomach. The most popular being smooth and honeycomb. The tripe is chemically cleaned at the processing factory. However there are a few steps to follow to make sure it’s completely cleaned and no residual chemicals. I soak it in water with a lemon for 20 mins, rinse and repeat. Then boil for 5 minutes, and, rinse and repeat. Now the tripe is ready to cook.

Nutrition wise, tripe doesn’t bring much to the table, 85 calories per 4oz serving, a little over 3.5 grams of fat, half of which is mono and polyunsaturated. However, it does have 58% DV of vitamin B12. Flavor wise, it really is neutral, tastes like whatever it’s cooked with, and, the texture is a little gelatinous.

The rest of the meat is a little easier to handle. Chorizo will bring some really good flavors to the dish. The bacon will do what bacon does, make everything better, rendered down the bacon fat will be the oil to sauté the onions, garlic and brown the meat. The pork shoulder will bring some flavors and a little more protein. The beans will bring calories, carbs and protein to the dish. Soaked overnight to rehydrate, and will cook nicely in the pressure cooker.

Everything starts with the mirepoix, it’s the savory base for soups and stews, and, mondongo is a stew. I’ll start by rendering the bacon fat to sauté the mirepoix. The best way to render down bacon fat is to start with a cold pan, add the bacon, over a medium heat. Just to soften and get as much of the fat rendered down. When done, remove and put in the pressure cooker. Now add the onions, carrots, garlic and celery, cook everything till it’s soft with a little color. This is the Maillard reaction, it gives us the flavors that make dishes delicious. When done, toss everything in the pressure cooker. Now for the meat, throw everything in and brown off a bit then put in the pressure cooker.

Add the canned tomatoes and spices to the pan, bring to a boil while stirring, this will get all the bits stuck to the pan. It’s called deglazing, it’s important when prepping in one pan and cooking in another. Everything in the pan is flavor, you need to capture as much as possible. Now, add everything to the pressure cooker, and, the rest of the ingredients (the beans). Cover with water by about 1 inch or so, secure the lid and cook for 45 mins

Now follow the manufacturers instructions to lower the pressure and remove the lid. You’ll be greeted with a delicious smell. Check for doneness, specifically the beans, if they still have a crunch, cook another 15 mins. Now serve and garnish as you like. Mondongo may be peasant food, but it has amazing taste and deep flavors. And for those discerning pallets that complained about the tripe, well, they won’t even notice it.

Thank you for reading, enjoy dinner