Bifana Portuguese Pork Cutlets Recipes

BIFANA (PORTUGUESE PORK CUTLETS)

Steps:

• 1. Place pork cutlets in a large heavy plastic ziptop bag and place in a large bowl.
• 2. In a mixing bowl, combine one cup of the wine, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, 1 tbsp pimento paste (1/2 tbsp if using hot), 1/4 tsp paprika and piri-piri sauce. Pour this mixture over pork, making sure all meat is covered and seal bag.
• 3. Refrigerate for severl hours or overnight, turning bag frequently.
• 4. Bring meat to room temperature before cooking; to cook, heat skillet over med-high heat and melt lard, cook pork in batches. When pork is sauteed, drain off the fat and add remaining wine (1/4 cup), remaining pimento paste (1 tbsp, 1/2 tbsp if using hot), remaining paprika (1/4 tsp) to the skillet, as well as salt and pepper to taste.
• 5. Bring to a boil, stirring and scrapping up any brown bits. Return pork to the skillet, reduce heat to low and cook for a couple minutes.
• 6. Serve pork on fresh Portuguese buns (Papo Secos) topped with sauteed onions and about a tsp of cooking sauce.

BIFANA (PORTUGUESE PORK CUTLETS)

Steps:

• Rinse the pork cutlets and then pat dry with paper towels.
• Place pork in a large heavy plastic bag (like a freezer ziploc bag) and place in a large bowl.
• In a mixing bowl, combine one cup of the wine, the vinegar, garlic, bay leaf, 1/2 tsp of the pimento paste, 1/4 tsp of the paprika, peppercorns, cloves and piri-piri sauce.
• Pour this over pork, make sure all meat is coated, and seal the bag.
• Refrigerate for several hours or overnight, turning bag over in bowl frequently.
• Bring meat to room temperature before cooking.
• To cook, remove pork from marinade and lightly pat pork dry with paper towels.
• Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and melt lard, then cook pork in batches in hot lard; if your pork is thin it will likely only take a minute per side, at the most.
• When all the pork has been sauteed, drain off the fat and add the remaining wine (1/4 cup), remaining pimento paste (1/4 tsp), remaining paprika (1/4 tsp) to the skillet, as well as salt and pepper to taste.
• Bring this to a boil, stirring the pan to get up any brown bits.
• Return all the pork to the skillet, reduce heat to low, and cook for about another minute.

LISBON-STYLE PORK BIFANA RECIPE

Steps:

• 1. Mix together the garlic, salt, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tbsp piri-piri sauce, vinegar, 1 cup of wine and the bay leaf in a large press-seal bag or lidded plastic container. Add the pork, mix well and marinate overnight. 2. Heat two teaspoons of the oil in a heavy frypan over medium heat. Remove the pork from the marinade, drain and fry in batches for a minute or so each side until lightly browned, then set aside. Add a little oil to the pan when cooking each batch. When all the pork is cooked, deglaze the pan with the remaining cup of wine and add the remaining one teaspoon of paprika and one tablespoon of piri-piri sauce. 3. Bring to a boil and reduce to a coating consistency, then return all the pork to the pan for a further minute, stirring well to coat in the sauce. 4. In a separate frypan, fry the onions in the remaining two tablespoons of oil until softened and caramelised. 5. Serve the pork with the onions in soft white rolls with sweet mustard and extra piri-piri sauce. Also try: Adam Liaw's Francesinha (Portuguese croque-madame)