Tangy Yucatecan Grilled Pork with Roasted and Fresh Garnishes
Poc Chuc

Yield: 4 portions

Method

1. Light a charcoal fire and let it burn until all the coals are medium-hot and covered with gray ash.
2. While the onions are roasting, pound the meat with a flat mallet to about 1/8-inch thick. Drizzle with ¼ cup of the sour orange (or 3 tablespoons lime) juice, cover, and set aside.
3. Cool the onions until handle-able, peel the charred outer layers off, then cut what remains into ½ inch squares. Toss with ¼ cup of the sour orange (or about 3 tablespoons lime) juice and season with salt and pepper.
4. Toss the cabbage with the cilantro and the remaining ¼ cup of sour orange (or 3 tablespoons lime) juice; season with salt and pepper. Spread onto a large serving platter about 14 inches or so in diameter. Decorate the perimeter with alternating slices of tomato and avocado, and sprinkle them with salt and pepper
5. Stoke your fire with new charcoal and let it get really hot. Sprinkle both sides of the meat generously with salt and pepper. Working with a couple of pieces at a time, grill the pork: Let sear about 2 minutes on one side, then flip it over and sear on the other. The total cooking time for 1/8-inch pork steaks over a very hot fire will be no more than three or four minutes.
6. Lay the meat slightly overlapping down the center of the platter and strew the onions over the meat. Decorate with a few cilantro sprigs and serve without delay, accompanied by salsa and baskets of hot tortillas.

Note: Thin-cut boneless pork chops may be substituted or the pork steaks. A generous ½ cup fresh lime juices, plus a little more if needed, may be substituted for the orange juice.

Variations and improvisations: This dish could easily be made with butterflied, pounded, boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or with skirt steak. If you like spicy food and want more flavor in the marinade, smear a little of the habanero salsa over the meat in place of the sour orange.