Spicy Grilled Pork With Fennel, Cumin and Red Onion

Name: Spicy Grilled Pork With Fennel, Cumin and Red Onion
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 3/4 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks; Kosher salt; 1 lime, plus some wedges for serving; 1/4 cup cilantro or basil, leaves and tender stems, plus more for serving; 2 tablespoons fish sauce; 2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled; 1 jalapeño or other green chile, seeded if desired; 1 teaspoon honey; 1 1/2 tablespoons fennel seeds; 1 tablespoon cumin seeds; 1 tablespoon coriander seeds; 1 small red onion, sliced, for serving

By Melissa Clark

Published June 24, 2020

Spicy Grilled Pork With Fennel, Cumin and Red Onion — Tara Donne for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Chris Lanier

Total Time: 30 minutes, plus marinating
Rating: 4(1,044)
Comments: Read comments

Imbued with spices that char at high heat, this aromatic pork recipe is a snap to throw together — exactly what you want for a night of summer grilling. If you’re got wooden skewers, don’t forget to soak them in water for an hour before grilling, so they don’t flare up. And if you’re broiling and you don’t want to bother with skewers at all, just spread the pork cubes out on a rimmed sheet pan, turning them halfway through cooking with tongs or a spatula. The pork is excellent served with pita or crusty bread or a rice pilaf, or simple grilled corn on the cob.

Featured in: Spicy Pork Kebabs, Fast Enough for a Weeknight

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

1¾pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1½-inch chunks
Kosher salt
1lime, plus some wedges for serving
¼cup cilantro or basil, leaves and tender stems, plus more for serving
2tablespoons fish sauce
2garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1jalapeño or other green chile, seeded if desired
1teaspoon honey
1½tablespoons fennel seeds
1tablespoon cumin seeds
1tablespoon coriander seeds
1small red onion, sliced, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Season pork lightly with kosher salt and put it in a bowl or resealable bag.
Step 2
Juice the lime into a blender or food processor and add cilantro, fish sauce, garlic, jalapeño and honey. Blend until the jalapeño and garlic are puréed, then add fennel, cumin, coriander seeds and pulse four or five times to bruise the spices and mix them in.
Step 3
Pour mixture over the pork, tossing to coat the pieces. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes while you heat the grill, or up to 24 hours.
Step 4
When ready to cook, heat the grill or broiler with a rack positioned 4 inches from the heat source.
Step 5
Thread the pork onto skewers, leaving a little space between cubes. Grill over the highest heat possible, or broil on high, for 2 to 5 minutes, then flip the skewers and continue cooking until the meat is browned all over and charred in spots. It should be just cooked through: A little pink is OK, but there shouldn’t be any red spots.
Step 6
Serve the pork with cilantro sprigs and onion slices on top, and lime wedges on the side for squeezing.

Ratings

4 out of 5

1,044 user ratings

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Comments

Tim from Winnipeg4 years ago

Really good. Made them exactly as written. Only thing I would take OUT of the recipe is the mention of a resealable plastic bag. Please, for the love of St Peter, use resealable bags only when absolutely ncessay, and only if you plan to re-use them (very easy to turn inside out and wash). I’m not advocating doing away with them, but the world is awash in plastic and this recipe absolutely does not require a plastic bag for the marinade stage. I’ll shut up now. Try the kebobs. They’re delicious.

MSH4 years ago

This recipe is amazing!! The marinade would taste delicious on any kind of meat—chicken, lamb, etc. Used pork tenderloin. Only tweaks were: added shallot, lime zest, and a little olive oil to the mix. Definitely use whole seeds if you have them.

Essey5 years ago

Bloody marvellous! I have made something similar to this however the recipe for that used 1tsp of Kashmiri chilli powder (not the hottest) instead of the fresh chilli and some yogurt/buttermilk instead of the lime juice. As an easy quick fix, all of the ingredients could be store cupboard and not fresh, apart from the meat or even fish. This recipe looks delicious,,, Cannot wait to try!

Steven Andrea6 months ago

As usual, Melissa nailed it. Made this in the dead of winter, sheet pan instead of grill. Cut the pork a little smaller to get some char and more marinade surface area. On the sheet pan you get a lot of liquid to start, but it cooks off. Took it just to smoking (pan dry) and that was perfect. Broiled until lots of char. Also, added zest and a bit of olive oil to the marinade as others suggested. Forgot the honey. Not on purpose, but didn’t need it. Had about 75 min marinade time. Served with pickled onions and a tahini/lemon/chile sauce with a little bit of rice and some charred broccoli. Seriously delicious.

LindaL11 months ago

This was excellent. As noted, marinade could be one hour or 24 hours. And it was very easy on the hot grill, needed only 5-10 minutes cooking time.

Dan1 year ago

Used lemon instead of lime and about tablespoon of Chilula instead of jalapeño as that's what I had. Cooked on high gas grill 2 minutes each side. Absolutely PHENOMENAL! Loved Loved Loved it. Served family style and had to cover platter with a cloth to keep from eating it past the point where I was full. Perfect summer cookout food. Did I mention it was phenomenal?

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