Whenever I make stewed pork (Trinidad style stewed pork) I purposely make extra so I have leftovers for adding to other dishes.. like this one using eddoes. As I’ve mentioned before I’m a ‘country’ boy at heart, so ground provisions (starchy root type vegetables) are a huge part of my diet (though expensive to buy here in Canada). This recipe is a take on one our mom would do, but she would use yam (finger yam) instead of the eddoes, with amazing results.
You’ll Need…
2 lbs eddoes
1/4 teaspoon salt (boiling the eddoes)
pinch black pepper
2 scallions
1 tomato (diced | deseeded)
1 onion diced
2 cloves garlic (sliced thin)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup stewed pork.
Tip: When peeling/washing the eddoes you may want to wear gloves or coat your hands with vegetable oil as the starch/sap can cause irritation.
Using a sharp pairing knife or potato peeler, peel the skin off the eddoes, cut in half and wash with cool water. Then place in a deep pot covered with water and bring to a boil on a high heat. As it comes to a boil, add the salt and skim of any foamy residue on the surface. Reduce to a rolling boil and cook until tender (about 15-20 minutes) To test to see if they’re fully cooked, pierce with a knife and if there’s no resistance.. they’re good to go. Drain and set aside.
As the eddoes cook/boil, you can prep the tomato, onion , garlic and scallion (dice).
In a wide saucepan heat the oil on a medium flame and add the butter, then go in with the onion, garlic, scallion and black pepper. Reduce the heat to low and let this gently cook for about 3-4 minutes.
Next up add the diced tomato, give it a good stir and let it go for another minute before adding the left over stewed pork pieces. Turn up your heat to medium and let it go for another 2-3 minutes.
It’s now time to add the cooked eddoes to the pot and give it a good stir to ensure the eddoes are coated in the wonderful flavors we put together. Since the eddoes should still be warm, it will only take a minute or 2 to complete this amazing dish.
When boiling the eddoes do remember to cut them the same size so they cook evenly and if you don’t have stewed pork you can always start off with diced bacon or if you want to give it an Italian twist.. go with some pancetta. Do serve warm.. reheats well in the microwave.
This recipe can be adopted for just about any of your favorite meats. Including, fish, beef, chicken and shrimp. I’ve never tested it on lamb, since I just can’t stand the flavor of lamb on the grill, as well as the tough texture. I was never a big lover of jerk in the past, but it’s not only becoming a fav for me, Tehya and Indy just loves the mouth watering “kick” you get from a good piece of jerk just off the grill. The key to me falling in love with jerk pork, must be credited to two things. 1 – how fast and simple this is to prepare. and 2 – how moist the finished product is the way I marinate the meat. I’m sure you know how dry pork can get when you don’t grill it properly… good pork on the grill usually requires a lot of patience, basting and time to slow cook. Beside the time to marinate, this one is super fast!
Growing up our dad was always at work (well at the time it seemed that way). But Sundays was our day. In the dry season he’d take me and my brother on long hikes through abandoned cacao and coffee estates to hunt and search out ground provisions. He was a master at finding yams of all description, size and shape. Not that stuff you find in the grocery store in North America. Yams with names like, “juba”, ‘finger” and “kush kush” and I can still remember the joy when we found a “patch”.
