Costa Vida Sweet Pork

This is THE recipe. The recipe for which this blog was primarily created that is. I can’t claim that it is an exact replica of Costa Vida’s sweet pork though. But its close. Very close.

Some of you may remember (from my personal blog) that ‘taste off’ I did last year. It was sort of a personal goal to try and perfect the recipe for Costa Vida’s sweet pork. I made it. I changed it. I made it again. I changed it. I posted about it. And so on… In the midst of it all I received feedback from both personal acquaintances who actually tasted it, and random strangers that found my blog through online searches.

One of the more interesting comments I received was from a real life Costa Vida chef from Maine. He gave me hints. Helpful hints. I tried his suggestions, and re-tried them, and re-tried them. At first I had too much sugar, then too many serano peppers. I went back and forth a bit between too sweet and too spicy. In the end I found a recipe that closely emulates Costa Vida’s Sweet Pork. I’m certain its not exact, but its closer. A lot closer. And who knows maybe the recipe will evolve even further through comments and opinions I receive here. Perhaps another Costa Vida insider can shed some more light on my recipe – any takers?

My original recipe involved only 4 ingredients – pork, coke, brown sugar, and salsa. It was tasty, but it wasn’t entirely authentic. Since then, my recipe has evolved to the following:

Costa Vida Sweet Pork (knock-off recipe)

Pork Roast (4-5 lbs), thawed if frozen
3 c. Coke
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. (heaping) brown sugar
1 Tbsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. powdered garlic
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 large carrots, peeled and grated
1 (smallish) serrano pepper, seeded and diced
1 medium yellow onion, chopped

Cut away any obvious fat portions from the roast. Place all ingredients in a crock pot and cook on high for 6-7 hours.

Remove pork to cutting board.

Add an additional 1/2 c. granulated sugar and 1 cup Coke to the liquid in the crock pot. Stir.

Shred the pork, removing excess fat and bones, and add back to the crock pot. Stir.

Reduce to low and cook an additional 3 hours.

Serve pork in Costa Vida style burritos, or otherwise as desired.

*Cover remaining pork and refrigerate for up to one week. It can also be placed in freezer safe bags and frozen for use up to 3+ months later.

I should probably mention that I usually get up around 6 am when I make this. By the time I get all the vegetables cut up and everything added to the pot its about 7:00. It cooks until 1:00 or so. By about 2:00 the pork is shredded and the final ingredients added. Pork is done around 5:00 and ready to assemble into burritos, salad, nachos, etc…

It pretty much takes all day. Thankfully the crock is doing the majority of the work.

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How about a few more pictures…

Adding the Coke:

And the veggies/spices:

In the crock, ready to cook!

Shredding the meat:

All done and on the burrito. Almost ready to wrap!

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For those of you that missed the excitement last year I’ll give you a bit of a rundown of things that have transpired [Excerpts straight from my other blog].

Please note: All of the following information is from a year or more ago, and is pretty outdated. It serves only to give a history of this process and provide a point of reference for the recipe as it stands today, on this blog. If you don’t want to read all of this then don’t. But its here for all those that are curious. Note also that this is in no way inclusive of all the sweet pork related posts from last year. It also does not include any previous versions of the recipe.

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How it all started…

A couple of weeks ago, we were sitting at our kitchen table dining on our Costa Vida menu item of choice, when Dave asked, “Do you think you could make these?” I told him that I imagine somewhere on the internet someone has posted a recipe we could try.

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The contest/choosing the panel…

So, just for the fun of it (Not because I promise to BE Costa Vida), we are going to hold a taste-off. The event will be held on Friday, March 21st, 2008 at our home – In honor of my Costa-Vida-lovin’ husband’s birthday. The idea is that we will purchase a Costa Vida Sweet Pork burrito, and make some ourselves. 10 tasters will be chosen, blindfolded, and given samples of both burritos. They will be asked to state which they believe to be authentic Costa Vida, as well as which taste they prefer. If you are interested in being a taster, please tell us in 50 words or less why you should be chosen.

Disclaimer: This contest/event is just for fun. It is in no way endorsed or affiliated with Costa Vida. Any resemblance to food items or ingredients used in actual restaurant menu items is strictly coincidental. As stated above, the recipes used were derived from various sources – including the taste buds of one Costa Vida addict.

The finer print:

Sweet Pork Burrito Taste-Off
Friday, March 21st 6:00 p.m.

Entry Rules/Details:

1. 10 tasters will be chosen based on responses posted to the comments section of this post.
2. Entrants must, in 50 words or less, describe their qualifications for being a tester (E.g. I practically live at Costa Vida, I look really good in a blindfold, or my nickname is ’sweet pork’)
3. All entries must be posted as comments to this post. No other form of submission will be considered.
4. Tasters will be chosen as individuals. Please do not submit entries as couples or families. Separate entries are needed for each person.
5. Entrants must actually know us on some level. (Random men named Fred living in St. Paul may be disqualified.)
6. Tasters must be available (in Logan) on the evening of Friday March 21st to participate in the event.
7. Tasters must be willing to have their photograph taken (most likely while blindfolded), and posted on this blog.
8. All entries must be received by Monday, March 10th at 11:59 p.m.
9. Tasters will be chosen (and posted here) on the morning of Wednesday, March 12th.
10. All tasters will be fed a full “Costa Tina” burrito dinner that evening.

The purpose of this event is to have fun, eat good food, and laugh out loud. The purpose of the contest portion of this event is to allow each of you to exercise your inner creative selfs, to give us some fun stuff to read, and because – well, just because its funny.

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The responsibility of the tasters panel:

The responsibility of this panel will be to assess the authenticity of the sweet pork, to compare flavors, and to blindly choose their burrito of choice. They were chosen based on entries submitted to the Sweet Pork Burrito (tasters needed) post. Each member of the tasters panel will be blindfolded, laughed at for being blindfolded, and given a variety of items to taste. Their responses will be recorded, their pictures will be taken, and both will be posted here for your assessment (and viewing enjoyment).

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The results from the Sweet Pork Party:

Here’s how it all played out:
Each person was blindfolded and given two sample cups of each: pork, rice, and burrito.
They were asked to 1) try to identify which was from Costa Vida, and 2) to state which flavor they preferred.

Responses were verbally given and recorded. Participants did not necessarily receive samples in the same order.

The following table outlines the responses:

As you can see, everyone correctly identified the Costa Vida pork and rice when sampled separately. 8 of 10 identified the finished Costa Vida burrito.

8 of 10 preferred Costa Vida’s Pork and
7 of 10 preferred Costa Vida’s Rice
but only 2 of 10 preferred Costa Vida’s complete burrito

I also thought it was interesting that all of the girls (and Jared) voted the exact same way. Hm.

The general consensus was that Costa Vida’s Sweet Pork was sweeter and juicer. It actually had a noticeably deeper color too it, and a thicker sauce as well.
My rice was heavier on the lime. And some say it had a bit too much cilantro as well

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And then…

Not too long afterward, I got a comment on my blog that read:

“Your recipe is far off. I personally work in the kitchen and that recipe for pork is permantly scarred in my head. Just wondering which resturant you go to. I work in Maine. Email me back I might be able to give hints.”

My initial thoughts were “wow” and “is this for real?” But it didn’t take long for me to e-mail back. My new chef friend and I e-mailed back and forth several times, and over the course of the last month or so, I’ve tried the recipe 3 more times.

I learned that I should try adding carrots and serrano peppers. And white sugar instead of brown. And cook the meat in the coke mixture from the beginning instead of cooking it in water, shredding it, and then adding the coke mixture. I learned a lot. Here are a few of the hints I received:

“Try some coke, sugar, serrano peppers, and a blend of simple spices, cyanne. Also must have onions and carrots. Then simmer for several hours”

“One of the keys is to blend the sauce really well and then add that and some more sugar”

“In the crock at about 6:30am on low is what I found to work good”