1 large onion
2 tablespoons lard (or vegetable oil)
1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt (plus more to taste; if you’re using commercial broth, reduce this amount to about 1/2 teaspoon)
2 pounds pork butt (or shoulder, trimmed of excess fat and cut into bite-sized pieces)
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup beer (or broth or water)
2 cups broth (or water)
Gather the ingredients. First, roast and peel those chiles. You can roast the chiles over a gas burner or under a broiler. Then put the chiles in a bowl and cover with a pot lid or foil. Let them sit and steam and cool down a bit for at least 15 minutes. Scrape off and remove peels, pull off stems, remove seeds, and chop. Set the chiles aside. Then peel and thinly slice the onion. Heat lard or oil in a large, heavy pot. Add the onion, chiles, and salt and cook, stirring when you think of it, until the onions are soft—about 3 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl, leaving as much fat in the pot as possible. Brown the pork, working in batches just large enough to be in the pot in a single layer of pieces that don’t touch. This step adds extra flavor and helps melt some of the fat off the meat. Once you’ve browned all the pork and have transferred it out of the pot, sprinkle the remaining fat/oil in the pot with the flour. Cook, stirring until the flour smells cooked—about 3 minutes. Add the 1 cup of beer, broth, or water and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot. The mixture should thicken up fairly quickly. Add the 2 cups of broth or water and return vegetables and pork to the pot. Everything should be covered by liquid; add more broth or water to cover if necessary. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to simmer, and cook, covered, until the pork is extremely tender—about an hour. (Alternatively, you can put the whole covered pot in a 350 F oven and bake for about an hour.) Remove the lid and simmer to reduce and thicken the liquid, if you like. Add more salt to taste, if needed. (You can cool the stew and remove the fat that will congeal on top but be warned that doing so will remove some of the delicious, unctuous flavors that make this simple stew so special.)