A vegan pernil that abuela would love
In 2015, Norma Pérez adopted a vegan diet to combat her arthritis. But she worried that she’d miss out on the Salvadoran dishes she grew up with, particularly holiday dishes like her tamales and pan con pollo.
Then she remembered the many plant-based options in El Salvador. She just needed her sazón and other spices and herbs that her mother taught her to use when Pérez was growing up in Los Angeles.
“Just because you go vegan doesn’t mean you’re going to lose your culture,” said Pérez, who now lives in Ontario, Calif., and teaches people how to make vegan versions of their Salvadoran favorites on her website, the Salvi Vegan. Since changing her diet, Pérez has made vegan versions of 68 Salvadoran dishes, including tamales with a filling of soybased chicken or king oyster mushrooms.
Many Americans are vegetarian and vegan (Gallup recently estimated that about 4% identify as vegetarian and another 1% as vegan), and the holidays bring up various anxieties. They can be even more unnerving for vegan Latinos in the United States, where pernil or a whole slowroasted hog could be at the center of the celebrations.
As a result, many are transforming their family recipes, traditionally made with meat or dairy, into vegan showstoppers so good that the abuelas and tias prefer the vegan adaptations.
Lyana Blount, the author of “Black Rican Vegan: Fire Plant-based Recipes From a Bronx Kitchen,” and the owner of a soul food and Puerto Rican food pop-up of the same name, serves many customers who aren’t vegan but are curious about her food.
She recalled one customer who brought her vegan pernil — made with jackfruit to mimic the texture of shredded roast pork, and marinated with Puerto Rican sauces and spices — to their abuela, who said she couldn’t believe it was jackfruit.
“When I get that feedback, it makes me feel so good, and it gives me confirmation that what I’m doing is necessary,” said Blount, who became vegan in 2016 for health reasons. “It’s showing that they don’t have to consume meat all the time.”
Raul Medina, a chef in Oakland, Calif., said the key to his vegan tamales and pozole was his homemade vegan lard, which he makes with coconut oil and the rendered fat from his leftover vegan meat dishes, like his mushroom carnitas. He first cooks the spices and chiles in the melted fat, then adds the remaining ingredients so that the soup feels just as fatty as one made with pork.
“Pozole isn’t just a broth or a soup, it’s a thickness — a mouthfeel and greasiness that coats your tongue,” said Medina, whose abuela taught him to cook at her ranch in Durango, Mexico. He opened his first vegan restaurant, La Venganza, last week. “I will put it up against anybody’s pozole.”
When Sabrina Rodriguez, of Elmwood Park, N.J., first told her tia Aida Padilla that she was going to eat a vegan diet, Padilla offered to teach her how to make arroz con gandules without the addition of ham. She reassured her niece, “We’ll make some changes, and it’ll taste just as good.”
For Noche Buena celebrations, Rodriguez makes her aunt’s rice, as well as a vegan pastelón, a Puerto Rican lasagna made with sweet plantains, cheese and a soy meat alternative to mimic ground beef.
“I was always nervous that I was going to lose that part of my identity by making this decision,” said Rodriguez, who went vegan in 2017. “But I certainly don’t feel that way. I feel more closely connected to my culture than ever.”
Vegan Jackfruit Pernil
On holidays and special occasions, the center of a Puerto Rican table usually features pernil, a juicy shredded roast pork seasoned with garlic, citrus and oregano. In 2020, Lyana Blount suddenly had more time to experiment with her vegan recipes and formed her Black Rican Vegan popup. She created a vegan version of the pernil she grew up eating using jackfruit. She boiled canned, brined jackfruit and seasoned it with spices and sauces like adobo, sazón and sofrito, then roasted the marinated jackfruit pieces in the oven, crisping the edges to mimic pernil. Even the most critical abuelas might not be able to tell the difference. Serve the dish with a vegan arroz con gandules or other rice. — recipe from Lyana Blount; adapted by Christina Morales Yield: 4to 6servings. Total time: 7 3/4 hours.
INGREDIENTS
Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and freshly ground pepper 3(20-ounce) cans jackfruit in brine (see Tip), drained 1/2 cup/120grams storebought fresh or homemade sofrito 1/4 cup grapeseed oil 8garlic cloves, minced 1tablespoon fresh lime juice 1tablespoon fresh or dried oregano 1 1/2 teaspoons adobo seasoning 1(4-gram) packet/11/2 teaspoons store-bought or homemade sazón (any flavor) 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon onion powder
DIRECTIONS
1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over medium heat and lightly salt the water. Rinse the brine off your jackfruit before placing the jackfruit in the pot of boiling water. Boil the jackfruit until it softens and no longer smells like brine, about 30 minutes, then drain and let it cool. 2. Use your hands or a potato masher to squeeze all the liquid out of the jackfruit. The pieces will inevitably begin to shred. Remove the seeds: You’ll spot and feel firm, visible seeds that are slightly more yellow than the rest of the jackfruit pieces. Pop the seeds out using your fingertips and discard them, gently breaking the jackfruit into smaller pieces as you go. 3. Transfer your jackfruit to a large bowl and add your sofrito, grapeseed oil, garlic, lime juice, oregano, adobo, sazón, cumin and onion powder, plus 1 tablespoon salt and 1 tablespoon pepper. Mix thoroughly, then cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours. 4. When you’re ready to cook, heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the jackfruit in a single layer, spreading it out so it crisps properly. 5. Roast the jackfruit for 30minutes, stirring it every 10 minutes. Keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn’t overcook; you want it bronzed, and a little crispy but not burnt. Serve immediately. (The mixture keeps, covered and refrigerated, for up to 3 days, though its texture is best when consumed straight out of the oven.) Tip: Canned jackfruit in brine can commonly be found in Asian grocery stores and online.