Maybe The Best Portuguese Pork Sandwich • Vendas Novas Style Bifanas

Okay, I’ll be honest…. oh wait when am i not honest? ;D

I know I might catch some heat for this one, hehehe, especially when it comes to the bread rolls. I don’t actually buy papo secos all that often these days, I tend to go for bigger loaves with more fermentation going on, or ones with interesting grain blends, so I had to go out and buy rolls specifically for this recipe and then, naturally, I ran out of time to make it, froze them, and by the time I got around to it they were not exactly looking or tasting their best, a bit dry.

So yeah learn from me! Get yourself some portuguese fresh papo secos or carcaças or get some other nice crispy on the outside and frully on the inside breads fresh from your favorite bakery, but the pork… the bifanas? ohhhh those were divine.

This here is my take on the traditional bifanas from Vendas Novas (btw in Portugal when we say bifanas it means a pork sandwich), and I want to be upfront, this recipe is an approximation of the real deal. The real ones are cooked in a lot more fat, and often in the same fat used over and over again during the day, which means the cooking fat absorbs all the flavors, the seasonings, and the natural richness of the meat, and the whole thing becomes something truly special with time and repetition. Now, I’m not about to fry two kilos of pork just to get a more authentic depth of flavor, so if you really want the real thing, well, lucky you, now you have a perfectly good excuse to take a little trip down to Vendas Novas in Portugal.

So what makes these sandwiches so special is really quite simple… very thin pork cutlets, well marinated, fried in plenty of fat, tucked inside a crusty roll with a bit of that garlicky, porky cooking fat drizzled over the bread and a touch of yellow mustard. There are a few variations out there as well, some folks swear by a mix of butter and lard, others use just one or the other, or even margarine, and some always fry the fat first before adding the meat. But i’ve been to Vendas Novas and i’ve tasted what i made here, and trust me… it’s pretty darn close. Let’s get into the recipe.

Maybe The Best Portuguese Pork Sandwich • Vendas Novas Style Bifanas

Servings: 3
Time: 2hr 30mins
Difficulty: Normal
Rating: ★★★★★
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BTW its June 10th, Portugal Day, the national holiday celebrating everything that makes this country great, so there really is no better sandwich to share than this one. Not just any bifana, mind you, but arguably one of the finest versions in all of Portugal. ;D

Ingredients

Pork – 6 Steaks (+/- 450gr Portuguese Bifanas)
Bread – 3 Rolls
Beer – 1 Mini (+/- 250ml Lager Sagres)
Bay Leaf – 1
Garlic – 5 Cloves
Butter – 80gr
Lard – 80gr
Paprika – A Pinch
Pepper – A Pinch
Salt – A Pinch
Yellow Mustard – To Taste

Directions

Start by placing each pork cutlet in a bag or wrapped in plastic wrap on a cutting board. Then, using a rolling pin, pound the meat (don’t go overboard) until it’s pretty thin. Remove it to a deep plate and repeat for all the pork cutlets.

Next, add the beer, lightly crushed garlic, bay leaf, paprika, pepper, and salt. Cover with plastic wrap and let it marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, I left mine overnight.

When it’s time to cook the cutlets, add the butter and lard to the frying pan and bring it to a boil because you want it to brown slightly.

While the fat is heating up, drain the cutlets well. Don’t fry them while they’re still too wet, place them on some kitchen paper or drain in a rack.

When the oil is hot, add one or two cutlets and one or two cloves of garlic and fry until one side is golden brown. Turn and fry the other side. Remove the garlic cloves to eat as well.
Repeat the process for all the pork cutlets, then open each bread roll, pour a little oil into each one, add the cutlets and peeled garlic, season with a little yellow mustard, and enjoy!

Notes & Tips: One thing to pay attention to at the butcher, try to make sure all the cutlets are cut to roughly the same thickness. I ended up with a mix of very thin ones and slightly thicker ones, and it makes frying them evenly a bit of a headache. Thin is the goal here, normally in the butchers in Portugal you can ask for bifanas, they will know what cut to make!

Depending on the cutlet size its one big for each sandwich or two normal ones, i didn’t have big cutlets so it was 2 per bread, do note that a normal one should still go out of the bread!!! Generous is a given on this type of sandwiches.

On the fat, if you cannot find lard or prefer not to use it, you can go with all butter, but the combination of butter and lard really is what gives these their distinct richness and flavor. Do not be tempted to skimp on the fat either, you need a generous amount in the pan to properly fry the cutlets and, importantly, to have enough left over to drizzle into the rolls.

Do not rush the marinade. Four hours is the minimum but overnight in the fridge is where the magic really happens. The beer tenderizes the meat and the garlic and spices work their way in properly with more time.

When draining the cutlets before frying, be thorough. Too much moisture in the pan will make the fat spit and drop the temperature, which means the meat will steam rather than fry, and you lose that lovely golden crust that is so characteristic of this sandwich.

On the bread, if you can find freshly baked papo secos or Portuguese-style crusty rolls, please do use them. The roll matters more than you might think. A good crusty exterior that softens slightly when the fat hits it is part of the whole experience. If you are in the US, look for Portuguese bakeries, or a good Kaiser roll can work in a pinch.

Finally, the yellow mustard is not optional in spirit, even if it is to taste on paper. A good squeeze of classic yellow mustard ties the whole sandwich together. Dijon, honey mustard, japanese mustard these are all delicious, just not in this sandwich hehehe 😛

Ohh and the nutritional information below is for everything! So please note that the pan still had plenty of fat in the end, so can still fry double the amount of pork cutlets, no problem, so the real values especially of the fat and calories should be smaller, but better to over-estimate than me eyeballing it, right!

This recipe for Maybe The Best Portuguese Pork Sandwich • Vendas Novas Style Bifanas was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Bifanas de Vendas Novas foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.