Bifanas — Portuguese Pork Sandwiches

Ingredients

• 1½ lb thin-cut Pork Shoulder (pound cutlets to ¼ inch if thick)
• 6 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 tbsp sweet paprika
• ½ cup white wine (or stock + 1 tbsp vinegar)
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp olive oil or lard
• 4 soft rolls
• Yellow mustard and hot sauce, to serve

Method

1. Marinate the Pork Shoulder with the garlic, paprika, wine, bay leaves, and 1 teaspoon salt — 15 minutes on the counter or up to overnight in the fridge.
2. Heat the oil in a wide skillet over high. Shake the cutlets dry (KEEP the marinade) and sear them fast — about 90 seconds a side. Work in batches; crowding steams.
3. Pour the reserved marinade into the pan and let it boil hard for 2 minutes, reducing into a garlicky pan sauce while it fully cooks (boiling the marinade makes it safe — 160°F for pork this thin happens almost instantly).
4. Return the pork and turn it through the sauce until every piece is stained paprika-red and glossy.
5. Stuff into soft rolls, spoon extra sauce over the cut faces, and add mustard and hot sauce. Eat standing up, ideally near a counter, like Lisbon intended.