THE WORLD’S BIGGEST BIFANA
Pregos on Steroids!! The small but mighty BIFANA now becomes Monster sized with this mega-sized roll. If ever there was ONE national sandwich in Portugal, this would be IT! And mine is (for one night only) the biggest in the world. Just ask Bailey the Basset Hound!
The Bifana is a delicious Portuguese sandwich that comprises of a light but crusty bread roll filled with sautéed strips or cutlets of pork that have been seasoned with garlic, spices, and white wine. A soft, heavenly melt-in-your mouth delicious small traditional Portuguese sandwich and it is prepared with papo seco (a Portuguese bread roll) and marinated pork cutlets, on which the cooking juices are drizzled.
- extreme Jumbo hamburger roll/bun instead of the small Portuguese Papo Seco.
- 400 g pork neck steak
- 6 cloves of chopped garlic
- 2 tablespoons Portuguese olive oil
- ¾ cup of dry white wine. For authenticity a Portuguese white is fine but I used a local Sauvignon Blanc.
- 5 bay leaves
- juice of a lemon
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons dried chili flakes
- salt
- 1 teaspoon of white pepper
- some freshly ground black pepper
- hot mustard
Tenderize the steak and put into a container
Season it with salt, pepper, chilli flakes, bay leaves, paprika, lemon juice and garlic.
Add the the white wine , covering the steak and marinate overnight in fridge.
Get steak back to room temperature and remove from marinade, reserving the marinade
Warm a large frying pan with olive oil at medium high heat.
Fry steak until done turning constantly every 25 seconds.
Slightly toast the two halves of your Jumbo Roll while you’re frying.
Remove your steak and quickly add the reserved marinade and reduce by half to form a sauce.
Assemble the Monster Bifana with some Mustard and a touch of your Sauce.
Recipe and photo: Phillip Van Heerden
