1 - To ensure that your pork fat is just as delicious as theirs, here’s their adobo marinade and what to do with it (you’ll also need a rack of ribs):
4 ancho chiles, 8 guajillo chiles and 4 chipotle chiles, plus 4 cloves roasted garlic, half a cup of cider vinegar, a quarter teaspoon of Mexican oregano, 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper, a whole clove, a quarter teaspoon of ground cinnamon and a half teaspoon of ground cumin.
2 - Toast the dried chiles and soak in water for at least an hour until they are rehydrated.
3 - Drain and discard the soaking liquid.
4 - Combine the soaked chiles with the remaining ingredients and purée until smooth.
5 - Cold smoke a rack of baby back pork ribs by taking a large hotel pan with woodchips on one side and charcoal on the other.
6 - Place another, smaller, pan with pork ribs, above the charcoal/woodchip pan.
7 - Ignite the charcoal, being careful to not ignite the woodchips.
8 - Cover both pans with foil and allow to smoke for 10-15 minutes, until desired level of smoke is achieved, then coat with adobo marinade and wrap in tin foil prior to placing ribs in a 300 degree oven for 7 hours.
9 - When the ribs have cooled, strain off the fat and use for the infusion.
10 - If you’re having a hard time coming up to the same kind of volume of fat, make up the balance with pork lard from a butcher.
11 - To get the same depth of flavor without the ribs, heat up the fat in a pot with a few spoons of the marinade.
12 - Once you’ve got your tub of seasoned pork fat in cooled liquid form, pour equal amounts of Ilegal Joven mezcal and fat into a sealable container.
13 - Seal the container and give it a really good shake, then put it in the freezer overnight.
14 - When the whole thing is separated and congealed, pour it through a fine mesh chinoise.
15 - If you don’t have a chinoise, try a fine mesh strainer, or if you don’t have one of those, try spooning off most of the fat.
16 - There will be some beads of orange fat left in the strained mezcal: run that through a few layers of cheesecloth (or coffee filters in a pinch) to get rid of the last of it.
17 - The mezcal is now ready for drinking, straight-up or in a cocktail.
