Empellón Cocina's Fat-Washed Mezcal Recipe

First, you'll prepare the adobo marinade. Toast the 4 ancho chiles, 8 guajillo chiles, and 4 chipotle chiles, then soak them in water for at least an hour until they're rehydrated. Drain the chiles, discarding the soaking liquid.

Combine the rehydrated chiles with 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. Purée this mixture until it's completely smooth.

To cold smoke a rack of baby back pork ribs, set up a large hotel pan with woodchips on one side and charcoal on the other. Place a smaller pan containing the pork ribs directly above the charcoal and woodchips. Ignite the charcoal, being careful to avoid igniting the woodchips.

Cover both pans with foil and allow the ribs to smoke for 10-15 minutes, or until they've reached your desired level of smokiness. Remove them, coat them generously with the adobo marinade, and wrap them tightly in tin foil. Place the wrapped ribs in an oven preheated to 300 degrees for 7 hours. Once the ribs have cooled, carefully strain off the rendered fat; this is what you'll use for the mezcal infusion.

Once you have your seasoned pork fat in a cooled liquid state, combine equal amounts of Ilegal Joven mezcal and the fat in a sealable container. Seal it tightly and give it a thorough shake, then transfer it to the freezer overnight.

The next morning, the fat and mezcal should be separated and congealed. Carefully pour the mixture through a fine mesh chinoise. If you don't have a chinoise, a fine mesh strainer works, or you can simply spoon off most of the congealed fat. You'll likely see some small beads of orange fat remaining in the strained mezcal; run this through a few layers of cheesecloth (or coffee filters if you're in a pinch) to remove the last traces.