Smoked Pork Belly Tacos
jeffraben.com/recipes · No. 587
Pork belly tacos are already a pretty damn good idea. But smoke the pork until ridiculously tender, then crisp the hell out of the edges? Now we're getting somewhere. And when you add crunchy cabbage and a jalapeño-lime crema that cuts through all that glorious richness - these get insane.
Ingredients
Method
- Heat a smoker to 275°F. No smoker, no problem see below
- Combine the salt, pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika and cumin, mix well then season the pork belly strips all over
- Smoke the strips whole until they have good color and reach roughly 165–175°F internally, about 1–1½ hours
- Transfer the pork to a small pan, add chicken stock to the bottom, cover tightly with foil and put back on the smoker
- Continue cooking another 45–75 minutes, or until the pork is around 200–205°F - a thermometer or skewer should slide into the meaty part like butter. Tenderness, not temperature, tells you they're done.
- Remove the pork from the pan and let rest 10–15 minutes, then cut into chunks
- Get a cast-iron pan or flattop screaming hot, and add the pork. Crisp a minute or two, turning until you have deeply browned, crunchy edges while the centers stay ridiculously soft
- Warm the tortillas, then add some crema, cabbage, the crispy pork belly, avocado slices and a little more crema
- Boom
- Jalapeño-Lime Crema: Blend the sour cream, mayo, jalapeño, lime juice, cilantro and salt until smooth. Refrigerate until needed
Oven Directions: 1. Heat oven to 275. 2. Cook the seasoned pork belly strips on a rack over a rimmed baking sheet, then follow the same wrapping, tenderness and crisping instructions above. You'll miss a little smoke, but absolutely none of the pork belly goodness. From thecookingguy.com (Sam the Cooking Guy).
make-ahead mexican pork pork-belly scan smoker tacos wopr
The original
