Pork Tinga

A few weeks back we had a bunch of family in town, and I wanted to do something special for them on game day. I could have went a bunch of different routes making a handful of appetizers, or firing up the grill, however I wanted to sit back and relax with the cousins. I woke up that morning thinking what better could it be than to make tacos for them, or heck, if they did not want to go with tacos, then could make some sandwiches. If you never heard of pork tinga, it is basically the Mexican pulled pork, cooked nice and slow, and packed with some major flavors.

I’m down with all sorts of tacos, and one of my favorites is tacos al pastor, however I wanted to do something a bit different with the pork, and that was to sear it, slow cook it, and pull it. When I say how delicious these tacos are, I am not kidding. I believe the six of us who ate them were making all kinds of sound effects. This pork dish could really compete with your low and slow Southern barbecue pork.

Ingredients:

• 2 lb of pork shoulder, cut into large cubes
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 2 medium yukon gold potatoes, cleaned and cubed
• 1 16 oz can of crushed red tomatoes
• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, diced
• 2 tbsp of the adobo sauce
• 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp dried Mexican oregano, crushed between your fingers
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• corn tortillas, warmed
• large avocado, sliced
• pickled red onions
• fresh cilantro, chopped
• cotija cheese, optional

Begin by getting a large pot heated on medium heat. Add the olive oil, and brown all of the cubed pork. You want to take your time and brown each side of the pork. Do this in batches if you have to, and transfer the browned pork to your slow cooker if you have one. Once all of the pork is browned, add in the cubed potatoes and cook until almost crispy. Top with the oregano, salt, pepper, crushed tomatoes, and chipotles and adobo sauce, as worcestershire sauce. Give it a nice stir, and the place it over the browned pork cubes. Put a lid on it, cook it on low heat for 6 hours or so, and when you are ready, use a fork and tongs, and pull the pork apart. You will notice that it just falls apart. It is almost, well, it is a thing of beauty.

Now you are ready to go. Get your plate ready and add two warm tortillas, overlapping them. Top with the pork tinga, add a slice of avocado, some cilantro, and the must have pickeled red onions. Fold and eat. Curious, what sound effects did you make? Trust me on this one, this is a must make, and is a perfect slow cooker recipe that feeds a lot of people, plus it is a new take on tacos. Enjoy.