RECIPE: Tacos de Chilorio

Think carnitas, but spicy and luxurious. Chilorio is a braised pork from the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The garlic, chiles, and vinegar act as a preservative for the meat which is often served in open air markets, an alternative to refrigeration. The meat is slowly cooked until it falls from the bone and then fried in a chile adobo that packs a flavorful punch. If you make enough of it (in the tradition of preserving the meat) the chilorio accompanies scrambled eggs and fried potatoes the next morning.

Serves 6

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Tacos de chilorio

Ingredients:

• 2.5 pounds pork roast, cut into 2 inch pieces

• 3 tablespoons lard OR vegetable oil

• 3 ancho chiles

• 3 guajillos chiles

• 1/2 cup orange juice

• 4 garlic cloves

• 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano

• 1 teaspoon cumin

• 1 tablespoon vinegar

• salt to taste

• radish, sliced in allumettes

• cilantro

• fresh tortillas

Method:

1. Place the pork in a large heavy bottomed pot and cover with 4 cups of water and bring to a rolling boil. Lower the heat to a steady simmer and put the lard in the pot, allowing it to slip off the spoon. Allow the water to evaporate and the meat to caramelize slightly. Shred and break up the meat in bite size pieces.

2. While the meat cooks, heat a comal over medium heat and toast the chiles. Once fragrant and a darker shade, but not burnt, reconstitute the seeded and deveined chiles in water for 30 minutes.

3. In a blender combine the chiles, orange juice, garlic, oregano, cumin, vinegar and blend until smooth, with visual red chile skin pieces showing.

4. Raise the heat on the meat and pour the chile mixture over. Allow the sauce to season the meat for a few minutes. Season with salt to taste. Serve the meat on fresh tortillas and garnish with radish, cilantro, and salsa de chile de arbol.

RECIPE: Tacos de Pollo Adobado

An adobo in Mexico consists of a couple staples with variations: chiles, garlic, spices. It can be used as a cooking liquid for braising, a marinade or a sauce over enchiladas. Technically speaking, a marinade has vinegar which acts as (traditionally since the Renaissance) a flavor enhancer and preservative of the meat being marinated. This adobo has three chiles, vinegar, and spices and can be applied to any meat you'd like. Be creative with your adobos by adding different chiles, variations on spices, chocolate etc. I like to charr the meat over a grill or sear in a pan so as to bring out that smokey chile flavor.  

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 5 cascabel chiles
• 2 pasilla chiles
• 2 guajillo chiles
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 2 cloves
• 4 whole allspice berries
• 1 inch piece canela (Mexican cinnamon)
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 cup water
• salt to taste
• 2 chicken breasts ( or other meat if desired)
• 1/4 white onion, thinly sliced
• 1 fresh lime, sliced into wedges
• cilantro, chopped

Method:

1. Heat the comal to low-medium heat and toast the chiles until fragrant and a visually darker shade. Place in a bowl of cool water for 30 minutes.
2. Place chiles, garlic, vinegar, cloves, allspice, canela, cumin, water, salt in blender and blend until smooth, roughly 3 minutes.
3. Pour the adobo over the meat and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
4. Heat the grill or pan to high heat and sear the meat until cooked (160 degrees for chicken) and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Chop into small pieces for tacos and salt accordingly. Arrange over fresh tortillas and garnish with thinly sliced white onion, fresh lime juice and cilantro. Serve with rice and beans.

Chiles:

Front: Cascabel

Right: Guajillo

Rear: Pasilla

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Tacos de Pollo Adobado

RECIPE: Cochinita Pibil Tacos

Cochinita Pibil is an exquisite dish from the Yucatan Peninsula, a region whose cuisine is so different from the rest of the country, it deserves its own category. Cochinita means a suckling pig in Spanish and Pibil is Mayan for cooked underground. This underground cooking method is one of the oldest forms of roasting meat safely and every culinary tradition has some form it. I'm not sure what the legality of digging a pit and cooking a pig underground in New York City is, but I don't want to run the risk, so this recipe is for an oven. This is a great recipe for staying home on Sundays, letting the meat slowly render out its flavor.

Serves 6.

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Cochinita pibil tacos

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons achiote / annato seeds
• 2 teaspoons cumin seed
• 6 whole allspice berries
• 10 peppercorns
• 5 cloves
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1 - 3 habanero peppers
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
• 1 cup white vinegar
• salt
• Banana leaves (optional)
• 3lbs pork butt or shoulder, cut into large pieces
• 1 small red onion
• 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano

Method:

FOR THE MEAT:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees fahrenheiht.
2. Put achiote, cumin seed, allspice, peppercorns, and cloves in blender and grind into a coarse powder. Achiote is a very tough seed and needs ample time to break down in the blender.
3. Add garlic, habaneros, orange juice and 1/2 cup of vinegar to blender and salt to taste. The habaneros can be too spicy for some, so be careful here on the quantity. Blend everything for roughly 4 minutes, or until most of the garlic and spices are broken up.
4. Line a dutch-oven with the banana leaves, if using, place pork pieces inside and pour the blended spice mixture over the meat. If the meat is not 3/4 submerged in the liquid add water. Cover with more banana leaves and put into the oven. Roast for 4 hours or until the meat is falling apart and the fat has rendered out.
5. Allow the meat to cool slightly before shredding and assembling the tacos.

FOR THE PICKLED ONIONS:

1. Slice the onion thinly and habaneros thinly.
2. In a non-reactive bowl (I use glass) place the onion, oregano, salt, habanero. Pour vinegar over the onions and mix by hand. Let this chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours. 

Assemble the tacos using handmade tortillas on a comal. Garish with the pickled red onions. Serve with black beans and white rice.