Pulled Pork Pibil Tacos

James Strawbridge

Cornish Chef, Author and Photographer

1 November 2022

We’re kicking off our autumn recipe series with a delicious Mexican inspired pork pibil, a pork shoulder which slowly bubbles in the pan for four to five hours, with fennel, spices, pink pickled onion and jalapenos.

The tender meat is then wrapped up inside a soft flour taco, alongside Mexican rice and guacamole, and it’s topped with a big spoonful of spiced, apple sauce (stay tuned for details on how to make this).

Ingredients

Serves 4

For the pulled pork:
1kg pork shoulder, boned
1 bulb of fennel
4 spring onions, roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic, whole unpeeled
1 tbsp Mexican spice blend
1 tsp ancho chilli paste
1 tbsp olive oil
4 sprigs of thyme
2 tbsp honey
½ bottle of cider
500ml chicken stock
Smoked sea salt to season

For the pickles:
2 red onions, finely sliced into rings
2 jalapenos, thinly sliced
100ml cider vinegar
2 tbsp runny honey
Pinch of sea salt

To serve:
Spiced Apple Sauce
Soft flour tacos
Mexican spiced rice
Guacamole

Method

– Preheat your oven to 150˚C. In a casserole pan or large roasting tray cook off your fennel, garlic, onion, and spices in oil for 5-10 mins and then add in your pork shoulder.
– Brown the meat and then cover with honey, cider, stock and tin foil. Cook for 4-5 hours until soft and succulent.
– Make your pickles by warming the vinegar and honey in a small pan with onions and jalapenos. Add these to the pork pibil for the last 20-30 mins cooking time and shred the pork with two forks until it is a pulled consistency.
– Serve the pulled pork with rice, tortillas and guac. Finish each taco with a bed of rice, pork and a dollop of spiced apple sauce on top.

Just the right amount of spice

Ingredients

Method

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