Braised Pork Tacos

Ingredients

Pulled Pork

3 ½ lbs pork shoulder, cut into 2 inch pieces

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon cumin

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 onion, halved root attached skin removed

4 garlic cloves, smashed skin removed

2-3 dried chilis such as ancho, or Guajillo chili (optional)

2 cups orange juice

2 chil in adobo, chopped

2-4 cups chicken stock

2 bay leaves

Tortillas

Sour cream or crema

Cilantro

Cotija cheese

Purple cabbage

Avocado

Lime

Jalapeno

Preparation

Add kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, oregano, cayenne, and cumin to a small bowl. Mix until combined. Sprinkle all over pork making sure meat is coated in the rub. Cover and chill at least 2 hours or overnight.

Heat vegetable oil in a large dutch oven over medium high heat. Cook pork in batches until browned on all sides. Remove the pork and set aside. Remove dutch oven from the heat and pour off some of the rendered fat into a heat safe bowl or glass leaving behind about a tablespoon or two in the pan and return to heat.

Place onions cut side down in the pan with garlic cloves, and dried chilis of using. Toast the onions and garlic, flipping the garlic cloves and chilis until well browned and caramalized. Remove and set aside with pork.

Pour in orange juice and deglaze the pan scraping all of the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in chopped chili in adobo.

Return pork, onions, garlic and dried chilis to the dutch oven. Add 2 cups of chicken stock and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer partially covered. Simmer on low adding more chicken stock as needed if it gets too low (pork should always be submerged) about 2 hours or until pork is fork tender and shreddable.

Once the pork is ready, completely remove the lid and turn up heat to reduce and thicken the sauce in the pork, about 3-5 minutes.

Turn off heat and shred pork using 2 forks.

Add pork to your tortillas of choice and top with sour cream, cabbage, avocado, cheese, jalapeño, cilantro and lime.