Pulled pork - Mexican style

This is a dish I have been hankering for since seeing pulled pork at a food truck in San Francisco in October. Which I didn't try as I had already scoffed too many other foods that night. And which I was rather annoyed about as the smells were just lip-smacking!

This version is very different as it has Mexican flavourings and not the southern BBQ I desired in San Francisco. That version will be made for another post. When we've finished eating the mound of pulled pork still in the fridge. mmmmm

The only problem with this dish (and it's really NOT a problem if you are organised) is that it takes about 8 hours to cook. And that is only a problem if you are a) impatient and b) have a serious, uncontrollable, need-it-NOW craving.

What you need:

• vegetable oil - I use grapeseed or ricebran
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced or chopped
• 2 kg boneless piece of pork (I used boneless pork leg), skin and excess fat removed
• 3 tsp smokey paprika
• 4 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp dried coriander (you could also use a handful of fresh, but I had dried that was bought in error and I wanted to use it up)
• 4 chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, and 2 tsps of sauce (chipotle chilis are what make the flavour of this dish so try and get them. Many good gourmet food stores will sell small tins of them)
• 1 cup water

What to do:

Turn on the oven and heat it to about 140c. 

Heat the oil in an oven proof pot that has a lid (I used a Le Crueset casserole pot) and fry the onion and garlic on a low heat until soft (about 3-4 minutes). 

Saute onions and garlic

While the onion and garlic are cooking, mix together the paprika, cumin, salt and coriander. Make deep cuts into the pork (not all the way through) and rub the spice mix all over the pork and into the cuts. Rub on both sides. Place the pork into the casserole dish and brown it on both sides (about 1-2 minutes on each side). 

Pork rubbed with spice mix, in the casserole dish

Add the water and chopped up chipotle chilis, cover with the lid and bring it to the boil. Once boiling place in the oven and let it cook for about 6-8 hours. Check it every hour or so, and turn the pork over at about the 3 hour mark. This can also be cooked in a crockpot, I just don't have one! 

I've just been flicking through Donna Hay's latest book. It's pretty obvious that her "cooked" shots are not actually in the pot the dish was cooked in. They look waaay too pristine! Anyway, this is the cooked pork. You can see from the waterline that the liquid has reduced, which is what you want it to do. 

Once the pork is cooked, you should be able to pull it apart with two forks - which is why it's called pulled pork :) 

Pulled pork - this took about 15 seconds as it just fell apart as soon as the fork went near it!

Once this has been done, I normally let it cool then pop it in the fridge overnight to let the flavours develop. It can be eaten the day it's made, but it tastes a LOT better 2-3 days later. 

I served it with homemade corn tortillas (but you can buy your own from the store if that's easier - but they taste SO MUCH BETTER if you make them). 

Making the corn tortillas was SO EASY. And a HUGE thanks to Natascha Mirosch for blogging this on her blog Degustation which gave me my inspiration. 

I bought a tortilla press and masa flour (I bought it from Pennisi's Fine Food in Brisbane, but other good providores should have it too). Masa flour is corn flour, so great for coeliacs. Follow the directions on the flour - mix 2 cups of flour with 1/4 tsp salt and 1 1/4 cups of water. Roll into 16 golf ball sized balls, and squish each one in the tortilla press. My 10 yo step son did this bit. Cook in a fry pan with no oil until brown and a bit puffy, then turn to cook the other side. Serve warm. 

Tortillas rolled into little golf-ball sized balls

I used Glad Bake so the tortillas wouldn't stick to the press.

Using this press (which cost me $35) was so much easier and quicker than using a rolling pin.

Brown in a non stick fry pan. Mine is big so I can do 3-4 at once which made it a lot quicker

The finished product - these can stay warm by covering with foil and placing in the oven on a low heat. They taste pretty yuk when they are cold, but delish when warm. 

I served the pork with the tortillas, a quickly pan-fried mix of sliced red capsicum and red onion, guacamole and salad of black beans, corn, red pepper, red onion, cherry tomatoes from the garden, coriander, squeeze of lime and splash of olive oil. 

My tomatoes! Am proud of these even though I did nothing to grow them! They just appeared thanks to the wonders of our compost. 

Pulled pork

Red capsicum with red onion, quickly cooked in the pan I cooked the tortillas in. As the pan was still hot, I added a tablespoon of olive oil, the veggies, and it was cooked in about 2 minutes. 

This is one of my favourite salads. I LOVE black beans but they are a bit of a drama in Australia as I have to buy them dried, soak them, cook them, then freeze them in ziplock bags until I want them. Well worth the monthly cookup.

Bean and corn salad

Finally, EAT! 

When serving I also added some store-bought green chilli sauce for extra flavour (you could also use Tabasco). 

A big thanks to Julia Birks (who was a lunch guest) who took a few of the photos and who reminded me I needed to get the final shot before we ate it all! And for providing a few boutique wines. 

I also made a baked chicken dish for this meal - but that's another blog post.