Prepare for the best Taco Tuesday ever with these pork belly and pineapple tacos. They’re sweet! They’re spicy! They’re rich and fatty (in the best way possible) while being topped with all the fresh, bright accoutrements that all tacos need.
These are actually a re-creation of my very favorite tacos from a local restaurant, with a little help from a recipe I found on here on sharedappetite.com. The tacos have pork belly and pineapple sitting atop a spicy jalapeño crema, with radishes, cabbage, cheese, cilantro and red onion; these are a close approximation to the original that I love so much.
If you’ve never had pork belly, it’s like all the best parts about bacon and pulled pork combined into these meaty, tender cubes. The fat melts into a super juicy morsel atop the tender meat when you eat it. How can I explain this without sounding like a total weirdo? It’s just not possible.
There is a good deal of fat that you will most likely be consuming if you’re making a recipe with pork belly and it can take some getting used to if you’re not familiar with the texture. IN NO WAY IS IT UNPLEASANT. If that’s not really your jam, perhaps using pork shoulder or something slightly leaner would be more up your alley. Me, I’ll stick with the rich, fatty pork belly all day.
The pork marinates overnight in sugar, salt and ancho chile powder to really give it flavor. It’s cubed into small, bite-sized pieces, which helps speed up the cooking time. We’re going to blast it in a really hot oven to start to render some fat and crisp up the pieces of pork, then reduce the heat to get the meat meltingly tender. All in all, the pork cooks for a little over an hour and comes out absolutely perfect, ready to be stuffed in a taco. The pineapple soaks up some of the pork juices and fat and spice from the ancho chile powder and is the perfect sweet balance to the rich, spicy flavors.
I love to serve it with a cool yet spicy jalapeño-avocado crema and all the crisp veggies (i.e. cabbage, radishes, pickled red onions). A little cilantro and queso fresco are all you need to finish!
Now I will proceed to soak up all of my Game of Thrones-related tears with these tacos-both because it’s over and because I’m unsatisfied with the conclusion. What will I do with all my free time now?! Perhaps I’ll have a social life, or cook more, or start walking my dogs more regularly…most likely, I’ll find a new TV obsession and spend all my free time contemplating every word, action, theory, hidden clue and possible outcome. For now, I have tacos.
[tasty-recipe id=”36444″]
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