Name: Pulled pork tacos with grilled green chillies and crema
Cook time: 105 min
Total time: 105 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: Salsa; 4 large medium-hot green chillies; 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil; 2 medium red onions, sliced; 500 gram vine tomatoes, diced, cores discarded; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika; 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin; 2 teaspoon lemon juice; 750 gram piece free-range pork belly; olive oil, for rubbing pork; 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano; 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds; flaky sea salt, for sprinkling; 1 perfectly ripe avocado, halved, pitted, skinned and diced; juice of 1 lime; fresh corn tortillas; 1/2 iceberg lettuce, broken apart, washed, dried and shredded; 1/2 cup crème fraîche; coriander, chopped, to garnish; spicy, bottled mexican chilli sauce, for serving

Pulled pork tacos with grilled green chillies and crema

Mexican food is hot, hot, hot! Surrender to its exotic flavours – sweet, sharp, smoky, hot, fragrant and fruity, sometimes all together on the one plate

Serves 8

Makes 12

Cook

1H 45M

Ingredients

Salsa

4 large medium-hot green chillies

3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 medium red onions, sliced

500 gram vine tomatoes, diced, cores discarded

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoon lemon juice

750 gram piece free-range pork belly

olive oil, for rubbing pork

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

1 perfectly ripe avocado, halved, pitted, skinned and diced

juice of 1 lime

fresh corn tortillas

1/2 iceberg lettuce, broken apart, washed, dried and shredded

1/2 cup crème fraîche

coriander, chopped, to garnish

spicy, bottled mexican chilli sauce, for serving

Method

Salsa

1.Toast chillies in the flame of a gas element, or over a barbecue grill, or cook them under an oven grill, until the skin is lightly blackened. Cool, then peel off skin. Chop chillies finely, discarding stems.

2.Put oil and red onion in a medium frying pan and cook gently over a low to medium heat for 7-10 minutes until onion is tender; don’t let the onion brown. Add tomatoes, stir and cook for 3 minutes, until they just start to soften. Add chillies, salt, paprika, cumin and lemon juice.

Pulled pork tacos with grilled green chillies and crema

3.Bring pork belly to room temperature and let the skin dry off for 30 minutes (cover with a food umbrella). Preheat oven to 220°C fan-forced.

4.Pat pork thoroughly dry with paper towels (damp skin won’t crackle). Rub meat side of pork with a little oil, then rub in the oregano and cumin seeds.

5.Put pork in a small, shallow roasting dish, skin-side up. Rub skin with oil, then sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Immediately transfer to oven and roast for 45 minutes by which time the crackling should be well under way.

6.Lower heat to 170°C, pour 1 cup of water into pan and cook for a further 45 minutes, until crackling is nicely crackled. If the skin fails to crackle, finish it off under the grill (this is a last resort – grilled crackling tends to toughen and is never as good as crackling that forms during roasting). Transfer pork to a board, but don’t cover.

7.Remove crackling from pork and chop into small, short pieces. Shred the meat with a fork. Prepare avocado; sprinkle with lime juice and salt to taste.

8.Fry corn tortillas to make taco shapes (see image). Fill tacos with shredded lettuce, a few squirts of crème fraîche, shredded pork and crackling and the salsa. Top with avocado and sprinkle with coriander. Squiggle with a little more crème fraîche, and serve accompanied by hot chilli sauce.