Pernil Tacos

Pernil is the smell of the holidays in my family, so putting it into taco form makes me really happy. The pork gets seasoned with garlic, Dominican oregano, sazon and bitter orange, then cooked low until it shreds.

Tucked into warm tortillas, it’s the best of both worlds, my culture and an easy weeknight favorite. Don’t skip the crispy bits, those are the best part.

Pernil Tacos

Ingredients:

• 3-4 lbs of pork, if you get a bigger one, adjust the amount of seasoning

• 1 large onion

• 1 head garlic, smashed in a pestle and mortar

• 4-5 tbsp dominican oregano (sub regular)

• 3-4 tbsp sazon completo

• Sazon con achiote,

• S + P

• Olive oil

• 1/4 cup of bitter orange juice, or lime juice

For the Tacos:

• Corn tortillas

• Limes

• Avocado

• Cilantro

• Queso fresco

• Peach and mango salsa (recipe below)

• Diced tomatoes

• Roasted corn and tomato salsa (recipe below)

For the Peach and Mango Chipotle Salsa:

• 1 large peach, pitted

• 1 ripe mango, pitted

• 1 can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

• 1 large tomato

• 1 jalapeno pepper

• Lime juice

• Half an onion

• 1 bunch cilantro

• S + P

For the Corn and Tomato Salsa:

• Roasted corn

• 1/2 jalapeno

• Diced tomatoes

• Cilantro, chopped, about 1/2 cup

Instructions:

1. Place the pork in a Dutch oven. To make the marinade: In a pestle and mortar, smash the garlic and salt (use about 1-2 tbsp salt). Place it aside when the garlic and salt are mashed together and create a sort of paste.

2. In a separate bowl, juice the sour orange (or the substitute) and add the rest of the seasonings to the bowl as well. If you’re not sure how much to use, start with 2 tsp of the seasonings and adjust to your liking (don’t add more salt at the stage).

3. Take the garlic paste and rub the meat all over with it along with olive oil, next take the marinade and pour it over the meat, making sure it’s fully coated, cover it and let it marinade in the fridge for 1-2 hours or overnight. If you’re in a hurry, minimum 30 minutes.

4. When it comes out of the fridge, let it stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to 300. Make sure that the top of the meat is exposed * about 1/2 inch.

6. Just before you’re ready to bake it, add the onion to the dutch oven. Cover and roast for 3 hours or until the meat is tender and can be pulled apart. When the meat is ready to be pulled apart, uncover it and raise the heat to 350. Let the top of the meat get crispy, it took an extra 20 minutes for mine to crisp up. When the meat is ready, remove it from the pot and don’t throw away the leftover liquid. Shred the meat and place it aside. Chop up some cilantro and have it ready to use.

7. To make the Salsa, Add all of the ingredients to a blender and season with S + P to your liking. If you don’t like the spice, avoid the jalapeños!

8. To make the corn and tomato salsa, roast the corn in the oven (you can choose to do this however you prefer, some people like seasoning the corn beforehand with salt, butter and smoked paprika or you can do it the way that I did by leaving the corn in the husk and placing it in the oven until roasted) then cut the kernels from the cob and place them in a bowl along with the diced tomatoes, cilantro and the jalapeño. Season with S + P and smoked paprika.

9. Serve the tacos topped with avocado, salsa, lime, corn salsa and cheese,