Sat, 4 February 2023
INGREDIENTS:
For the meat:
1kg shoulder of pork, skin left on, cut into 3 chunks
350g tomatoes, washed and cut in quarters
1 small onion, peeled and cut in quarters
For the cooking sauce:
5 large garlic cloves, peeled
7cm Mexican Cinnamon stick
½ tsp Peppercorns
50g Mexican achiote paste
75ml Irish cider vinegar
1 large orange, juiced
1½ tsp flaky sea salt
80ml fresh water
For the tacos:
16 corn tortillas, warmed
METHOD:
1). Preheat your oven at 150c
2). Heat to medium on the pan but leave it on.
3). Place the pieces of meat in a roasting tin or a cast iron pot with lid, skin facing up so it doesn’t stick. Follow by adding the tomatoes and onion quarters, wedging them in between the pieces of meat and on the top. Set this aside and return to the hot pan.
4). Place the garlic cloves on the hot pan turning them every minute or so, the aim is to have lovely golden garlic cloves with plenty of charred bits and a sweet, sweet smell, it will take roughly about 6 minutes. Half way through the process, add the cinnamon stick to the same pan and toast it for 2 to 3 minutes before adding the peppercorns and toast until they are fragrant, about a further minute.
5). Transfer everything from the pan to the blender, followed by the achiote paste, the cider vinegar, the orange juice, the salt and half the water. Blend everything until smooth.
6). Pour the sauce over the meat in the casserole. Use the remaining of the fresh water to rinse any leftover of sauce out of the blender and pour into the casserole too. Cover the meat with a piece of parchment paper.
7). Cover the casserole with its lid. Bring it to the oven and roast slowly for 3.5 hours.
8). Take the casserole out of the oven and uncovered the meat. Everything should be soft, so using two forks, shred the meat and crush the veggies making sure to mix everything well; there should be enough sauce to coat everything well. I normally just carry the casserole to the table and let the meat rest and soak all the flavours of the sauce while I get everything else together.
9). Serve on warmed up corn tortillas with your favourite salsa and some read onion pickle.
