I'm posting this for everyone that's ever had these at my house. I prepared these last week for my brother and his wife visiting from Indiana and my "lil" brother insisted I post this recipe. I also served these at my daughter's engagement party years ago, and let me tell you....the guests could not get enough of them. These are DOWNRIGHT D E L I C I O U S.
But, lemme be honest, it's a labor of love. The pork belly is slowly braised for 3 hours, so the meat becomes fall-apart tender. Then it's simmered in a sauce of mirin, sake, soy sauce, and a lil' sugar that creates the flavor phenomena of a pork belly taco. Last, and please don't skip this step, you crisp up the simmered, fall-apart tender pork belly in a skillet. Now you have pork belly that has intense flavor and texture.
The toppings are suggestions, but the sauce I politely insist that you try it at least.
Okay, enough said, LET'S GET COOKIN'!!!!
Ingredients
1 ½ pounds pork belly
2 cups water
2 ½ teaspoons dashi stock (or chicken bullion)
2-inch piece of ginger, peeled
1 cup leeks, sliced into 2-inch pieces
½ cup mirin
¼ cup sake
¼ cup soy sauce
2 Tablespoons sugar
Tortillas (corn or flour)
Spicy Mayo
½ cup mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon sriracha
1 Tablespoon lime juice
2 teaspoons soy sauce
Toppings
Red cabbage thinly sliced
Cilantro roughly chopped
Green onions thinly sliced
Directions
In a dutch oven, brown the pork belly on all sides.
Add enough water to cover the pork belly and add the dashi stock (or chicken bullion), ginger, and sliced leeks. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 3 hours, until the pork belly is tender. Drain the liquid.
Combine the mirin, sake, soy sauce, and sugar in an empty large pot or saute pan and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to a simmer, add the cooked pork belly, and simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered. This is where the magic begins.
The pork should be “shreddable” at this point. Take a non-stick skillet and fry up the pork belly until crispy (do this in batches, not all at once).
Once all the pork belly has been “crisped” you are ready to assemble your AMAZING tacos. THIS is where the magic continues!
To make the spicy mayo, combine all the ingredients together, taste for salt and pepper. SIMPLE, yet DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. This is where the MAGIC happens and MAKES the tacos!
To assemble the tacos, warm either flour or corn tortillas in microwave or skillet, then top with the caramelized pork belly, spicy mayonnaise, cabbage, cilantro, and green onions.
Prepare to be AMAZED!
Click here for the printable version.
