Street Tacos

How to make street tacos?

I'm glad you asked.

I've sold variations of this everywhere from Minnesota, to North Carolina, to Pennsylvania, and back again. It's a simple, delicious crowd pleaser, or a real workhorse on a restaurant menu.

We will need to...

Rub and roast our pork, pickle a quick red onion, and make a pico. Then we'll finish with making a salsa roja and an avocado cream.

I'm going straight to restaurant tested batch sizes because you guys are real and need bona fide pro tips to move some taco weight. Scale down as needed :)

• Bbq rub
• Kosher salt 3 cups
• Chili powder 2 cups
• Smoked paprika 2 cups
• Coriander ground 1 cup
• Thyme ground 1 cup
• Onion powder 2 cups
• Granulated garlic 1 cup
• Black pepper 1 cup

Mix the spices well. 

(If you aren't using this as a meat rub, you can lower the salt amount and make a very nice all purpose bbq spice. I like to use it liberally in a pan sauce with butter, Worcestershire, lemon juice, diced tomatoes and shrimp. Delicious bbq shrimp with toast points, but I digress.)

Let's assume you're using 80 lbs of boneless pork butt, rub it thoroughly with the bbq spice and add a few cups of water to your roasting pan, and make sure not to over crowd the pan so theres room for the pork juice. Plastic wrap and then cover your roasting pan with tin foil and bake it for 12 hours at 350 degrees. If you're using less pork turn your heat down but the key here is to let your pork reach an internal temperature over 200 degrees to break down the collagen and make it tender. The water will help it keep from burning, but you want to let it cook over a long period of time.

Anyway, when a knife slips in and out anywhere with ease it's ready and you should transfer it out of the fat so you can pull it by hand. Add back as much just as you want when it's pulled...its delicious. Alternatively, if you want to keep some of the fat out and want to add a little sweetness message in some applesauce to the pulled pork, it keeps it juicy and adds a nice flavor. Cool the pork and set it aside.

Next up is our quick pickled red onion. Julien as many red onions as you'd like, meanwhile heat up two parts white vinegar, one part water, and one part sugar. Get the mix to a boil and then set aside. When the pickle juice cooled a bit mix in the red onions and refrigerate.

If you want to take the pickled onions to the next level, use champagne vinegar and throw in this pickling spice recipe. The spice will then have to be strained

• Pickling spice
• Black peppercorns, 2 T
• Mustard seeds, 2 T
• Allspice, 2 T
• Crushed cinnamon sticks, 2 ea
• Cloves, 2T
• Mace, 1 T
• Ground ginger, 1 T
• Red pepper flake, 1 t
• Togarashi, 2 T

Next for the pico... chop all the tomatoes (except for 10, you will need for your salsa roja) and cilantro you can afford. Then dice all there onions you can get your hands on. Finish with cumin, salt, chili powder, lime juice. Nothing crazy here folks, but its gotta be there.

Finally, the two sauces that are the stars of the show...

• Salsa roja
• Habaneros, 5
• Tomatoes, 10
• Garlic cloves, 20
• Cilantro bunches, 3
• Yellow onions, 3
• Lime juice, 1 and 1/2 cup
• Chili powder, 1/2 cup
• Paprika 1/2 cup
• Sour cream, 2 cups
• Blended oil, 1 cup.
• Blister garlic and tomatoes, then blend everything, and lastly whisk in the sour cream.
• Avocado Cream.
• Sour cream 1 qt.
• Avocados 6 ea.
• Lemon juice 4 ea.
• Shallot, minced 1 ea.
• Salt and pepper 2 t.
• Sodium citrate 1 T. (To preserve color)
• Blend all ingredients together.

Ok now let's assemble your masterpiece.

Warm your flour tortillas (corn tortillas are awful, but go ahead if you want to.)

Place your warmed up shredded pork carnitas on the tortilla followed by your salsa roja. Then sprinkle on your pico. Place your pickled red onion on your pico. Crumble queso fresco top and finish with a drizzle of your avocado cream. Garnish with cilantro. 

You did it! You are a taco wizard! Sit back and watch as these street tacos make you wealthy and famous.

Enjoy, and thank you!