Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Tacos Go East

by Rob Cooksey

1 lb Thinly cut pork with some fat in it*
1 Granny Smith apple
1 Braeburn apple
1 Shredded carrot
2 Heads bok choy
1 Cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
2 Tablesp
oons sour cream
2 Tablespoons mayonnaise/yogurt
4 Cloves garlic
1/2 Cup Fish Sauce (I prefer the Three Crabs variety)
4 Limes
1/2 Cup Rice vinegar
1 Teaspoon Chili Garlic Paste
1 Tablespoon Honey
1 Tablespoon Sour Salt
Tortillas (flour or corn to taste, but soft either way)
1 cup water
Several sprigs of mint
Coconut oil

* I used pork loin chops and they were too lean to achieve the desired char flavor that comes with grilling pork fat over a fire.

Zest at least 2 limes. Add the sour salt to the zest. Put that to the side for later. Cut and juice the limes into a bowl. Crush the garlic cloves and add to the lime juice along with the fish sauce, water, rice vinegar, chili garlic paste, and honey. Stir this and marinate the pork in this. Finely dice the apples and mix with shredded carrot and  coconut. Add the sour cream and mayonnaise/yogurt (As an alternative, one could make this mixture a vinegar based slaw instead of a creamy one). Put that in the refrigerator to cool. Put a small amount of coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat. Drop in a tortilla and flip it a few times. Sprinkle a bit of the zest and sour salt mixture over the tortilla while browning slightly. Repeat with as many tortillas as you will need. Put these aside to cool. Thinly slice the bok choy and put aside. Grill your pork over medium-high heat on a (preferably) charcoal grill to get a nice char. When the pork is finished, cut it into small bits. Fill one of your tortillas with a bit of pork, a little of the apple slaw and bok choy, and a couple sprigs of mint. Repeat for as many as you can eat.

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