Follow the Ruels

Asian Pork Tacos with Watermelon Cucumber Salsa

2018 Update:  Since this is one of my favorite recipes, and one that I reference all the time, I thought it was about time for an upgrade! I originally published this recipe in almost exactly 5 years ago (yikes!). Back when I sort of knew what I was doing and only published recipes occasionally.
 
But even after all that time, I still love making this recipe during the Summer! It’s actually really easy thanks to the use of a slow cooker. Just throw everything in, set it, and forget it. 
 
I don’t want to take everything away from 2013 Lindsey, so I will leave in everything else I wrote back then and just trade out the horrendous photos!
 
Trust me, I am doing us all a favor. 

A few weeks ago B and I went out to dinner and had the most amazing tacos. They were brilliant in their simplicity. Pork belly glazed in an Asian inspired sauce and topped with watermelon cubes. We were pretty unsure about the watermelon and pork at first, but we were quickly won over.

We knew we wanted to try to recreate these at home, and after some experimenting, we found a recipe that rivaled the restaurant version. The best part is, they are pretty easy to make and are probably a lot healthier.

I hope you give these tacos a try. You truly won’t regret it! And don’t let the watermelon weird you out. Once you try it, you will love it!

Recipes

You can find my recipe for homemade tortillas here. They are delicious and absolutely worth the extra effort! 

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Homemade Corn Tortillas

It should be no secret that I love Mexican food. It is my comfort food. A friend recently asked me if I had a go-to cuisine that I always fall back on. Mine is undoubtedly Mexican.

I have made lots of Mexican-inspired dished over the years. I’ve even made my own flour tortillas, which are soooo much better than store bought, b.t.dubs. But until recently I hadn’t attempted corn tortillas. They straight up intimidated me.

I think it’s because most authentic recipes call for masa, which I always assumed was hard to come by. 

Turns out, you can get masa at the freaking grocery store (face palm)!

However, Google will tell you not all masas are created equal, and Maseca should be used as a last resort. 

I will tell you that the Maseca worked just fine for plain old corn tortillas. And who are you going to trust, me or Google? Wait, don’t answer that.

After getting over the hurdle of finding masa, corn tortillas are just as easy to make as flour tortillas. If you are willing to get your hands a little dirty, it’s super easy!

Just mix the water and masa together until if forms a nice soft ball of dough. I recommend just getting in there with your hands. Its more fun that way!

Then wrap up the ball of dough and chill it for at least 30 minutes, if not longer. You want the masa to have a chance to soak up all that moisture.

Once you are ready for your tortillas, separate the big ball in to about 15 equal sized smaller balls of dough. Then use a handy dandy tortilla press (or rolling pin) to press the dough balls into tortillas!

I like to line my tortilla press with a plastic zip top bag that I have cut the sides and top off of so that its just a folded piece of plastic. It makes it so much easier to peel the tortilla off the press.

One at a time, cook the tortillas on a hot skillet or griddle. Cook the for about 30 seconds on each side, until they have a bit of a char.

Keep the raw tortillas in between a damp towel so they don’t dry out. And keep your freshly cooked tortillas under a dry towel or in a tortilla warmer to keep them warm.

Now all you have to do is load them up with your favorite filling. These bad boys were stuffed with my favorite barbacoa.  And holy cow were they delicious!

My husband will now only eat homemade corn tortillas (Who’s the high maintenance one now? Nope, still me.) He’s not a huge fan of the store bought kind because they are so dry they just fall apart under the stress of any filling (I’m right there with him, but put up with it because corn tortillas are “healthier”). But these don’t! The stay perfectly intact and withstand the juicy goodness that is taco filling.

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:148]

Slow Cooker Barbacoa Tacos

This barbacoa recipe has quickly become one of our favorites! The first time I made it, I used the recipe straight out of the Fed and Fit cookbook (which is awesome, b.t.dubs). While the recipe was great, I am never one to settle with a recipe straight out of the cookbook. I have to tweak it until I love it!

I have probably tweaked this recipe 5 different times. Photographing it twice for the blog, ultimately deciding that it wasn’t right yet.  This last time, my husband basically told me to stop. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200 dollars. It was perfect!

Honestly, the difference in all the recipes in pretty minimal, in terms of the ratio of spices. The big difference in the last recipe that I used 100% Savory Spice Shop spices*. About 75% of my spice cabinet is already filled with Savory Spices, but earlier that day I picked up a few more and used them to round out the spice blend for this recipe. 

And boy is this spice blend packed with a ton of flavor: chili powder, chipotle chili powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, Mexican oregano, and cloves to be exact.

It just makes such a difference when you use fresh, good quality spices, like the ones at Savory Spice. I wanted to pick uSp a new jar of chili powder to replace my bulk sized jar that was probably two year old.  (Come on, what kind of food blogger am I using such poor quality spices? It’s embarrassing, really.) And now only do they have just dozens of different types of chilies, they have three different varieties of plain ol’ chili powder! I didn’t realize there could be more than one. 

We picked up the medium just to be on the safe side. 

So to get this bad boy cooking, start by covering the beef very generously in that delicious spice blend so that there is barely any meat showing through. If you have the time, I recommend letting it sit for a bit so the meat has a chance to absorb all those flavors. But if you are running short on time, you can immediately sear the beef on all sides so that they get a nice crust. 

Then just transfer them over to your slow cooker and add in a couple cloves of garlic, a bay leaf, apple cider vinegar, and stock and let your slow cooker go to work.

Just before you are ready to serve this, maybe 30 minutes before, squeeze over the juice of a lime, then shred it up into pieces.

All that’s left is to plate it up in some tortillas and top it with your favorite taco toppings! I love to top my barbacoa with a bit of queso fresco or cotija cheese. Maybe a little onion and cilantro. My husband likes to sneak on some jalapeno. But truly, this barbacoa is good all on it’s own. Be prepared to eat the left overs straight out of the slow cooker. 

The best part (maybe?) is that this recipe can easily be made into a Paleo meal by serving it in lettuce wraps! The first two times I made this recipe, that’s exactly what I did. It’s fantastic!

*Full disclosure, my local Savory Spice shop did provide some of the spices used in the recipe. But to be fair, I already had (and purchased) 4 of the 6 spices used in the recipe. I highly recommend using good quality and fresh spices in all your recipes, which is why I love Savory Spice. Not to mention they are right up the road and have hundreds of different spices, so I have no excuse but to stop in and pick up a new spice to play with in the kitchen!

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:145]

Cilantro Lime Fish Tacos

Leave it to me to start appreciating fish tacos only after I have moved away from the fish taco capital of the world (I assume). Despite growing up a stones throw from the beach and surrounded by amazing taco spots all with their own take on the fish taco, I didn’t eat my first fish taco until moving to North Carolina. That just feels wrong, doesn’t it?

Now a days if I want a fish taco I have to make the haul to the only spot in town that makes a decent one, or I can just make them at home. Since I am lazy and cheap, I tend to choose the later. 

And my go-to fish taco recipe? This easy and flavorful cilantro lime fish taco!

Start with some fresh (or thawed) fish. I used tilapia which is a nice light white fish that is great for fish novice’s like me.

Generously dust the fish with a mixture of chili powder, cumin, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Don’t be shy! In my opinion you can’t over season the fish. Then sprinkle on some cilantro; unless you are one of those weird people who hates cilantro, then skip it.

Now take a half a lime and squeeze the bejeezus out of it to get every ounce of juice over the fish. Then pop in the oven for a quick bake.

After about 10 minutes in the oven, the fish should be done and already flaking apart. All you have to do is take a fork to it to break it up into smaller chunks.  Now they are ready to be made into tacos!

I like to top my fish tacos off with a fresh mango pineapple salsa, which is the same salsa I used in the Jamaican Jerk Shrimp skewers. There is just something about fish and tropical fruit. I don’t know what it is. 

These tacos make such a nice fresh and healthy dinner that can be made in less than 30 minutes, easy! And if you are new to fish, kinda like me, this recipe will be great for you. Tilapia is a nice mild fish with that really takes on the flavor of whatever you season it with. It is also very easy to cook and practically fool proof. 

Trust me.

But if you are a fish connoisseur and tilapia is too mild for you, you can definitely substitute in some ahi tuna, mahi mahi, halibut, and any other favorite fish! Make it your own!

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:139]

California Tacos with French Fries

Unless you are from Southern California or have spent a significant amount of time there, you may assume that a “California taco” is a taco with avocado in it. It’s a safe assumption. Just think of the California Roll or any California-named sandwich. 

But if you are from Southern California, like I am, these tacos may remind you of the ultimate food with the Golden State as it’s namesake….

…the California Burrito!

For those who are unfamiliar, the California burrito is a classic carne asada burrito with FRENCH FRIES! Don’t ask questions, just know that it is delicious. My all time favorite California burrito is the Surf n’ Turf California at Lucha Libre in San Diego or Santana’s classic California burrito, which was a staple in High School. But just about any Mexican food spot in San Diego will have their own. 

Of course, now that we live in the South, California burritos are completely non existent. Heck, a good burrito of any kind is hard to come by! And I can only get my fix during my annual trips home.

But it was on my last annual trip home that the inspiration came for these tacos in the form of a giant billboard advertising one restaurants own California tacos! I have no idea what restaurant or fast-food chain was advertising. I just saw a taco with French fries and I knew I could replicate that at home!

The tacos came together so quickly, we forgot to take pictures along the way. All we did was brown up ground beef with onion, jalapeno, and garlic while the store-bought frozen french fries crisped up in the oven. Once the meat was ready, we stuffed our tortillas and topped it with the fries and some pico de gallo. I made my homemade whole wheat tortillas because they are so much better than store bought and easier to make than you may think!

You could use carne asada instead of ground beef if you want to be super authentic. But I think the ground beef works perfectly! It’s also much easier than grilling up some carne asada. 

These little tacos were freaking fantastic! Not only was my husband in heaven, but after one bite, I was transported back to my high school days when we would grab a burrito on our way to the beach after school to cheer on our surf team.

Was that the most California thing you have ever read? Well don’t worry, it’s not true….I wasn’t cool enough in high school to cheer on our surf team. But the burrito part is totally is. 😉

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:118]

PIN NOW, MAKE LATER

 

Authentic Carne Asada

Carne-Asada-4-title

In case I haven’t mentioned it enough, I will say it again for the millionth time – I miss good, authentic Mexican food. Since I grew up in Southern California, I was so spoiled with all the delicious food at my disposal. In my opinion, the mark of truly good Mexican food is the carne asada. If they can do carne asada well, then they can probably do everything else well, too. Well, here in North Carolina, I have yet to find anyone that does a good carne asada. Which is why I took matters into my own hands. 

I researched a lot of recipes, trying to find one that was authentic but not too complicated. I also called upon memories of sitting at the beach eating a carne asada burrito, trying to remember what I loved most about my favorite carne asada meals (Yes I realize how cliche that sounds. My high school also had a surf team. Deal with it.)

What I learned was my perfect carne asada is prefect balance of spicy and tangy. To accomplish this, I marinated a flank steak in a mixture of citrus juice with a variety of chili powders and spices. 

Carne Asada-1

I really wanted to the flavors to seep into the meat, so I let this marinate overnight. But that isn’t necessary. You probably only need about 8 hours for it to really work it’s magic. 

Carne Asada-2

Finally, my perfect carne asada should have a little char on the outside and a juicy center. Since I knew exactly (exactly what store, at least) where my meat came from, I cooked mine to medium/medium rare. But you can cook yours to whatever temperature you prefer. Also, a trick to perfectly tender steak that you can bite right into is to gut it against the grain. In the picture above, you can see the little creases and cracks in the meat, and I made my cuts perpendicular to those. 

Carne Asada-3

Of course, my favorite way to eat the delicious Mexican meat is to wrap it in a big flour tortilla with some french fries, guacamole, and salsa in what we in California like to call a California Burrito. But since I am not a total glutton, I settled for a healthier option in corn tortillas, avocado, salsa, and chopped onion. 

Carne-Asada-5hp

These carne asada tacos were like a little bite of home for me. Now I know I don’t have to try to search out a place here in Charlotte that makes a good carne asada, I can just make my own at home. Of course, I will keep on looking. There’s nothing wrong with even the most mediocre Mexican food, in my opinion.

Enjoy!

 

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:7]

Pulled Pork Tacos

BBC-Pulled-Pork-Tacos1After making pimento cheese last week, my husband and I were pretty much putting it on everything. I had made tacos just a few nights later, and instead of using regular cheese, he slathered the pimento cheese on instead. Genius! That’s when we started scheming up this taco recipe.

BBC-Pulled-Pork-Tacos2It may not be the prettiest taco out there, but it is mighty tasty and really easy to make. I slow-cooked two thick cut, bone-in pork chops in my crock pot with chicken stock, some spices, and bit of liquid smoke until the meat was tender enough to be pulled apart with two forks. I then just piled it on top of a taco, slathered with some pimento cheese, then topped all that with some cole slaw.

BBC-Pulled-Pork-Tacos4Ultimately, it is less of taco then just Carolina barbeque rolled in a tortilla. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

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