PICO DE GALLO, SPICE AND EVERYTHING NICE IN THIS PULLED PORK TACO RECIPE.

Pulled pork and tacos were meant to be together.  Pulled pork is just so juicy, flavorful and delicious.  It's like it wants to be put into a corn tortilla and be smothered with awesome fresh ingredients.  The freshness is one of the things I love so much about Mexican style food.  We're going to be using my recipe for easy pulled pork which I posted a while ago.  We're also going to be making some super fresh pico de gallo and a really spicy chipotle pepper sauce.  A pulled pork taco recipe that is just full of yum.

MAKING PULLED PORK

Pulled pork takes time.  There is no way around it.  Typically, I make an 8lb shoulder and freeze off portions to be used in the future.  I don't always have six hours to wait for dinner to be ready!  If you don't have any pulled pork ready to go and are a bit short on time, take a look at my easy shredded chicken recipe.  It will be equally delicious and ready in much less time.

I'm working with a friend of mine to put together a recipe for pressure cooker carnitas which should be ready in about an hour.  The pressure cooker is an incredible piece of equipment to have on hand to speed things up when working with tougher cuts of meat.  Right now we are working on the right balance of fat, spice and meat to go into the pressure cooker to make the most delicious carnitas you can imagine.  Should be an awesome recipe!

For this pulled pork taco recipe, I've assumed that you have pulled pork already made or are planning on making it.  There are links through to how to make some delicious pulled pork in the recipe or earlier in this post!

PUTTING TOGETHER THE PICO DE GALLO

Pico is one of my favorite salsas.  It is simple, packs a ton of flavor and can be adjusted easily for spice.  In this pico recipe, I used jalapeno peppers which turned out to be incredibly spicy.  Have you noticed that sometimes you get jalapeno which is not too spicy, but sometimes you get ones that are outrageously loaded with capsaicin (the spicy part of the pepper).  Well, these were HOT.  I could feel the heat in my nose when I first cut into the pepper.  For me, it was perfect.

If you're not into the heat, pick up an Anaheim (very mild) or add in a green bell pepper.  Looking for just a bit of heat?  The poblano pepper might be up your alley. These can pack some heat too... just one of those things you can't tell by looking at one.  If you love the heat, buy jalapeno, serrano or kick it way up with habanero.  My suggestion is to wear gloves if you are slicing anything above a jalapeno.

For the pico de gallo recipe, just make sure that you get the freshest ingredients you can.  I know that at different times of the year tomatoes don't always look or taste the best.  When you are at the grocery, see which type looks the most red and get those.  It doesn't matter whether it is a plum or a vine tomato.  Look for the most ripe and delicious.

You'll see that I use shallot in my pico rather than red or sweet onions.  I like the flavor of the shallot more than these other types.  Sometimes sweet onions aren't available at my local market and I find that the red onions can overpower a salsa quickly.  The shallot does a great job of being relatively mild but still adding enough onion flavor to make the salsa stand out.  It's your choice what to use.  Recipes are just guidelines!

PUTTING TOGETHER THE CHIPOTLE PEPPER SAUCE

Wow.  This sauce has some huge flavor and a LOT of spice.  I use the hot Hungarian wax pepper in this recipe to really make sure that you know you're eating something spicy.  But it's not just spice for the sake of being hot.  There are really delicious flavors in here with the sauteed onions and garlic along with the adobo chile sauce.  The chipotle pepper sauce kicks this pulled pork taco recipe way up in the flavor department.

When you are making this sauce, I would suggest using your ventilation system when sauteing the wax peppers.  The vapor has a tendency to make you cough a bit and might burn your eyes just a touch.  I would not lean in and breathe in the steam from the pan under any circumstances.  Keep a lid on the pan when they are being cooked to reduce the vapor.  It definitely helps a lot!

I like to make this sauce in my vitamix and leave a little "chunk" to it.  Just add all the ingredients into the vitamix or your blender, turn it on a low speed and let it go for a couple minutes.

QUICK COOKING TIP: If you're looking for some additional toppings for this pulled pork taco recipe, try some sliced black olives or pieces of sliced avocado.  Check out my quick picture tutorial on how to peel an avocado to make some beautiful avocado slices.  We love to add in some shredded cheese and some whole kernel corn.  Really tasty.

Let's get to this pulled pork taco recipe.