The only thing you'll regret, is that you didn't make more...
Sweet pork belly, fruity chiles with just a hint of heat, a few pinches of spices, and a little time is all that it takes to make these killer pork belly tacos.
This recipe take a few days, most of the time is just waiting for the salt and the pork belly to do it's magic. It's not truly curing it, like you would with bacon, but it's close. If you can buy a slab of bacon uncut, that would be a good, although likely expensive, way to knock quite a bit of time off of this recipe.
Addictive Pork Belly Tacos
Total Time: 4 Days
Active Time: 1 Hour
Ingredients
3 Lbs Pork Belly, Skin Removed
6 Dried Guajillo Chilies, with the seeds removed
1 Dried Chile de Arbol, with the seeds removed
1 Tbs Adobo sauce, removed from a can of Chipoltes in Adobo Sauce
1 Tbs Honey
.25 Tbs Ground Cumin
.125 tsp Canela (Cinnamon)
.25 Tbs Ground Black Pepper
3 Tbs Kosher Salt
3 Cloves of Garlic
Chopped Cilantro
Pickled Red Onion
Technique
Prepare the pork belly by generously rubbing with kosher salt, and leave uncovered in the refrigerator for 3 days.
Remove the pork belly from the refrigerator and rine as much salt off as possible, then pat dry.
Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil.
In a dry skillet, toast the Guajillo and Chile De Arbols until wisps of smoke just start to appear. Place into a stainless steel bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to rehydrate for about 20 minutes.
Strain the water from the chiles, reserving .25C of the rehydrating liquid.
Using an immersion blender, blend the chilies, reserved rehydrating liquid, garlic, cumin, ground black pepper, canela, honey, adobo sauce, and a pinch of salt until a paste forms.
Generously rub the pork belly with the paste, place in a gallon sized zip lock back and return to the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, but ideally overnight.
Preheat the oven to 250F
Place the pork belly in a glass baking dish, cover with foil, and bake for 2 hours.
After two hours, raise the oven temperature to 425F and continue baking for an additional 45 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 190F.
Remove from the oven and let it cool completely.
Reserve the liquids from the baking pan. Cut the pork belly into 1 inch by 1 inch cubes. Return to the baking pan and gently fold to coat with the reserved liquids.
Preheat a cast iron pan over minimum heat with a touch of vegetable oil. When the oil starts to glisten, add the pork belly and cook on each side until it develops color and a crispy texture.
To serve, place 3-5 pieces of pork belly on a warm corn or flour tortilla (depending on size), garnish with chopped cilantro and pickle red onions.
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