Pork Carnitas Tacos and More

Today is National Hot Chocolate Day. It is also our daughter’s birthday, her 3rd birthday celebrated in Heaven. Happy Birthday Boo!

Today is also Tuesday. That means, unless it’s some big Holiday, Religious Day or something else that carries weight around here, today is Tijuana Tuesday. This is an awesome recipe for Tijuana Tuesday because it will feed you today, make an amazing breakfast tomorrow or soon, and still have left overs for a brownbag lunch. Yeah, gotta love that. Just skip the margaritas at lunchtime.

I’ve had my Instant Pot for a while now. You would think by now I’d stop marveling at the results Pressure Cooking give. This Pork Roast was suppose to use a two-fork shredding method. Not! One fork, one hand, it practically shredded itself! While the roast was doing it’s thing, I realized that the recipe, as originally written, called for diced red onions to be scattered over the tacos. That got me to thinking – what about thin slivers of onions instead? And with this time on my hand, why not pickle the onions? Kiddo and I love pickled red onions. We slap them in tacos, put them in sandwiches and add them to our burgers. So easy to make, and they add such a beautiful layer of wow. So let’s start with the onions and go from there. Are you ready for delicious eats for days and days? Good! Let’s do this.

Instant Pot Pork Carnitas
Pickled Red Onions
1/2 Red Onion, thinly sliced
1 cup Warm Water
1/2 cup Vinegar of choice
1 tablespoon Sugar
Pinch Hot Pepper Seasoning

Peel and thinly slice red onion. Place in a bowl or canning jar, set aside.

Warm water, add vinegar and sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves. Pour pickling water over the onion slivers. Stir.

Sprinkle with a little ground hot pepper such as cayenne, ghost or Carolina Reaper, depending upon desired heat level. Set aside to steep for about an hour.

Refrigerate until ready to use.

Pork Carnitas Tacos
1-1/2 lbs Pork Loin Roast
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Mexican Oregano
1/2 teaspoon Coriander
1/2 teaspoon Ancho Chili Powder
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
2 tablespoons Tequila
2 tablespoons Lime Juice
2 tablespoons Triple Sec
1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
16 Street Size White Corn Tortillas
8 tablespoon Taco Sauce or to taste
Cilantro for garnish

Trim pork of excess fat. Cut pork into 4 chunks. Season pork with salt and pepper. In a bowl, combine cumin, oregano, coriander, chili powder and cayenne pepper. Sprinkle seasoning over the chunks of pork..

Place seasoned meat in the insert of the Instant Pot.

In a glass measuring cup, mix tequila, lime juice and Triple Sec. Pour tequila mixture around the pork pieces.

Cover and seal lid (make sure valve is set to “sealing” position), Press PRESSURE COOK, MANUAL, HIGH 60-MINUTES. Press START.

Once cooking is done, let pressure come down naturally for 10 minutes then use quick release method to release any remaining pressure.

Meanwhile, line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, spray with cooking spray and set aside. Once steaming has stopped remove pork from pressure cooker while leaving juices in pressure cooker. Shred pork using the two fork method. Set aside.

Weigh out 6 ounces of pork for breakfast meat. Place in a container with a small amount of cooking liquid. Refrigerate.

Place shredded pork on baking sheet, pour reserved cooking liquid over the pork. Drizzle with oil and toss the shredded meat. Spread out in an even layer on the baking sheet. Set aside.

Position oven rack near heat element of the broiler and heat broiler to high.

While the oven heats, warm tortillas on a flat griddle. Keep warm until ready to serve. Set aside until ready to serve.

Slide baking sheet under the broiler, broil pork until browned and beginning to crisp in places, about 5 minutes.

Optional Finishing Touches
8 tablespoons Sour Cream
8 tablespoons Mexican Cheese

Fill warmed tortillas with meat, garnish with pickled onions, cilantro and Taco Sauce. If desired, finish these amazing pork tacos with some sour cream and a sprinkling of cheese.

Delicious with all the customary sides of rice and beans. As always, serve up with a pitcher of Margaritas.