Smoked Pork Tacos Recipe

Combining two of my food styles, BBQ and Mexican taqueria, smoked pork tacos always hit the spot.

And the great thing is that if you have any kind of a set up for real BBQ, then these tacos are a snap to make, and taste really impressive.

Here is a Veracuzan version, a modified from a recipe I got originally from one of NYC chef Zarella Martinez’s cookbooks.

Smoked Pork Tacos

• 1 ½ pounds of lean pork, loin or tenderloin works well here, although any part will do
• A full cup of freshly squeezed lime juice and orange juice (mixed together half and half to make a cup)
• Salt and pepper
• Lots of garlic
• Vegetable oil for frying

1. Cut the meat into very thin strips, about ¼ of an inch in thickness.
2. Chop up 10 or 15 cloves of garlic and then rub this garlic into the meat slices
3. Sprinkle the meat all over with salt and pepper and then let it all marinate in the lime juice and orange juice for 1 or 2 hours, in the fridge.
4. After a couple of hours, set up your BBQ smoker or BBQ grill for indirect smoking. You want to keep the heat here very low, as the meat is so thin that it won’t take much to cook it through – about 220 works well.
5. Smoke at this low temperature for about half an hour, using hickory or apple and then remove the pork.
6. Cut the pork into narrow strips and heat a couple of generous Tbls of oil in a heavy skillet
7. When hot, add the pork strips in batches and fry each up until crispy, about 2 minutes in total is all it takes per batch (don’t overcrowd, this doesn’t take long!)
8. Serve in soft corn tortillas with your favorite taco fixings (I like a green tomatillo sauce, guacamole, pickled onions and queso fresco, but there is really no wrong answer here!