Slow-Cooked Pork Belly Tacos

I LOVE pork belly and in my opinion, it is SO underrated. Give it a little love and you can turn a cheap, fatty piece of meat into a flavourful treat meal – whether it’s roasted with a perfect layer of crackling, or cooked in beer and then shredded, it’ll be 10/10 delicious.

This recipe uses the latter option, and layered with a generous dollop of guacamole, shredded lettuce and a red cabbage slaw – it makes a wonderful mid-week taco treat, perfect for #TacoTuesday.

The silver lining of working from home this year is being able to throw recipes like this together – I spend about 10 minutes prepping the pork mid-afternoon and then its into the oven for 3ish hours. You’ll spend your afternoon sat at your laptop with the smell of pork tacos doing their magic in the kitchen. YAS.

Go on, give it a go.

Serves 2 greedy pigs

Ingredients

500g pork belly strips

1 taco seasoning sachet (little cheat, you could make your own spice mix but I’m all for cutting corners for mid-week meals)

10 tacos / tortillas

1/2 pint of beer

1/2 red onion

1 avocado

1/4 red cabbage shredded

100g soured cream

Juice of 1 lime

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Iceberg shredded

Method:

1. In a hot pan, sear the pork belly slices, turning frequently to stop from burning. You want to begin to render some of the fat down and caramelise the slices. When browned all over, remove from pan and place in a baking dish
2. Pre-heat the oven to 150°C and mix the taco seasoning with 250ml of water before pouring across the beef, along with the beer. Cover with foil and place in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. Check occasionally to ensure it hasn’t dried out (if needed, add a splash more water)
3. When the time is up, remove from the oven and shred the pork, add a splash more water and return to the oven without the foil for a further 30mins / however long you need to whip up the sides!
4. Cut your avocado, removing the stone and mash in a bowl with finely sliced red onion, half the lime juice, half the garlic powder and s&p and set aside! EASY AS THAT! (You can also add some fresh chilli, but most of the time I cba to slice anything else!)
5. Mix the soured cream with the lime juice, garlic powder, s&p and paprika before adding to the shredded cabbage until the cabbage is full coated
6. and ENJOY! Pile those tacos high with guac, slaw, lettuce and pork belly and won’t be disappointed! Happy #TacoTuesday!!