It’s taco time!!! Over the last few months I have been feeding the good people of Bury St Edmunds with my ‘Around the World with WanderSups’, reheat at home service. And low and behold, when we got to Mexico, the crowd went wild. Three sell-out weeks. . . turns out the masses really, really, really like tacos, so I thought I would share one of the recipes for you lovely lot to make at home. If you’d rather I cook them for you, keep an eye on my insta. Love a plug.

This is a low and slow cook, plus marinating time, so crack on with the pork the day before you want to eat so you get as much flavour as possible in the meat. You will then be slow cooking for the majority of the day but fear not, it’s a whack it in the oven and forget about it kinda vibe. The beauty of this dish is that the pork gets even tastier and stickier if left to cool and reheated so you can make ahead of time.

The salsas are quick and easy and when you slap it all together it’s something special.

Some of the ingredients look a bit unusual but they are all readily available online. Mexgrocer and Cool Chile company are always my first port of call. Amazon also has a great range of tinned Mexican goods. Using authentic ingredients is going to better your chances at thinking you are in Mexico when you are actually just at your kitchen table. And let’s be real, that’s what we all need right now.

Traditionally, you would use masa flour to make your taco shells and if you can find it (available online and at specialist stores) I would defo urge you to do so as it really adds to the authenticity of the dish and the flavour is unparalleled. Plus, if you stick your head in the bag and take a long inhale for a brief moment, the smell will instantly transport you to Mexico. If you do use it, follow the recipe here but leave out the oil and baking powder. When it comes to press (roll) the shells, the masa makes them a lot more delicate, so just be careful when working with it.

OR you can sack this bit off and buy pre-made taco shells – just make sure you get the soft, corn version.

CHIPOTLE PORK TACOS, CHARRED PINEAPPLE, RED SALSA, TOMATILLO SALSA

Serves 4 (makes 12 generous tacos)

Spotify Playlist: Sups

Tipple of Choice: It has to be a Corona, right?!

Ingredients

For the tacos:

225g plain flour

½ teaspoon fine salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

40ml corn oil

125ml warm water

Greaseproof paper

For the pork:

125ml chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

60ml oyster sauce

3 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons dijon

2 teaspoons fish sauce

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

Freshly ground black pepper

1 whole pork shoulder (2kg, all excess fat removed)

330ml Corona

For the charred pineapple:

Half a small fresh pineapple cut into small chunks

2 tablespoons ancho chilli flakes

Juice of half a lime

For the red salsa:

4 ripe plum tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic

1 whole jalapeno or serrano chilli

¼ teaspoon fine salt

1 small onion, finely chopped

Lime juice to taste

Half pack fresh coriander

For the tomatillo salsa:

200g tinned tomatillos

100g coriander leaves

Half a lime, juiced

1teaspoon fine salt

2 garlic cloves, finely sliced

2 serrano chillis, stem removed & chopped

1 avocado

½ small onion, diced

Method

For the pork:

Combine all the ingredients bar the pork and beer in a zip lock bag large enough to fit the pork shoulder in. Give everything a good shake so all is mixed and then pop the pork into the bag. Seal and give it a good massage making sure the marinade well and truly covers it. Leave it overnight in the fridge to do its thing.

Remove the pork from the fridge one hour before cooking and preheat the oven to 160 degrees.

Place the pork in an oven proof pot with a lid, pour over any remaining marinade juices and pour in the beer. Pop the lid on and cook in the oven for 3 hours, turning every hour or so.

Remove from the oven and give it a good poke about, spooning over the juices to ensure it is well basted.

Turn the oven up to 200 and cook for another 3 hours. Check after two hours as depending on the meat and ferocity of your oven, cooking times can vary. You are looking for the meat to fall away from the bone. Once you have achieved this, pull the meat apart with tongs and discard the bones.

Return the meat to the pot and place on the hob on a medium heat until the sauce has reduced and the meat is caramelized and sticky – about 30/40 mins. (If you are cooking this ahead of time, do everything up to step 6. Complete this final step just before serving.)

For the tacos:

To make the tortilla dough you can use a stand mixer with a dough hook or skip arm day on your virtual HIIT class and do it by hand. Put your flour, salt and baking powder in the bowl of your stand mixer (or large bowl) and create a small well in the middle. Pour in your oil and then slowly start to add in your warm water. Do this gradually so you can assess how the dough is coming, adding more water or flour if needed. Once everything is combined let the dough hook (or your arms) do the thing until the dough is smooth and elastic – 3 to 4 minutes with a machine, 7 to 10 without. If using masa flour then you do not need to knead for as long, just a minute will do the trick.

Portion out the dough by making golf ball size balls.Cut your greaseproof paper into squares, 2 squares per ball, each square about 15cm wide. Place a ball of dough in between 2 sheets of your squares of paper, lightly press down with your fingers to give him a little squidge. Either using a taco press or a rolling pin, roll your balls into discs about 12-15cm diameter.

Keeping the tacos in the greaseproof sheets (this is important so they don’t stick together), stack them and place to the side till ready to cook.

When ready to cook, heat a frying pan till hot, gently peel the greaseproof paper off one side of the taco using the other side to help place it into the pan. Once the uncovered side is in the pan, peel off the other sheet. The tacos will need 30 secs to a minute on each side, they are ready to flip when they start to puff up and char on the edges.

For the charred pineapple:

Place a frying pan over a high heat until hot. Throw in the pineapple and keep moving round until lightly charred all over.

Remove from the heat and stir through lime juice and chilli flakes.

Keeps well in the fridge for a couple of days if not being eaten straight away.

For the red salsa:

Heat a dry frying pan until hot and add the tomatoes, garlic and chilli till black patches appear all over.

Pop the charred ingredients into a blender and blitz to a pulp.

Stir through the diced onion, lime juice and coriander to taste.

For the tomatillo salsa:

Drain the tomatillos and then pop them and all the other ingredients into a blender.

Blitz till smooth.

To assemble, load your taco shells with the pork and a spoonful of pineapple. Drizzle over the salsas. Serve with fresh lime wedges, coriander leaves and pink pickled onions.

Find out about Hannah’s upcoming Supper Clubs and what she is currently cooking via Instagram @WanderSups and wandersups.com

---

---