I’ve never been to Mexico (I really should go!) but I am from Texas, so I’ve eaten a lot of Mexican food and a lot of barbecue. This is about as good a combination of those two things as I’ve had. Everyone loves it: regular Mexican food enjoyers, spice-shy Quebeckers, my autistic nephew, even one vegetarian dude I know. It also freezes super well, so you can have delicious tacos any night of the week for very little effort.

I make this on a pellet smoker, but you can probably get away with using an oven and some liquid smoke. Just be sure to lie about this when anyone asks! You wouldn’t want to limit their enjoyment by revealing this food to the be the product of such a pedestrian preparation method. Have some fun with it! Say you dug a hole and buried the dish in banana leaves in a hole with some hot rocks and the smoldering remains of a real wood fire, just like your Abuelita taught you. Call them racist when they question your Mexican heritage. They don’t know you! After all, could any non-Mexican make tacos this good?

Ingredients

Meat & Rub

  • 8-10 pork shoulder, bone-in if you can find it, don’t worry about it if not
  • Salt, preferably a medium grain salt like kosher salt1
  • 1 tbsp of whole cumin2
  • 1/2 tbsp whole allspice
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/2 tbsp oregano, Mexican oregano if you can find it
  • 1/2 tbsp paprika
  • 1 tsp annatto powder3
  • 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
  • juice of 1/2 lime
  • water as needed

Braising Liquid

  • 2 large Guajillo peppers4
  • 2 small roma tomatoes
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 small onion, white or yellow
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1/2 cup grapefruit juice
  • 1/2 cup boiling hot water
  • 1 tsp chicken bouillon paste or powder
  • 1 tbsp white vinegar
  • 1 orange
  • 1 lime
  • 2 bay leaves

To serve

(all optional)

  • Tortillas, corn or wheat, warmed left to steam in a bag or under towels
  • Cilantro5
  • Onion, white or yellow, fine diced, rinsed in water and drained
  • Onion, red, quick-pickled
  • Salsa or hot sauce of choice
  • Avocado
  • Grated or crumbled cheese of choice
  • Mexican crema, sour cream, crème fraîche, or smetana

Instructions

  1. Salt pork shoulder thoroughly. If you have time, cover and let sit in the fridge overnight to dry-brine.
  2. Make the rub. In a molcajete or mortar, grind the whole spices.6 Add the garlic cloves and sugar and grind to a paste. Mix in other powder ingredients, then liquid ingredients. Texture should be spreadable paste. If it’s too thick, add a splash of water. Spread the rub evenly over the surface of the pork.
  3. Place the pork shoulder directly on a smoker at 225 F and let it cook for 4 hours. Aim for a large amount of smoke from your smoker, since it won’t be exposed to smoke for too long. If using an oven, place on the rack of a roasting pan at 225 F with convection for 3 hours.
  4. While the pork is on, prepare the braising liquid. Remove the ribs and seeds from the Guajillo peppers. Toast the peppers, garlic, onion, and tomato on a dry skillet until a light char develops on all sides. Remove the peppers to a covered bowl with the water to soak for 10 minutes. Lightly toast the cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Place the garlic, onion, tomato, grapefruit juice, bouillon paste, and vinegar in a blender with the peppers and their soaking water. Blend until smooth. Strain if necessary to remove any large pieces of pepper skin. Pour into a saucepan. Slice the lime and orange in half, and add them to the saucepan with the cinnamon stick and the bay leaves. Bring to a boil as the smoking stage is finishing.
  5. Remove the pork from the smoker or oven. Place directly in a pan. Pour boiling hot braising liquid around the pork. Cover it all with foil. Raise oven or smoker temperature to 325 F. Braise pork, covered, until it reaches 203 F internally, about 3 hours.
  6. Once pork is cooked, remove from heat. Let pork rest 30 minutes to 1 hour. Remove pork from braising liquid and shred it with two forks, placing meat into a large bowl. Working in batches, pour a bit of the braising liquid into the shredded pork and gently stir it to mix the liquid into the meat. It should absorb. Repeat until all the liquid is poured into the meat. Some may not mix fully in, and that’s okay. It will absorb as it cools.
  7. Serve as tacos on warmed tortillas. Provide topping choices so people can dress the tacos as they like.

This can also be served on rice, in a salad, or on nachos. It’s very versatile. And it freezes very well. So well that I usually double this already huge recipe. I divide it into 1 lb portions in vacuum seal packs and freeze it that way. From there, it’s easy to thaw and even reheat inside the bag itself.

  1. Kosher salt doesn’t taste special or anything—salt is salt is salt—it’s just easy to both see and feel how much you’re putting on something when it’s bit bigger and flakier. ↩︎

  2. Any earthy spices work here. I like to mix a bit of cumin, ajwain, and nigella when I’m feeling extra fancy, which is ALL THE TIME! ↩︎

  3. Annatto, called achiote in Mexican cuisine, is one of the most critical ingredients in this dish. Do not skip it. It can be hard to find, but it comes in a whole, powder, or prepared paste form. I call for powder, but the prepared paste is fine. The whole form is fine too, I just find the grains hard to grind. ↩︎

  4. Guajillo peppers are mild, dried mexican peppers that you should be able to find in any Mexican or Latin American grocery store. They add a delicious fruity earthiness and gorgeous red color to sauces, and frankly more people should try cooking with them. They are at their best lightly toasted and soaked before being pulverized. In a pinch you can use a paprika blend to substitute for them, but it’s not really the same taste. ↩︎

  5. Dear cilantro hater: stop being such a little bitch! You’re not special! We all think it tastes soapy. Most of us just like it! It’s cleansing. Maybe you just have an especially dirty mouth. ↩︎

  6. If you don’t have a molcajete, you can grind the spices however, mince your garlic in a press or by hand, and mix the rest in a small bowl. But I highly recommend getting a molcajete! It’s a traditional Mexican mortar that makes quick work of spices and allows you to make kick-ass flavor pastes. I use mine for sauces and marinades. Once you have the basic technique down, it works better than a food processor for small amounts of food, and it’s easier to clean. They also look cool! ↩︎