Char Siu Tacos with Charred Pineapple Salsa
Cantonese char siu meets Mexican tacos: sticky five-spice pork seared in a hot pan, tucked into warm corn tortillas with charred pineapple salsa and sriracha mayo.
Method
Cut the pork into thin slices 5 mm thick and about 5 cm long; 20 minutes in the freezer first makes slicing easier. Mix with the hoisin, light soy, honey, five-spice and garlic and marinate in the fridge for .
Add in this stepPork shoulder (or boneless pork collar) 240 gHoisin sauce 2 tbspLight soy sauce 1 tbspHoney 1 tbspFive-spice powder ¼ tspGarlic cloves, grated 1
Cut the pineapple into 1 cm cubes and sear them in a dry 20 cm frying pan on high heat for , without stirring too often, until brown spots appear. Let cool, then mix with the finely diced red onion, the deseeded and finely chopped jalapeño, most of the chopped coriander, the juice of half the lime and the salt.
Add in this stepFresh pineapple 150 gRed onion ¼Jalapeño ½Fresh coriander (cilantro) 7 gLime ½Salt 1 pinch
high heatStir the sriracha into the mayonnaise. Shred the cabbage as finely as you can.
Add in this stepMayonnaise 2 tbspSriracha (chilli-garlic sauce) 1 tspWhite cabbage, finely shredded 60 g
Wipe out the pan, add the oil and heat on medium-high heat until shimmering. Spread the pork in a single layer and cook in 1 batch(es), per batch: leave it untouched for 2 minutes so it caramelises, then turn and cook until the edges are dark and sticky and no pink remains. Watch closely, as the honey and hoisin can burn.
Add in this stepVegetable oil 1 tbsp
medium-high heatWarm the tortillas one at a time in the dry pan on medium heat for about 30 seconds per side, in total, until soft and lightly spotted. Stack them in a clean tea towel to keep them warm and pliable.
Add in this stepSmall corn tortillas (about 15 cm) 4
medium heatFill each tortilla with cabbage, char siu and pineapple salsa, drizzle with sriracha mayo and finish with the rest of the coriander. Cut the remaining lime into wedges and serve alongside for squeezing.
Add in this stepFresh coriander (cilantro) 3 gLime ½
Cook's tip
Slice the pork thin and keep the pan hot: crowding it makes the meat stew instead of caramelise. Use two tortillas per taco if yours are thin, so they don't tear. Leftover oven-roasted char siu, sliced and reheated in the pan, turns these into a 15-minute meal.
Cooking it at camp
A great campfire meal: marinate the pork at home in a sealed bag and keep it in the cooler below 5 °C. Sear it on a hot cast-iron griddle over the burner or coals, char the pineapple on the grill, and warm the tortillas directly on the grate for a few seconds per side.