Pulled Pork Tacos

My poor Fissler has been neglected lately. It’s probably my favourite kitchen appliance just for the fact that it halves your cooking time, but Bowie – as I have named him – from the song Under Pressure has been sitting in the cupboard for most of summer.

I guess I just didn’t think of summer as the time to use the pressure cooker, but really, there’s just as much you can do in summer with one that you could do all year round – for instance jams and preserves. (I’m currently in the testing phase for jam, and will report back soon).

Pulled pork is a great summer recipe and this is a never-fail, use-what’s-on-hand, chuck-it-all-in-a-pot recipe. It’s a great summer recipe – all ready for weekend, outdoor dining. Best part is that you can cook it all up in advance and serve it when your guests arrive.

There’s really only three secrets to kickass tacos to make them taste better than anything you’ve eaten at a restaurant.

One – use real corn tortillas, and I don’t mean the ones you find in a supermarket

Two – pressure cooking is going to retain a lot of flavour in the meat you use as a filling (it’s really better than slow cooking)

Three – use good quality, fresh ingredients – this means tomatoes on the vine for fuller flavour and fresh lime juice (not the bottled stuff)

Pulled Pork Tacos

for the pork
1 kg pork neck (it’s the closest to what American’s call pork butt, or Boston butt)
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp ancho chilli powder (or substitute paprika)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp mixed herbs (or whatever you have in your pantry)
1 tsp salt
300ml white wine
300 ml stock, or water and a stock cube
400g can of tomato passata, or tinned tomatoes
1 tbsp liquid smoke (optional, but oh so good if you can can your hands on it!)
Juice of 1 lime, or lemon
freshly ground pepper, to taste

for the sides –
salsa
3 truss tomatoes, cut into small dice
½ capsicum, cut into small dice
1 small red onion, cut into small dice
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lime juice

guacamole
1 avocado, deseeded and mashed with a fork.
½ tomato, cut into fine dice
1 small pip garlic, finely diced
juice of ½ a lime
dash of Tabasco sauce
salt to taste

corn, sour cream, grated cheese to serve (optional)

1. Cut the pork neck into four pieces and place in the pressure cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients, and stir to combine. Seal your pressure cooker and cook for 40 minutes.
   
2. While waiting, make the salsa by combining all the ingredients in a bowl.
3. Make the guacamole by combining all ingredients in a bowl.
4. Allow the pressure cooker to cool – there will still be a lot of liquid in the pot. Remove the pork pieces and return the liquid to boil, until reduced to a thick glaze. If you’re getting impatient, you can thicken the sauce with 1 tbsp of cornflour in 2 tbsp water.
5. Shred the pork and add to the glaze and stir. Keep warm until serving.