I cannot wait for Coco to finally be in theaters next week. I’ve been listening to the soundtrack all week in anticipation and its brought back so many memories. The more I watch the trailer and listen to the music, the more I think about mi abuelita Victoria who passed away two years ago.
I wasn’t a big fan of rancheras or norteñas growing up but mi grandma loved them, it was all she would play in her old silver grabadora back when cassettes were still a thing. It even rubbed off on mi papá who also always had Pedro Infante, Los Cadetes de Linares, and Los Alegres de Terán on rotation.
This morning I was listening to Las Jilguerillas, one of mi abuelita’s favorite groups, and it reminded me of the times when I’d be visiting her and I’d wake up in a daze to “El Bato Gacho” or “El Novillo Despuntado” blasting in the living room at 6 in the morning as she’d start to sweep around the house and prep breakfast for my grandpa who’d be arriving shortly from the potrero with a jug filled with fresh warm milk from his ganado.
Her taste in music is something I will always remember her by.
Chilorio comes to us from the northern state of Sinaloa and it is essentially really juicy shredded pork in a citrus ancho sauce. The recipe I used for these tacos comes from Pati Jinich’s cookbook: Pati’s Mexican Table: The Secrets of Real Mexican Home Cooking, which is a really good book to have in your arsenal. She has you covered with everything from basics like salsas and tortillas to dishes like pozole, pambazos and tinga.
My mom would occasionally make chilorio for us, often serving it over a bed of white rice and I really enjoyed how versatile the meat is because we ended up having it on top of nachos, as tacos and over rice. It is a good dish to make ahead and have throughout the week and with Thanksgiving next week you’re definitely going to need something delicious to save you from having leftovers for the rest of the weekend.
I’ve got a few more fun things to share with you before Thanksgiving, so until then..nos vemos pronto!
Chilorio
Ingredients
- 3 lbs of pork shoulder cut into 2-3 inch chunks
- 1 1/4 cups fresh orange juice
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 ancho chiles rinsed, stemmed, seeded
- 1/2 cup chopped white onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1/3 cup chopped Italian parsley
- 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- For the Tacos:
- Tortillas
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
- Start by placing your pork in a large dutch oven. Add the orange juice, water, and 1tsp of salt.
- Place your dutch oven in the oven and cook for about 2 1/2 hours.Then set aside to cool.
- Place your chiles in a bowl and cover them with hot water. Let them soak for about 15 minutes until they've softened.
- Place the chiles, 1 1/2 cups of their soaking liquid, onion, garlic, parsley, oregano, cumin, 1/4 tsp salt, pepper and vinegar in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Once the pork has cooled, shred it using two forks and set it aside along with any of its juices.
- In the large dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Pour in the chile puree and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 8-10 minutes. Stirring often until it thickens and darkens.
- Add in the shredded meat and 1 cup of its juices and cook for about 20-25 minutes until the meat has absorbed all of the juice. Make sure to taste for salt.
- Serve on a warm tortilla with your favorite fixings.
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