Mini Pork Belly Tacos With Grilled Pineapple, House Made Guacamole, And Fries

Something I learned writing menus for restaurants is you need to be able to utilize ingredients throughout the menu to save on cost. If you have capers in one dish, you need to be able to utilize capers in other dishes. If you have black beans, you need to have multiple dishes with black beans. That being said, you’ll find that the marinade for this pork belly is the same recipe that I made for my Gochujang biscuit bao but, this taco is sporting a different kind of tuxedo. When I initially made the Gochujang belly, I had quite a bit of uncooked pork left over. I decided to freeze it in it’s marinade for use at a later time. A couple of weeks later, I was looking through the deep freeze and saw the pork belly. I had some avocados, pineapple and jalapenos. It was time to make some tacos. It was a good decision. The tacos are simple, yet complex in a subtle way. Definitely one of my favorites when it comes to light and refreshing tacos.

Belly Marinade:

1 1/2 lb pork belly, cut into 1″ wide strips

1 tsp garlic, minced

1 tbs gochujang

2 tsp honey

1 tbs hoisin

1 tbs low sodium soy sauce

1/2 tsp onion powder

2 tbs water

1/4 tsp sesame oil

1 tbs teriyaki marinade

1/2 tsp ginger powder

1/2 tsp cayenne

The Guac:

2 ripe avocados, skin and seeds removed

2 tsp lime juice

Salt to taste

The Rest:

1 1/2 c pineapple chunks, drained

1/4 c brown sugar

2 c fries

24 corn tortillas, 2 for each taco

2 lg fresh jalapenos, sliced

1 1/2 c fresh cilantro

Sriracha

First, you want to marinade your pork belly by combining all of the ingredients in a zip seal bag. Make sure to coat the pork well. Marinade in the refrigerator for a minimum of 24 hours.

Once pork is done marinating, place your oven rack in the center of your oven and preheat your broiler. Spray a sheet pan heavily with nonstick cooking spray. Arrange the pork belly on the sheet pan, making sure the strips are not touching. Pour any remaining marinade over the pork and broil on all sides until slightly crispy and cooked through. While your pork is cooking, get the simple guacamole ready by smashing up the avocados with the lime juice and salt. Cover tightly with plastic wrap by pressing the wrap against the guac to prevent any air from turning the avocados brown. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Next, toss the pineapple around in the brown sugar and saute in a nonstick pan until the pineapple has browned and softened up a bit. Set aside.

Cook up your fries according to package directions. Set aside.

Get your tortillas ready by cutting the centers out with a 4″ cookie cutter. If you are deep frying your fries, you can also soften up the tortillas by giving them a quick dip in the deep fry oil and allowing them to drain on paper towels. If not, you can soften them up in a pan with a little oil or nonstick cooking spray.

To assemble, simply slice up your pork belly into thin pieces. Add about 1 1/2 – 2 tbs to each taco. Add roughly 1 tbs of guac, followed by a tsp of pineapple, fresh jalapeno slices, Sriracha, a couple of fries and cilantro. To add a little more something to these tacos, you can top them off with a quail egg.