I love Mexican as much as anybody, but I needed a break for a while after being in Austin, where Tex-Mex dominates. So Monday night, a month of being taco-free, I had a craving. Inspired by the 5-inch stack of corn tortillas in my fridge, I decided it was taco night, and I would tackle a more sophisticated taco–Pork Tacos With Mango Salsa.
Taco night was a staple in my household growing up. My mom would buy ground beef, taco seasoning, tortillas (either hard corn or soft flour), shredded cheese, salsa, and then chop up some tomatoes, lettuce, and olives if we felt like adventurous.
The goods were then laid out on the table, and dinner became a project, “build your tacos.” Again, it was delicious and fun. Monday night, though, I wanted something different, more complicated, that required me to think outside of the taco box. Enter, pork tacos with mango salsa (and fresh guacamole for chip dipping).
Mouthwatering Pork Tacos with Mango Salsa
Ingredients
Pork Tacos Ingredients
1 pound ground pork (minced pork)- ½ medium grapefruit
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 dash salt
1 dash ground black pepper
Mango Salsa Ingredients
- 1 large mango - chopped
1 medium red pepper (red capsicum) - chopped
⅔ cup green onions (scallions or green shallots) - chopped
¼ cup cilantro (coriander) - chopped
2 tablespoons lime juice - fresh
Guacamole Ingredients
2 medium avocados - ripe- ¼ medium green onions (scallions or green shallots) - chopped
- ¼ cup cilantro - chopped
- 2 medium limes - squeezed
2 medium Serrano peppers - seeded and chopped- 1 dash salt
- 1 dash ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for warming the tortillas. That’s the first step; all the other prep could be done simultaneously if you have help. If not, make your mango salsa first, the guacamole, then cook up the pork.
- If you have a food processor, I’d recommend not wasting time chopping up everything too small and just sticking it all in the food processor to your desired salsa size. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, give them a good stir, and use salt and pepper to taste. This is pretty easy but takes a bit because of the prep work.
- Heat some oil in a skillet and get it good and hot. Pour the pork and its marinade into the skillet and brown it nicely. Hopefully, those citrusy and spicy flavours will sear into the pork as it cooks. Season it further to taste and keep hot.
- Put the chopped guacamole ingredients (onion, cilantro, pepper) into a bowl and stir it. Scoop out both avocados flesh into the bowl and mash it into the other ingredients, more if you like it chunkier, less if you like it creamier. You could even put it in a food processor. Then, add the lemon juice and mix it around. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Then, if you’re like me and are used to building your taco, arrange the guacamole, mango salsa, and pork on the table and load it on your warm tortillas as you please.
