Kansas City Style Pulled Pork Tacos
A classic Kansas City BBQ staple with a little Texas twist.
What you'll need:
- One container Cocina Fresca Medium (Serrano) Refrigerated Salsa
- One pork shoulder about 5lbs
- 2 cups orange juice, no pulp works best
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons salt
- 3 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 2 cups thinly sliced green or red cabbage
- 1 small red onion thinly sliced
- 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese grated
- 2 limes quartered for juice
- 8-12 small flour tortillas
How to make it:
In a large zip top bag marinate the pork shoulder in mixture of orange juice, salt, black pepper, brown sugar, and garlic powder. Be sure to massage the marinate into the meat and tightly close the bag removing all excess air.
Let pork shoulder marinate refrigerated for at least 8 hours, but up to 24 hours.
In the smoker of your choice, get the temperature up to 225 degrees and put pork shoulder over indirect heat.
Cook pork shoulder until it reaches the stall point of 165 degrees. Pull pork shoulder off smoker and wrap tightly in two layers of butchers paper or aluminum foil. Then return to the smoker. Note: This step is completely optional and you can continue cooking without wrapping but cook time will take longer.
Cook pork shoulder until it reaches a temperature of 203 degrees and is very tender to the touch. Depending on the size of your pork shoulder this may take 8 to 16 hours. Assume about 2 hours cook time per pound of pork.
Wrap pork shoulder in several large towels and place in a cooler to rest for at least 1 hour but up to 6 hours.
Right before pulling the pork shoulder out of the cooler, prepare mixture of cabbage, red onion, and Monterey jack cheese.
Pull pork shoulder from the cooler and place on large cutting board. Shred the pork shoulder into small pieces using your hands, if cool enough, otherwise use two large forks. If any large fat pieces did not render down, you can discard or chop finely and mix into the meat.
To assemble the taco start with a warm flour tortilla, add a large spoonful or two of the pulled pork. Place the cabbage, onion, and cheese mixture on top of the meat. Add several spoonfuls of Cocina Fresca Medium (Serrano) Refrigerated Salsa, then squeeze fresh lime on top.
