THE CHEF AND
THE BUTCHER
CI love pork neck. It’s like a Swiss roll!
AWell...
CAnd it’s perfect to marinate and use
for tacos.
AHere we go, then.
CYes, buckle up! We’ll cut the pork neck
from top to bottom lengthways into
about 3cm pieces. Then we’ll marinate
the pork pieces in soy sauce, honey,
apple cider vinegar and oil.
AWhy don’t you just season the pork
withsalt and pepper?
CBecause I want a marinade on it!
AOkay, but soy, honey and apple cider
vinegar? Really?
CYes. Come on, tell me what’s wrong.
I know you’re going to anyway.
AIs that Mexican?
CNo! Because I’m Irish.
AIt doesn’t sound particularly Irish, either.
CJust because these are tacos, they don’t
have to be marinated in traditional
Mexican flavours! It’s Fass-exican.
AWell that sounds wrong. This is the
Pauline Hanson of tacos. Completely
misunderstanding multiculturalism.
CDon’t bring in politics for goodness
sake. I’m going to flash-fry the meat. Hot,
hot, hot! It’ll only take about five minutes.
Thenwe’ll pour over our remaining
marinade and roast it until it’s just cooked
through. Delicious.
AI really like the idea of pork neck tacos.
But I don’t know about the soy.
CDon’t worry, the soy is sweetened by
the honey, then there’s a bit of acidity
from the vinegar. Sweet, sour, savoury.
Bit of umami in there.
AThe rest of it is really nice.
CLook, let me finish, I think you will
come around to the idea.(^1) / 3 cup(80ml)sunfloweroil
2 tomatoes, halved, thinly sliced
(^1) / 2 red onion, thinly sliced
Finelygrated zest and juice of 1 lemon
12 small white tortillas, warmed
1 avocado, cut into wedges
Coriander sprigs, to serve
CORIANDER& HONEY PICKLED CABBAGE
300g red cabbage, shredded
1 tsp coriander seeds, toasted, crushed
(^1) / 3 cup(80ml)applecider vinegar
1 tbs runny honey
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a
bakingtrayandlinewithbakingpaper.
Place pork, soy, honey, vinegar and
2tbsoilinabowlandtosstocombine.
Standfor5minutestomarinate.
Meanwhile, for the pickled cabbage,
place cabbage in a heatproof bowl.
Combine coriander seeds, vinegar
andhoneyinasaucepanoverhigh
heatandbringtotheboil.Pourover
cabbage, stir to combine, then stand
for15minutestopickleslightly.
Meanwhile,toss tomato, onion
and lemon zest and juice in a bowl.
Tocook the pork, heat remaining
2tbsoilinalargefrypanovermedium-
highheat.In2batches,addporkand
cook,turninghalfway,for5minutesor
untilgoldenbrown.Transfertoprepared
trayandrepeatwithremainingpork.Pour
any remaining marinade over pork and
roastfor8-10minutesoruntiljustcooked
through. Stand for 10 minutes to rest.
Slicepork and serve on tortillas with
pickledcabbage,tomatoandavocado.
Scatterwithcorianderanddrizzle with
pork cooking juices to serve.
AAlright, so the pork is done. What else
is going in these un-PC tacos?
CWe’re going to make a pickled cabbage
slaw. Shred some cabbage first, then mix
coriander seeds, apple cider vinegar and
honey together in a saucepan and bring
tothe boil.
AThere’s that apple cider vinegar again.
CYes! And we’ll pour the hot mixture over
the cabbage, then leave it for 15 minutes
so it can pickle a bit.
AThat might work.
CIt will! Tomatoes are in season, too,
so we’ll also make a quick salsa of thinly
sliced tomatoes, onion and lemon zest
and juice.
ASounds easy enough. And you’re
verging on Mexican there, at least.
CThen we just slice the cooked pork
and serve in soft tortillas with the pickled
cabbage, salsa and wedges of avocado.
AHold on, no guacamole?
CI don’t like guacamole, I would rather
the avocado is chunky or just sliced.
ANo guacamole is heresy isn’t it? Why
aren’t we having proper guacamole?
CBecause this is Fass-exican and I do
thingsmy way!
ASoy and vinegar, pickled cabbage and
no guacamole. These are a massacre of
greattacos – it’s a Fass-acre!
CBet you think that’s clever, hey?
A Actually, yes.
STICKYPORK NECK SOFT TACOS
WITH PICKLED CABBAGE
MAKES 12
800g pork neck,cutintofour3cmpieces
2 tbseachlightsoysauce,runny honey
and apple cider vinegar
Callthatataco!Colin Fassnidgechallenges
Anthony Puharich’sdefinitionoftheMexican
standard with his very own ‘Irish’ version –
Fass-exican (remember, you heard it here first).
INTERVIEW
SAMANTHA JONES
PHOTOGRAPHY
JEREMY SIMONS
STYLING
KIRSTEN JENKINS
MERCHANDISING
EMMALY STEWART
42 delicious.com.au