Tacos Arabes
Tacos Arabes
This is not your typical Mexican taco. Tacos Arabes has its origins from Christian Arab refugees from Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq forced into displacement to what is now the Mexican city of Puebla. An estimated 113,000 Arabs had made there home in Mexico in the 1870s. They introduced the concept of shawarma, roasting meat to an open flame upright on a spit, to the Mexican culinary world. Instead of serving the meat in a tortilla, the meat is served on a pita-like flatbread. Originally, lamb was used. But since lamb isn’t very popular in Mexico and is more expensive, the recipe had evolved into pork.If you were to get tacos arabes in Puebla today, you would see a large stack of thinly sliced herb marinated pork shoulder roasting upright on a spit. The meat is shaved off, much like the same way the meat is for a gyro or even tacos al pastor. It will be served with a simple vinegar based chipotle salsa. Since the overwhelming majority of home chefs don’t have an upright spit, you can sauté the marinated pork in a pan for 15 minutes.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 lbs pork shoulder cut into thin strips
- 1 medium white onion sliced
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 lime juiced
- 4 tbsp oregano
- 2 tbsp thyme
- 4 tsp vinegar
- 3 tsp salt
- 6 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
Authentic Arabes Salsa
- 1/2 cup water
- 4 tbsp chipotle paste
- 4 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp Mexican oregano
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients together except the cooking oil.
- Marinate the pork in a gallon sized storage bag for at least 8 hours.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. Drain the pork of any marinade juices. Add the pork to the sauté pan.
- Cook the pork for 15 minutes. The pork is done when the onions have cooked down.
- To make the salsa, purée all of the ingredients together in a blender or food processor.
Pita Bread
Pita bread can trace it’s roots over 14000 years ago to the Stoned Age in the Middle East. Today, pita bread is a staple of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. The yeast leavened flatbread dough is rolled flat. The edges are then tucked up underneath itself into a ball. This allows air to be trapped, creating steam to puff up the flatbread and make a pocket once the dough is baked. There is also pita that is just rolled flat and use more as a wrap, such as is Greek cuisine.
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp sugar
- 1 cup warm water
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients together.
- On a floured surface, knead the dough fo 7-8 minutes.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Keep in a warm place.
- Let dough rise for 2 hours. It will double in volume.
- Roll dough out on a floured surface.
- Cut the dough into 4 pieces.
- Flatten the dough into a circle.
- Tuck the edges up under into itself to form a ball. This helps trap air inside, making the pita light and airy.
- Roll out the dough ball into 1/4” thick discs.
- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
- Cook the pita for 4 minutes a side.
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