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.
