Korean Tacos
Out of all the recipes I’ve shared with family and friends over the years, this is with out a doubt the one people keep coming back to for more. This dish is simply delicious and might be unlike anything you’ve ever made before. You may have to buy a couple pantry items, but then you’ll have them on hand for the next time you want to make these delicious tacos. I’ve been able to find all these ingredients at Walmart or my local grocery store. If you have an Asian market nearby, they’d for sure have everything. When making these for dinner, I’ll get the meat marinating in the morning so its super flavorful and tender or sometimes even the night before, so dinner will come together in a snap the following day. This recipe serves 3-4 people. It is sometimes difficult to find small pork tenderloins, they seem to be massive these days. Not a problem. Just cut it in half or thirds, double wrap the remaining pieces and freeze them for a later date. Make sure you adjust your marinade if you use a bigger tenderloin.
Meat Mixture:
1.5 LB Pork Tenderloin
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1 TBsp Sesame Seed Oil (buy the smallest bottle they have, unless you use this type of oil a lot)
1 TBsp Chili Garlic Sauce
1/3 cup Gochujang Sauce
2 TBsp Mirin
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper
Slaw:
2 cups Thinly Sliced Cabbage ( I use the pre-packaged tri-color bag that has a bit of carrot in it)
2 Green Onions-diced
1/2 of a Small Red Onion- thinly sliced
Juice from half of a lemon
1 Apple- peeled & thinly sliced-bite size pieces
1/4 cup light sour cream or plain yogurt
2 Tbsp Light Mayo
Big pinch of salt
Lettuce Cups (3-4 large leaves per person)
Okay, so I must mention the heat factor in this recipe. The Chili Garlic Sauce is super spicy. If you love heat, feel free to add more but be careful with it. I like a little spice and the 1 TBsp adds plenty of punch. Also keep in mind that the Gochujang is a sweet & spicy barbecue sauce, so you’ll get some heat there as well. I’ve tried 3 or 4 different Gochujang sauces and they all had varying levels of heat, so give yours a taste before you use it.
Either the night before or the morning of, clean your tenderloin, removing any excess fat or silver skin. I like to cut it in half lengthwise then cut it into very thin, bite size pieces. A trick for cutting very thinly is to partially freeze the meat before you cut it, this makes slicing much easier.
In a medium size bowl mix the pork, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili garlic sauce, Gochujang, mirin, salt and pepper. Cover and marinate in the fridge overnight or all day.
A couple hours before you plan on eating prepare the slaw by thinly slicing the cabbage (if not using pre-packaged), green onions, red onion, and peel and thinly slice the apple. In a small bowl, mix these items with the sour cream or yogurt, mayo, lemon juice and salt. Cover and refrigerate. I like to make the slaw ahead of time so it can get really cold in the fridge.
Prepare your lettuce leaves by washing and trimming them as needed. I like using butter lettuce because the leaves are the perfect size and they’re flexible to cup in your hand and eat the taco. You can also use Romaine or any other large lettuce leaf you choose. I usually prepare 3-4 large leaves per person. Pat them dry and put back in the fridge to keep cold until meal time.
When you’re ready to eat, drain off any excess liquid from the meat then cook it in a skillet with a little bit of oil over med-high heat. This will only take a few minutes because the meat is so thinly sliced. You barely want to cook it through, so it won’t be tough.
Scoop cooked meat onto the center of your lettuce leaf and top with the slaw. I like to have three or four lettuce leaves fanned out on each persons plate so they can prepare them all at once. Make sure you have plenty of napkins on hand, they’re super delicious and messy. Enjoy!