Honest Cooking’s 5-spice tacos review + my 5-spice pork ramen recipe
Honest Cooking hits it out of the park with these 5-spice pork tacos.
We recently started using our slow cooker again, and this recipe for pork taco meat has become one of our go-tos. It hearkens flavors from Tacopocalypse, one of our favorite Des Moines restaurants (I miss that place!). This recipe is (Americanized)-Chinese + Mexican fusion. It’s easy, quick to prep, and makes a ton. All sure signs of a winning recipe in my book.
> Click here for Honest Cooking’s 5-Spice Pulled Pork Taco Recipe <
Stay tuned below for what to do with the leftovers: 5-spice pork ramen!
Image from Honest Cooking | 5-Spice Pork Taco recipe
Recipe Notes
- Definitely do not use a pork butt. We did that last time because we couldn’t find pork shoulder. OMG so much fat! Mark claims traditional carnitas (Mexican slow-cooked pork) are made from pork butt, but I didn’t fact check that.
- Toss in all the veggies. Don’t be shy. The first time we made this I only half-read the recipe and tossed in the veggies (and the rest of the ingredients, too), because that’s what I’m used to doing with things like bulgolgi. We keep my mistake and toss everything in the pot every time because we liked it so much the first time.
- Make this for a crowd OR for make-ahead meals. We haven’t made this for a crowd — yet — but have made this to use for tacos and ramen. It makes enough for at least 8 meals for the two of us.
- Use the leftover to make ramen. See my recipe below!
5-spice Pork Ramen
- 1/4 batch of meat from 5-spice pork tacos
- 4 c broth (we use homemade veggie or chicken broth, but any type will work)
- 1 T oil (we used coconut because it's what we had)
- 8 oz mushrooms (sliced)
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 large shallot (diced (or small onion if you're not allergic like me))
- 1/2 red pepper (julienned)
- 1/2 yellow pepper (julienned)
- 1 carrot (matchsticked)
- 1/2 c red cabbage (sliced)
- 2 big handfuls of spinach
- 1 T korean chile garlic sauce
- 1/4 c soy sauce or liquid aminos
- 1 T lime juice
- 7 drops fish sauce (no joke — a little goes a long way)
- 1/2 cup frozen corn
- Ramen noodles (we love the cheap-o Maruchan ones)
- Scallions
- lots of kimchi
- Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat.
- Add shallots. Cook until glossy.
- Add peppers, carrots, and cabbage. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes until veggies are a bit tender.
- Add garlic and sauté for another minute or two.
- Add pork. Mix well.
- Pour broth into mixture.
- Add frozen corn. Stir to break up kernels.
- Add chile sauce, fish sauce, soy sauce, and lime juice.
- Bring to boil then reduce to simmer for at least 15 minutes. The longer you cook, the more the flavors can mingle.
- About 10 minutes before serving, add mushrooms and spinach. Cook until mushrooms are to your desired doneness.
- Meanwhile, set a pot of water to boil and cook ramen noodles according to package.
- To serve, add desired amount of noodles to a bowl. Fill bowl with soup. Top with scallions and kimchi.
You can add more or change up the veggies — whatever you’d like. You can’t really go wrong with what you put in ramen.
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Mark Cecconi
For the record, I’m pretty sure I said a lot of slow cooked pork is done with pork butt, I’m not sure I made claims regarding traditional carnitas… I also liked the pork butt, especially for the tacos.
Calee
Mark CecconiYou like big butts and you cannot lie.