This adobo sauce is really a mix of chipotle and molé flavors. Starting with a little can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce gives this sauce enough power to a good quart or more of sauce. If you'd like to make it less spicy, maybe only use one or two of the whole peppers in the can. The sauce was so hot when I first tried it that I had to add a whole extra can of tomato purée. I hadn't planned to make a quart of sauce, but now I have extra sauce in my freezer for future taco adventures!
Adding queso fresco and cilantro adds a cooling freshness to the taco. A little squeeze of lime as a finishing touch and you're ready to feast!
Ingredients:
Sauce:
1 small can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
2 large cans of puréed tomato
8-10 cloves of garlic, minced/crushed
1-inch piece of fresh ginger, minced
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp smoked paprika
3 tbsp dark cocoa powder (I used a black onyx cocoa powder from savoryspiceshop.com)
1/4 cup brewed coffee (a strong, dark roast would be best)
Meat:
1lb or more of pork. (I used thinly sliced pork shoulder, but was not happy with how it resisted being pulled apart after cooking. The shoulder had been cut against the grain, so pulling it apart was actually impossible. I'd suggest looking for a piece of meat cut with the grain, with a bit of fat to keep the meat tender.)
Other:
Flour tortillas
Fresh cilantro
Queso fresco
Lime
1. In a large pot, mix all sauce ingredients together. Slowly bring to a simmer, stirring often.
2. Add pork and bring back up to a simmer. Let cook at least 45 minutes (or more if using thick pieces of meat). When meat begins to fall apart, remove from sauce. Let meat cool slightly (so you don't burn yourself) and pull apart the meat. If the meat won't pull apart, chop it into small pieces.
3. Strain sauce to remove whole peppers. If you really want to turn up the heat, you can purée the peppers with the sauce in a blender.
4. Combine meat and sauce and simmer for another 10 minutes.
5. Add meat to tortilla shell and top with crumbled queso fresco, roughly chopped cilantro, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
6. Store any left over meat or sauce in a sealed plastic bag in your freezer. This sauce will stain an plastic storage containers, so think twice before storing it in anything you want to reuse.
