General Tso's Pulled Pork Tacos

Okay, this is going to be my last post about Mr. Schwartz and I being sick.  That being said, since we were both sick this week and we both consumed way too much soup, I had to make something a. easy and b. with enough flavor that we could taste it without our sense of smell.  

I googled the heck out of things and as you know, when you are sick, nothing sounds good.  Except these, General Tso's Pulled Pork Tacos. Obviously modified the heck out of it... I think when we make these again, I will add a little more red pepper flakes...but honestly it is hard to tell if they were missing it since we couldn't taste much.  

Overall these are a good change up from the typical stir fry with rice sorta deal.  I found these awesome whole wheat tortillas that were kind of sweet and they were perfection.  Also, you should know that I cut the recipe in half from the one I found online.  It was more than enough sauce so I would recommend that if you are making two pork tenderloins you still use the amount of sauce in my version.  It will be perfect. 

Happy weekend everyone! Mr. Schwartz and I will be sanding the heck out of our dining set I found on Craigslist.  It should be interesting.  

Musical Selection: Animal by: Mike Snow. A little DYI project inspirational music.

 Start by getting your sauce together.  Chicken broth...

 Hoisin sauce.  I'm told this is basically Chinese BBQ sauce.  It's great, I really put it in everything.  It is readily available at your local grocery store (or should be).

 Vinegar.  I used white but rice would work as well.

 Soy sauce..I always try to use low sodium.

 A little corn starch...

 On medium onion...

 Fresh ginger. Oh I love the smell of fresh ginger...on the hunt for a fresh ginger candle. For reals, if you find one, let me know.

 Red pepper flakes...to your taste.

 A little brown sugar, pictured super blurry here.

 Give it a little whisk and set aside for a minute.

 Pork tenderloin.  This is much healthier than pork butt or shoulder.

 Make sure to spray the crock pot before you put everything into it.  I don't know why I didn't think of doing this until late (ha) in my cooking career but it does save a lot of scrubbing.

 Since this is a smaller piece of meat, there isn't really a reason to cook it all that long but I put it in around noon on low and we ate it around 7:00pm.  It could have been in there for a while yet, it wouldn't hurt anything.  If you make two tenderloins obviously it is going to take a bit longer.

 Right before we ate the tacos I made a quick broccoli slaw to top them.  I like adding a little freshness when I make things in the crock pot.  This is a little cilantro, chop it up.

 Like I said, broccoli.slaw.

I used my grandma's recipe for cole slaw: just shy of twice as much oil to vinegar.  I used red wine but she always used white.  A little sugar, salt and pepper and its the best vinegar based slaw around.  

 Poured that over the broccoli slaw and cilantro.

 Pork.

 Shredded pork...so easy, I just used my tongs to break it up a bit.  I really liked using a tenderloin too--no fatty parts to pick out.

 Assembled....we really liked the combination of the sweet, spicy, cold, hot, vinegary and fresh.

Fantastic and easy.

General Tso's Pulled Pork Tacos

1 cup chicken broth (I used low sodium)

1/4 cup or so, Hosin Sauce 

3 tablespoons white vinegar

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

1 (or two) pork tenderloins

Tortillas, I used whole wheat

Broccoli Slaw

1 bag broccoli slaw

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped 

just shy of a 1/2 of a cup of canola or vegetable oil

1/4 cup red wine (or white) vinegar

4 tablespoons white sugar

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

large pinch of salt 

Mix all ingredients together to make a sauce.  Spray crock pot with cooking spray, place tenderloin in crock pot and cover with sauce.  Cook on low for at least 6 hours, but this can be cooked for much longer, it will be okay. 

When you are ready to serve combine the oil, vinegar, sugar, pepper and salt.  Pour over slaw and cilantro.  

Pull pork in the crock pot, stir in with the sauce.  Assemble tacos by putting pork in first, topping with the slaw.

Enjoy!!! 

Recipe adapted from here