January 17

Javelina Recipe: “Pulled Pork” Javelina Taco

Posted by John Stallone on 01/17/2020 in wild game recipe | 1 Comment

How to cook Javelina — Javelina Taco / Tostada meat cooking

Javelina Recipe: So I get asked time and time again the same two questions do you really eat Javelina? How do I cook javelina? The answer is yes I do! I used to only be a backstraps guy and had a killer marinade and grilled taco recipe that i used for years and I would simply give my shoulders and hinds quarters to some Hispanic friends of mine who would in turn bring me back some tamales or chili of some sort. But then I met Hank Shaw and he introduced me to his recipes . I have always been good at putting together favors but I lacked in technique so instead of using his recipes exactly I used them as model to create my own twist on it.

Marinade Ingredients for Javelina taco / tostada

1/2 cup simply tropical
1 tablespoon coarse salt
¼ of small red onion
1 tablespoon liquid smoke

Main Ingredients

1 stick room temperature salted butter
2 pounds shoulder meat from pork, wild pig or javelina
1 bunch fresh epazote, chopped
3 avocado or bay leaves
Minced habaneros or rocoto (chile manzano)
Chopped cilantro rough chopped
Sour cream
2 limes cut into 1/8ths
2 avocados
corn tostadas
8″ flour tortillas
shredded cheese ( I used mild cheddar but would have preferred white Mexican queso)

Suace mix

1/2 cup annatto (achiote) seeds
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup dried Mexican oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon black peppercorns whole
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1/2 cup Simply tropical
2 chipotle peppers in adobo

Directions for Javelina taco / Tostada

Meat: I removed the muscles off the hind quarter and one shoulder for this recipe I removed as much fascia and connective tissue I could, and placed them in a large glass bowl . I put the 1/2 cup of simply tropical, liquid smoke, and salt mixed it in a cup and poured over the Javelina meat. I then sliced thin a 1/4 small red onion and placed the rings in the bowl. I then messaged the mixture into the javelina meat and put in the fridge to marinate for about 3 hours before we cook the javelina taco

The Sauce: I took a 1/2 cup of the annatto seeds, 1/4 cup oregano, and the pepper corns and ran them 2 twice through my spice grinder, then I added in the ground cumin and the salt to the dry mix. Combine the dry mix in my Ninja give it a whirl for about 30 secs then added in the white vinegar, 2 chipotle peppers in adobo and the 1/2 cup of juice and blended until it creates a thick BBQ type sauce.

Cooking the Meat: for the javelina tacos / tostada I place a half a stick of butter into a crock pot place the (strain the marinade) meat on top, add the sauce mix on top of the meat place the other half stick of butter on top so it will melt through the meat. Than i placed the chopped epozote and three avocado leaves to top it all off. I set the crock pot to its lowest setting and set the timer to cook for 8 hours. once its cooked shred meat in the pot with two forks

Serving: I served the meat two ways that were very well received from everyone who tried it both very similar “construction”. Javelina tostada : I toast them in my toaster oven for a couple minutes just until hot and you can see the oils starting to resurface out of them. I then smear sour cream on as a base, put a healthy portion of the meat, squirt some lime on the meat, add some shredded cheese and sprinkle some fresh cilantro then stuff in your face 😉 Javelina Taco: I toast the flour tortillas on an open flame ( stove top burner) until some charing occurs and the tortilla shows some signs of bubbling and like the Tostada I construct it the same way only i finish it with some avocado slices