Korean-Style Tacos

So last week my husband had to have an intervention with me.  He sat me down and said something to the tune of, “honey, I know you love your blog but you are spending 2 grand a month on groceries.”  Wham!  I have to admit that I really don’t pay any attention to what I spend on food because it is my full blown passion.  Every now and again I realize what’s happening and tighten up the budget -- but then a few months pass and I get lazy -- I stop trying to turn my leftovers into something else....I start going to the crazy expensive grocery store that is closest to our house....I don’t plan out meals  at all....  So that’s where I started last week -- staring at a large pork butt and thinking, “we are going to eat this all week and I’m going to make something different with it every day!!!!”  Not all of it is blog-worthy, but these tacos sure are!  

I’ll tell you the best part of these tacos: the pickled cucumbers!  You might be thinking, “aren’t pickled cucumbers just pickles?!”  NO!  These are pickled for just a few hours in rice wine vinegar, giving them a classic asian flavor that I love!  Give these spicy tacos a try -- it’s like street food in your own house!

Korean-Style Tacos (makes 4 servings)

from Key Ingredient

1 pound cooked pulled pork, cooked shredded chicken

12 corn or flour tortillas

¼ cup Quick Cucumber Pickle (below) or prepared kimchi (Korean pickled, spicy cabbage)

For the Kogi BBQ Sauce

2 tablespoons Korean fermented hot pepper paste (gochujang)

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

2 teaspoons sesame oil

Whisk all ingredients together until sugar has dissolved and mixture is smooth. You can make this a few days in advance and store tightly covered in the refrigerator.

For the Quick Cucumber Pickle

1 large English cucumber (or 2 Japanese cucumbers), sliced very thinly
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely minced fresh chili pepper (or more depending on your tastes)
generous pinch of salt

Mix together all ingredients. You can make this a few hours in advance and store in refrigerator.