Pork and Green Chile Tacos

So while one doesn’t eat the husk of a tomatillo one can cook tomatillos in stew with the husk on. Mexican cooking authority Diana kennedy does a similar pork stew in this way. She says they impart a certain quality to the end result. Just avoid the husks as one would a bay leaf.

Made it exactly as written except for allowing it to cook for about an hour, partially covered for half the time, to really soften the pork—a personal preference. Absolutely delicious!!

This is a great recipe. Made it last night for the family and everyone loved it. Made it EXACTLY as written (including leaving the husks on the tomatillos). Needed about 50 minutes of simmering and some additional salt for the sauce to thicken and the flavors to bloom. Served with generous amounts of ALL of the garnishes. Ignore the whiners and know-it-alls in the comments. There's a reason David Tanis writes for NYT Cooking and they don't.

Step 1: a) brown (whole) pork roast in heavy skillet, then b) pressure-cook for 10 min/lb., and c) pull apart meat (reserve broth). While meat cooks, Step 2: a) sauté chopped veggies (discard tomatillo husks!) in skillet over low heat. Then b) add meat and spices to skillet w some pork broth (1-2 cups), and c) gently simmer everything for about 30 minutes, until meat is tender and liquid cooked down/away. Use "Mexican oregano" for best flavor.

Taking into account much of the criticism, the base of this recipe is solid. You may have to play around with it, but it is one of my family's favorite meals. Definitely worth trying and then tweaking!

Delicious. I made 1/4 to use garden tomatillos. Used poblanos. Made to stuff roasted poblanos and make naked chile rellenos. Added another butt pork and potatoes to the leflover broth and remainder to get another meal of it. I used a crockpot after sauteeing the meat, garlic and onion.

To suit my preference, I substituted beer for 12oz water, added 1/2Tbsp more cumin, added masa to thicken, and stewed for at least an hour longer.

Definitely an incomplete recipe. I added a bit of cornstarch to the pork before cooking, used 7 roasted hatch chilies, didn’t have tomatillos so substituted homegrown heirloom tomatoes. I should have roasted those as well! Once made I reduced down for 30 minutes.

I have never, ever heard of leaving tomatillo husks on. Take those off. The pectin released from the tomatillos is what thickens things in this dish. Also, count on it taking more than 30 minutes of cooking to get pork meltingly tender. Low and slow on stovetop or parked in oven for 1-2 hours produces best result.

Hi taco lovers, these are Delicious! But the time to cook/ simmer is at least an hour not 30 minutes. Takes that long to cook down, for the sauce to thicken, and for the pork to get tender. They are worth it , but give yourself more time! Disfruta!

Fresh tomatillos are sold in Colorado with the husks on. I left the husks on when I cooked this recipe, and the flavor was great—I smushed the tomatillos after cooking to let out the juices, and the husks stayed on nicely. There was no issue of the husks breaking up or falling off the tomatillo skin. I didn’t try to eat one, but I do think they added to the flavor.

Use beef if you don’t eat pork, add more liquid and diced potatoes, and use this as a fantastic green chile recipe.

This was great. As Amanda says in the comments, tomatillos can tenderize meat and their husks may increase this effect. I had shredded pork already so I did not use the husks but may at another time when I need to make the pork then. This recipe has a short cooking time for pork shoulder so that's probably why he includes the husks. David Tanis provides innovative, challenging recipes in NYT Cooking. I can't accomplish them all but this one I could and thought it worked out well.

Either olive oil or lard??? What kind of choice is that? Olive oil isn't good for high temp browning, and lard isn't good for us!

I roasted and peeled both the chili peppers and tomatillos before adding them and this came out great, big hit here!