Korean Tacos with Radish Salad and Cucumber Kimchi

My friends at The Spoonful of Foodies and I decided to do a recipe swap for a bit of fun. Each one of us chose one of the other bloggers recipes and made it our own by switching it up. I chose Bakesinslippers Slow Cooked Korean Spiced Pork. I had a hard time working out what changes to make to Janelle's fabulous recipe to give it my own personal touch. In the end I decided to make these tacos. I made some minor changes to the original pork recipe (Korean BBQ sauce in place of Hoisin sauce and I used Korean miso instead of sriracha), but the major change I made was the accompaniments. That's how I do the old switcheroo.

Thanks for the inspiration Janelle.

NOTE: The Cucumber Kimchi needs to chill for 6 hours for the flavours to develop, so if you start it just after you put the pork in the slow cooker, you'll be good to go when it's time to eat.

Korean Tacos with Radish Salad and Cucumber Kimchi
adapted from Bakesinslippers
Serves 8

For the Pork:
1kg boneless and skinless pork shoulder
3 teaspoons Korean BBQ sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt flakes or Pink Himalaya salt
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon Korean miso paste (Sunchang Doenjang)
1 teaspoon of cornflour dissolved in 1 tablespoon of cold water to create a slurry

For the Radish Salad:
12 radishes, thinly sliced
1 head cos lettuce, shredded
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons coriander leaves, roughly chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce

For the Cucumber Kimchi:
adapted from Gwyneth Paltrow's It's All Good
1 Continental cucumber, cut in half, seeds removed and roughly sliced
2 teaspoons sea salt flakes
2 tablespoons Korean miso paste (Sunchang Doenjang)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chilli flakes
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon honey

Cook the Pork:
Dry the pork with paper towels. Set aside.

Combine all the ingredients, except the pork, and whisk until it is a thick paste. Rub it all over the pork, put the pork in the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.

Once the pork has had its 8 hours in the slow cooker, remove it to a board. Use two forks to shred the meat into thin rags. Place the meat in a large serving bowl and keep warm. Pour all the cooking juices from the slow cooker into a saucepan and bring it to boil over high heat. Allow the sauce to boil rapidly and reduce a little. Add the cornflour slurry and whisk until thickened. Remove from the heat, pour enough sauce over the pork to moisten and coat. Serve the remaining sauce on the side.

Make the Cucumber Kimchi:
Put the chopped cucumber into a sieve and sprinkle with the salt. Suspend the sieve over a bowl and leave for 10 minutes. Discard any juices that drip into the bowl. Mix the rest of the ingredients in bowl until it becomes a paste. Add the cucumber to the paste and mix thoroughly, making sure all the cucumber is coated. Pack it into a jar with a tight fitting lid and chill in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours.

Make the Radish Salad:
Put the radishes, lettuce and onions into a salad bowl.  Whisk the lime juice, olive oil, sesame seed oil and soy sauce together and pour it over the salad. Toss gently to coat.

To Serve:
Serve with your favourite tomato salsa, lime wedges and extra sauce.