This delicious pork tinga is made with boneless pork loin roast; its tender, smoky, and is quite tasty. It goes well in tacos, quesadillas, burritos, and as a topping for sopes, especially when topped with cabbage, radishes, and queso fresco.
In a slow cooker, add the pork, bay leaves, water, salt, onion, garlic and cook for six hours.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pork to a plate; let cool slightly, and then tear it into smaller pieces. Discard bay leaves and fat from the pork. Reserve broth.
In a blender, put the boiled onion and garlic cloves, tomato, chipotle peppers including adobo sauce and pork broth. Puree until smooth.
In a large saucepan add the shredded pork and the chipotle sauce from the blender. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Add salt to taste.
Sopes:
In a mixing bowl combine the masa harina and salt. Add the shortening and rub in with your fingers so that it is evenly distributed. Add warm water and knead until mixture is smooth and slightly sticky. If the dough is dry add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Dough should be soft and moist like play-doh and not dry. Divide dough into 10 portions. Cover with a damp cloth to keep the dough soft and moist.
Line a tortilla press with plastic wrap. Place a ball of dough on the press and cover with another piece of plastic wrap and press down to form a little 1/4-inch-thick patty. Peel off the plastic wrap. (If you don’t have a tortilla press you can use a heavy skillet or pot to make the dough patties or use your hands to form a patty.) Repeat with remaining balls of dough.
Preheat an ungreased comal (griddle) on medium-high heat. Cook a patty on the comal for about 1 to 2 minutes on each side until dry. While the cooked patty is still warm and as soon as you are able to handle it, pull the dough of the patty up and outward towards the edge, creating a little ridge of dough all the way around the circle to create a little “boat” or sope. Repeat with the remaining patties.
Once sopes are formed place back on the hot comal to cook for approximately 2 minutes on each side, or until browned.
Filling the Sopes:
Fill each sope with shredded pork tinga and sprinkle with cabbage, slices of radishes, and queso fresco, if using.
Notes
Sopes can also be deep fried, but I actually like them cooked on the comal until little brown blisters appear. They taste like a thick homemade corn tortilla.