Deviled Chicken Tacos | Tacos de Pollo Endiablado

Before food trucks were trendy and called “mobile eateries,” I frequented my share of “roach coaches” as they were endearingly called.  One of my favorites was a taco truck covered completely in white. No name.  We called it “The Taquito Man.”
You shouted your order at a mysterious silhouette through an 8”x10” sized window. In return, you received a grease-stained piece of butcher paper with two miniature tacos topped with grilled green onions and thinner-than-a-fly’s-wing napkin.  That napkin had to last you through dripping salsa, and beef and chicken drenched in adobo as one maneuvered to sit curbside, avoiding oil stains and cigarette butts, and  somehow, the napkin would always survive.
Ingredients
  • 1.5 lbs chicken breast, skinless and boneless
  • 1 celery stalk
  • 5 dried Don Enrique Oaxaca Chile, seeds and stems removed
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 2 tablespoons Nakano All Natural Red Pepper Rice Vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 pinch onion powder
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • salt and pepper to taste
    • Garnish
  • Pineapple chunks
  • Cilantro, chopped
  • red onion slices
  • 2 limes, sliced in quarters
Instructions
  1. Boil Oaxaca chiles and rosemary in 1 cup of water until chile skin softens. Let cool then place in blender with water, rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons olive oil, onion powder, garlic, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
  2. In a medium pot, boil chicken breasts, celery stalk, and a pinch of salt in 4-6 cups of water (enough to cover ingredients), for 20 minutes or until chicken has been fully cooked then shred.
  3. In a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Place shredded chicken and carefully pour chile mixture, evenly coating chicken. Cook for 8-10 minutes.
  4. Serve in tacos with pineapple chunks, cilantro, red onion slices and a squeeze of lime.