D.C. Food Truck Pork Sandwiches

From top to bottom, sandwiches from The Rolling Ficelle, SUNdeVICH and Pepe

If Subway and Au Bon Pain aren't doing it for you anymore in the sandwich department, maybe it's time to check out food trucks. There are some pretty amazing offerings on hand, from barbecue to banh mi. Expertly cooked pork is not something many fast casual sandwich restaurants offer, so it's a treat to find that quite a few food trucks do. Here are some top offerings from city food trucks:

The Rolling Ficelle, Pollack Ficelle ($8.50). The Pollack is a nicely rounded sandwich consisting of slow-roasted pork with Swiss cheese, caramelized onions, grilled jalapeño, cilantro and lemon-garlic aioli. I loved how the tangy aioli complimented the cilantro and savory pork. The bread was really good too, with a crispy (but not hard) exterior and soft, flavorful interior. If there was any gripe it was that the meat was a little dry. But otherwise very good.

SUNdeVICH, Havana ($10). This sandwich was amazingly good, the best of the bunch. All the elements worked well together but the star, as it should be, was the roasted pork, which was among the best roasted pork I've ever had. Perfectly seasoned and in harmony with the gruyere, pickles and dijon. SUNdeVICH has a nice variety of sandwiches, and I look forward to trying some of the others.

Pepe, Pepito de Ibérico ($20). Famous chef Jose Andres made headlines when he started his D.C. food truck Pepe last summer, which offers a menu of sandwiches not dissimilar to what you can get at his Jaleo. Particular interest was generated by his audacity to offer a $20 sandwich from a food truck. The imported meats--seared ibérico pork and serrano ham--are what drives the cost. Is it worth it? It's tasty, but not $20 tasty. Served along with roasted green peppers, caramelized onion and aioli, I thought my sandwich was too greasy (take lots of napkins if you eat this on the street). Definitely not bad, but probably my least favorite of these three.

Chef Driven DC Food Truck

I finally got to try the Chef Driven DC food truck today, and I wasn't disappointed. I had a delicious meal of Indonesian babyback ribs with a spicy-sweet soy sauce and chopped peanuts. The tender meat fell off the bone and the sauce had just the right balance of tangy, sweet and spicy. I also really liked the salad served with it: cucumbers, teardrop tomatoes, onion, olives, cilantro and dill with vinaigrette.

Chef Driven is operated by Chef Jerry Trice, who has cooked in kitchens around the Washington region, including Red Sage, Vidalia and Yin Yankee in Annapolis and Bethesda, Md. I had a friendly chat with him and his assistant while my ribs were being prepared. The food is made to order, so you have to wait a little bit, but it was well worth it, and I appreciated how friendly they were.

This was the truck's first stop in Gallery Place, which is close to my office. I hope they come back. If they do, I'll definitely be back as well.

Food Truck Lunch II

Awhile back I wrote about some downtown D.C. food truck lunch options. I thought it was time to revisit the topic.

Apart from the ongoing regulatory battle, the biggest news in the D.C. food truck of late is the arrival of Jose Andres' truck Pepe. It's been around for a few weeks now, but Andres' Spanish sandwich truck seems is still setting records for longest food truck lines (in addition to its record prices, including $20 for the Pepito de Iberico, which includes Iberico pork, Serrano Ham and roasted green pepper--sounds delicious).

Regrettably, I haven't tried Pepe yet. But not for my having not tried. Most food trucks tweet their location in the morning well before lunchtime, which you can track with a map of their locations on Food Truck Fiesta. For awhile, Pepe was tweeting it's location later than most others, although it seems to be improving. However, I've had bad luck trying to locate the truck. One day when it was going to be at the Portrait Gallery at 11:30 I was ready to go. I showed up at 11:30 even and...no pepe. I circled the block three times and even did a lap around Hotel Monaco in case Pepe's location had been a little off. No dice. I ended up getting food from another truck and learned later that Pepe was about 20 minutes to its spot. I'm determined to try it soon though.

Here's a round up of some of my best recent food truck lunches:

Chupacabra. The Chupacabra is a mythic Latin-American monster, but there's nothing scary about the food served up at the food truck by the same name. These are the best food truck tacos I've had so far (yes, better than TaKorean). Pictured above is their trio of chicken, pork and shredded beef tacos, all of which come topped with chopped radishes and cilantro, giving the spicy, seasoned meat a cool, fresh finish.

Borinquen Lunch Box. This truck serves Puerto Rican cuisine and was recommended to me by my coworker with a Puerto Rican heritage. She steered me towards the Tripleta, and I'm a better man for it. It's really, really good. As the name implies, this is a sandwich with three meats: roasted pork, skirt steak and ham, served with lettuce and potato sticks (basically mini French fries). It's not a particularly healthy sandwich, but it is very satisfying.

Carnivore BBQ. A hankering for a good barbecue sandwich is easily satisfied by this truck, whose pulled pork sandwich features a rather generous helping of shredded pork served on a bun with slaw and barbecue sauce. I thought the sandwich was really good; not too spicy, not too sweet, although that will vary depending on what sauce you choose (I opted for Memphis).

CapMac. It's been a few weeks since I visited CapMac, and they are no longer offering their winter mac, a dressed up mac & cheese featuring shredded pork, roasted butternut squash and fontina cheese (they told me today that they are now offering a roast pork Philly mac, with fontina and provolone cheese sauce and sautéed broccoli rabe). Even if this is no longer there, I imagine whatever seasonal offering has replaced it will be just as good.

Korean Tacos

Latin-Asian fusion has been a popular culinary trend in recent years from fine dining to street food. In the latter category, a popular dish is the Korean taco, combing Mexican taco elements with Korean-influenced fillings.

The most famous proprietor of this dish is Kogi Korean BBQ, a Los Angeles-area food truck fleet. However, others have brought the successful concept to other cities, including TaKorean in Washington, D.C., one of my favorite downtown food trucks. They serve Korean tacos with beef bulgogi, tangy chicken or caramelized tofu, topped with either napa-romaine or kimchi-style slaw, lime crema, cilantro, sesame seeds and sriracha, a Thai-style hot sauce.

Pictured below is TaKorean's tangy chicken tacos with napa-romaine slaw and the works, which I enjoyed for lunch on a recent Thursday. Could I successfully recreate this dish at home?

I combed the web to research various recipes for Korean tacos and specifically bulgogi-style chicken dishes. Since I don't have a barbecue, I needed a bulgogi I could make in a saute pan, a technique I've had success with before when making beef bulgogi. I sliced the chicken very thin to maximize exposure to the sauce and allow it to cook fast.

For the marinade, which would double as the sauce, I wanted bold flavors and not too much liquid, since I didn't want to end up boiling the chicken in it and I wanted it to reduce to a glazing by the time the chicken was done cooking. So I turned to ingredients with lots of flavor: tamari (concentrated soy sauce), mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine), garlic, dark sesame oil and brown sugar. I was concerned about making this too sweet, so I used less sugar than many of the recipes I saw. I let this marinate in the fridge for about an hour and a half.

For the slaw, I wanted something fresh and simple. Although many recipes called for napa cabbage, the heads of napa cabbage at the store were huge, and I didn't feel like also making coleslaw another night, so I used about a third of a head of regular cabbage (and even then had a lot left over) and the green part of a few scallions tossed in a simple lime, vinegar and oil dressing.

Lime crema sounds so fancy, but it's really just sour cream mixed with lime juice. I added some zest too.

Choosing good tortillas is important. Corn tortillas are the traditional choice for tacos and it pays to be choosy. Fresh corn tortillas, found in the refrigerated case, have a better corn flavor than the preservative-laden variety on the store shelf. A good tip I once read was to look at the ingredients list and choose the tortillas with the shortest list. The ones I got are from Whole Foods. They were pretty hearty too and held up to the fillings without falling apart with a single tortillas (tacos are often served with two corn tortillas to prevent them from falling apart).

While a multi-step project like this requires a little planning, this dish is certainly doable for a week night. I prepped the marinade and the slaw first, left the kitchen for my early evening workout, and then came back to cook the chicken, make the lime crema and assemble the tacos. I served them with a simple side dish of black beans with garlic, cumin and lime. The results were very tasty (see top photo), dare I say better even than what I get at Takorean. Feel free to mix it up as you please.

Korean Chicken Tacos

Inspired by TaKorean Tangy Chicken Tacos

Makes 6 tacos (with some slaw leftover)

Chicken and marinade:

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast cutlets

2 tbsp. tamari

1 tbsp. light brown sugar

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. dark sesame oil

2 tsp. mirin

Slaw:

1 tbsp. rice vinegar

Juice from 1/2 of a lime (about a tablespoon)

2 tbsp. canola oil

1 tsp. dark sesame oil

4 cups shredded cabbage

3 scallions (green part), sliced

Lime crema:

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp. lime zest

1/2 tbsp. lime juice

1 tbsp. canola oil

6 or 12 corn tortillas, warmed (6 if serving with single tortillas, 12 if serving doubled)*

Chopped fresh cilantro

Sriracha (optional)

Toasted sesame seeds

1. Prepare the marinade: Slice the chicken breasts in half and then very thin (about 1/4 inch). Combine in a bowl with tamari, brown sugar, garlic, sesame oil and mirin. Put in fridge to marinate for about 1 to 2 hours.

2. Make the slaw: Mix together the vinegar, lime juice, canola oil and sesame oil and combine in a large bowl with the shredded cabbage and sliced scallions. Set aside until ready to use.

3. Make the lime crema: Mix together the sour cream, lime zest and lime juice in a small bowl.

4. Cook the chicken: Heat 1 tbsp. canola oil in a large nonstick oval skillet pan over medium-high heat. When very hot, add the chicken and the marinade and saute until cooked through and sauce has reduced to a glaze on the meat.

5. Assemble tacos: Place one or two stacked corn tortillas on a plate. Top with 1/6 of the chicken (about 3 tbsp.), a couple tbsp. of slaw, a drizzle of lime crema, a drizzle of sriracha (it's hot), and a sprinkling of cilantro and sesame seeds. Repeat to make other tacos. Serve with a side of black beans and the rest of the slaw.

(*To warm corn tortillas, place stacked on a plate between two wet paper towels and microwave on high about 20-30 seconds.)

Black Beans with Garlic, Cumin and Lime

By A. Huddleston

Makes 2 side servings

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 16 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 tsp. ground cumin

Juice of 1/2 of a lime

(chopped cilantro or queso fresco, optional)

Heat olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until softened but not brown. Add other ingredients, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until warmed through and fragrant. Top with chopped cilantro or queso fresco if desired.