Recipe Note
I cooked my version of the barbacoa using pork shoulder and let it cook for 12 hours. I specifically brew the houjicha and blend it as part of the marinade instead of putting it in tea bags and using it like you would a bay leaf because letting it steep for 12 hours would make it and the meat bitter.
I also made sure that when I used the jarred, pre-minced garlic, I roasted it in my cast iron with the oil to get the sour taste out of it (jarred garlic is necessarily marinated/preserved and this step helps it to taste more like raw garlic without all the chopping). The Houjicha already imparts a bit of a subtle smoky flavor to the meat, but as a fan of barbecue, I also added a tiny bit of smoked paprika to bring it out even more.
This method helped my husband enjoy the barbacoa a lot more than traditional barbacoa, which has a little too strong of an anise taste to him. When the Houjicha is added, the green tea tames some of the stronger flavors (like anise and cloves), while still letting the flavors be present. The tea also helped the flavors to blend a lot better than they otherwise do in a standard barbacoa. All in all, I highly recommend this green tea barbacoa as an addition to your go-to crockpot recipes.
One sample tin of Houjicha is all you would need to pull off this recipe and have enough left over to try a cup or two on its own.
