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Tacos al Pastor
Tacos al Pastor has super tender, seasoned slices of pork in a corn tortilla. Top it with grilled pineapple, onions, cilantro, and tomatillo salsa for an authentic Mexican taste!
Ingredients
5 pounds boneless pork butt
Marinade
10 dried guajillo chili peppers, stemmed and seeded
2 dried ancho chili peppers, stemmed and seeded
4 whole garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
1/3 of a peeled large white onion, about 4–5 ounces
4 chili peppers with adobo sauce from a 7-ounce can of chipotle chili peppers in adobo (more if you like it hot)
1/4 cup achiote paste
1/3 cup pineapple juice from a 20-ounce can of pineapple rings (save the rest of the juice to baste with)
1/3 cup cut-up canned pineapple rings from a 20-ounce can of pineapple rings (save the rest of the rings to top the pork before roasting)
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon dry pork seasoning
1 tablespoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Tomatillo salsa
8 small tomatillos
1/3 of peeled white onion, about 4–5 ounces
1 stemmed and seeded jalapeno pepper
1 stemmed and seeded serrano chili pepper
1 large garlic clove
1 small bunch fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Other ingredients
1 large fresh pineapple
24 6-inch corn tortillas
Additional cilantro, chopped
Additional white onion, chopped
Instructions
- Trim any excess fat or gristle from the pork. If you bought one whole large pork roast, cut in half before slicing (we used two roasts that were about 2 ½ pounds each). Slice into one-quarter to one-half inch thick slices of various sizes. Our quarter inch thick slices for us were about six inches by four inches, but this will vary based on the shape and size of your roast.
- In a medium to large saucepan, place both dried chiles, garlic clove, bay leaf and white onion, then cover with four inches of water. Bring to a boil and fast simmer for ten minutes.
- Use a slotted spoon and remove pan contents to a blender, leaving the liquid in the pan. Discard the bay leaf. Do not discard the water in the pan – you will use this water in a later cooking step.
- Add the chili with adobo, achiote paste, canned pineapple juice, canned pineapple, cider vinegar, dry pork seasoning, salt, cloves, oregano, chili powder, cinnamon, and paprika to the blender, along with ½ cup of the cooking water and puree to a smooth marinade.
- In a large container (ours was a 14-cup plastic container with a lid), layer marinade and slices of pork to fill the container. Cover and refrigerate overnight (at least six hours and as long as 24 hours).
- In a cast iron pan (or other heavy pan that can withstand high heat), dry toast the peeled tomatillos, onion, jalapeno, serrano pepper and garlic clove until blackened on all sides, about 15 minutes. (Pull the garlic early if it gets too dark.)
- Move charred vegetables to the pan of cooking water you used to rehydrate the chili peppers and bring to a boil. Boil for five minutes.
- Use a slotted spoon and move vegetables to a blender along with cilantro, lime juice, sea salt, black pepper, chili powder, ground cumin, ground coriander and paprika and a little cooking liquid (few tablespoons at a time) and pulse until coarsely chopped. Pour into a container and chill overnight.
- About four hours before serving, preheat oven to 325 degrees F and place the oven rack in the lowest possible position.
- Cut about three inches off the bottom of the fresh pineapple and push that down onto the vertical spit spike. Our vertical spit came with three spikes varying in size. We used the longest spike.
- On top of that first thick piece of pineapple, begin layering the marinated pork by pushing pieces down over the spike through one third of the slice of pork, so that two thirds hang to one side.
- Repeat with all the pork, rotating the spit slightly as you continue to push the pork slices through the spike, going around as you lay each piece, like overlapping flower petals.
- Top with the remaining canned pineapple rings. (Save the rest of the pineapple juice to baste with).
- Place the vertical spit into the oven and set the timer for one hour. After one hour, baste with a third of the remaining pineapple juice.
- Time for another hour and baste again with another third of the juice.
- Time for another hour and baste with the remaining juice.
- Baste with liquid that collected on the pan bottom and cook for 30 minutes more or until a probe thermometer reads 145 degrees F when pushed through the center of one side, then remove from the oven. Ours took exactly 3 ½ hours to reach 145 degrees F.
- While the pork roasts, trim the fresh pineapple and discard skin, leaves and core. Slice into six thick slices and grill either on an outdoor grill or a grill pan until golden. Cut them up into pieces to serve with the tacos.
- Also, cut what is left of the large white onion into small dice to serve with the tacos.
- Also cut up additional cilantro leaves to serve with the tacos.
- Dry toast the corn tortilla in a hot pan until slightly browned.
- Once the meat comes out of the oven, it can be sliced immediately. Use a sharp carving knife to make thin vertical slices top to bottom as you turn the meat. Keep slicing and mix outer charred pieces with juicy inner pieces.
- To serve, place three toasted warm tortillas for one portion and top each with meat, chopped grilled pineapple, tomatillo salsa, chopped white onion and chopped fresh cilantro.
- Recipe should yield 24 tacos (three tacos each for eight people)
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Notes
Be sure to read the blog post for additional tips and tricks and links to some of the specialty ingredients and kitchen supplies.
Find it online: https://www.afamilyfeast.com/tacos-al-pastor/
