I think the 3 things I miss most about California are owning a car, having a grill, and the Mexican food. The later two are especially salient around Cinqo De Mayo which for me used to signal the start of the grilling season.
Like the Mexican food in NYC, Cinco De Mayo is a bit misguided here in the US. Most people think it’s the Mexican equivalent of July 4th, but it’s actually not even a federal holiday south of the border (Mexican Independence day on September 16th however is). I suspect its prominence in the US has a lot to do with the marketing engines of big tex-mex chains looking for a way to sell more burritos (ironically, this is a food item that doesn’t have the wide popularity in Mexico that it does here). Still, it is a good excuse to cook Mexican food especially something a bit more elaborate that takes about a day to make.
One of my favourite tacos, Tacos Al Pastor (“shepherd style”) likely originated from Lebanese immigrants who made their way to Mexico and brought with them Shawarma. Like any food that emigrates from one place to another, changes are made to include locally available ingredients and to suit local palettes. In this case, the meats were flavored with various chiles and then topped with a pineapple while roasting.
The pineapple, aside from adding some sweetness and acidity, also has an enzyme called bromelain that breaks down proteins making the meat very tender. Since we don’t all have shawarma spits at home, I’ve adapted this recipe to work in an oven or on a cooler grill. The pineapple goes into the marinade which gets layered into the roast and is then left to marinade for a short amount of time.
The meat is stunningly tender with a distinct earthy-smokey flavor coming from the dried chiles and a nice balance of sweetness, tartness and salt. I like my tacos simple (like they serve them at taquerias in Mexico) and load up a double layer of corn tortillas with meat then add a bit of minced sweet onion, cilantro and salsa verde on top.
Ingredients
- 1.8 kilograms pork shoulder
- 1/4 fresh pineapple (sliced into long 1/4" thick strips)
for marinade
- 2 dried ancho chiles
- 1 dried guajillo chile
- 3/4 cup fresh pineapple
- 1/2 onion
- 1 Chipotle chile (from can with adobo sauce)
- 1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from Chipotle chilies)
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 5 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon achiote paste (or 1/2 teaspoon paprika)
for serving
- 1/2 vidalia onion minced
- cilantro minced
- 1 lime cut into wedges
- 1 batch salsa verde (see recipe below)
for salsa verde
- 4 large tomatillos (or 6 smaller ones husked and washed well with warm water)
- 1/2 onion sliced into wedges
- 4 jalapeno peppers (sliced in half lengthwise)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup cilantro (about 4 sprigs)
- 1/2 lime juiced
- salt to taste
Steps
- Put the pork in the freezer until its firm enough to cut (about 30 minutes).
- Remove the seeds and stems from the chilies and put them in a bowl. Boil some water and pour it onto the chilies and allow them to rehydrate (about 10 minutes). Put the chilies in a food processor along with all the other marinade ingredients and process until smooth. Add the marinade to a pot and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. This destroys some of the enzymes in fresh pineapple that can turn your meat into mush. Turn off the heat then let the marinade cool to room temperature.
- Take the roast out of the freezer and orient the roast how you'd have it sitting in the roasting pan (fat side up). The idea here is that you want to slice the meat into 1/2" thick slices that will stack on top of each other in the roasting pan. I don't slice all the way through which helps when you're trying to put the roast back together.
- Slather the marinade between each layer until every nook and cranny is covered. Tie the roast back together. Cover it and allow it to marinade for no more than an hour. Fresh pineapple has a powerful enzyme that breaks down proteins and while heating it destroys some of the enzymes, it's still a powerful meat tenderizer. If you're using canned pineapple let it marinate overnight as most of the enzyme is destroyed in the canning process.
- When the roast is ready to go in the oven, set the oven to 450 degrees F. Put the roast on a rack in a roasting pan and add water to the bottom of the pan (this is to keep the drippings from smoking). Roast for 30 minutes at this temperature then place the pineapple slices on top of the roast and turn down the heat to 300 degrees F. Roast until the meat is tender (about 3 hours).
- After removing the meat from the oven, cover it with foil and let it rest for about 20 minutes. When you're ready to serve, just cut the meat up into small cubes. I like to pan fry it at this point to give the pieces a bit more caramelization but it's up to you.
- To assemble the tacos just heat up a pile of tortilla's in the microwave covered with a damp paper towel for about 30 seconds. Using 2 tortilla's per taco, fill with meat, then top with minced onions, cilantro and salsa verde. Serve with a wedge of lime for squeezing.
- For Salsa Verde
- Move your oven rack to the top position and lay down a piece of foil. Score the bottoms of the tomatillos (so they don't explode) then place them on the foil. Place the jalepenos skin side up around the tomatillos along with the onions and garlic. Turn the broiler on and allow everything to get a nice bubbly char going on. Using tongs, flip things over and then char the other side. The smaller items like onion and garlic may need to come out first.
- Flake off any excess char (you want to keep some of it) then toss everything in a food processor along with the cilantro and salt and pepper. Process until smooth.
I read about you making this in your comment on TNS…glad it turned out well 🙂 Looks incredibly delicious, love the use of pineapple with the…pork butt, heh.
i would love this… really good job on this dish. i can almost taste the flavor by reading the recipe and staring at that picture.
I always thought Cinco de Mayo around here was just an excuse to push margaritas and too much tequila! Love your dish! Looks great!
I read about you making this in your comment on TNS…glad it turned out well 🙂 Looks incredibly delicious, love the use of pineapple with the…pork butt, heh.
Amazing and I love the flavors that are used. Definitely going to give this a shot.
Ah, how I miss Mexican food! You think you can’t get it outside California… try the Balkans! I dream of cilantro and swoon.
Also – I’ve tagged you for an award! It’s on my site, in the white bean salad post.
i would love this… really good job on this dish. i can almost taste the flavor by reading the recipe and staring at that picture.
I’d never heard of this before but this looks mouth watering. I will have to give this a try–pineapple + pork + mexican = happy michael
YUM! i loooove tacos.
I use Cinco de Mayo as an excuse to cook Mexican food! And these tacos look AMAZING!
I always thought Cinco de Mayo around here was just an excuse to push margaritas and too much tequila! Love your dish! Looks great!
Cinco de Mayo…I love it and yes is misguided but is probably the most used blender day in America. These tacos are just beautiful looking.
Drool! Can I just move it?!
Amazing and I love the flavors that are used. Definitely going to give this a shot.
Ah, how I miss Mexican food! You think you can’t get it outside California… try the Balkans! I dream of cilantro and swoon.
Also – I’ve tagged you for an award! It’s on my site, in the white bean salad post.
I’d never heard of this before but this looks mouth watering. I will have to give this a try–pineapple + pork + mexican = happy michael
YUM! i loooove tacos.
I use Cinco de Mayo as an excuse to cook Mexican food! And these tacos look AMAZING!
Cinco de Mayo…I love it and yes is misguided but is probably the most used blender day in America. These tacos are just beautiful looking.
Drool! Can I just move it?!
I just had tacos al pastor last week! YUM… I have to say that yours look better than the ones I had.
thanks for the great background on cinco de mayo and clearing things up for lots of people!
I just had tacos al pastor last week! YUM… I have to say that yours look better than the ones I had.
thanks for the great background on cinco de mayo and clearing things up for lots of people!
These sound really tasty!
These sound really tasty!
WOW!!! Tacos al Pastor are the Holy Grail of cooking to me. One of those magical flavors that you have in the most out of the way places (Taco Trucks in Cal roadside stands in Mexico) and there is scarce documentation for (at best). There are a TON of recipes on the web that are all copies of one…and it’s only fair at best. I’ve been looking and cooking and tasting…and looking again. Then I found your site. It looks somewhat close to what I have cobbled together for my marinade tonight, after 3 years of research. I may be… Read more »
WOW!!! Tacos al Pastor are the Holy Grail of cooking to me. One of those magical flavors that you have in the most out of the way places (Taco Trucks in Cal roadside stands in Mexico) and there is scarce documentation for (at best). There are a TON of recipes on the web that are all copies of one…and it’s only fair at best. I’ve been looking and cooking and tasting…and looking again. Then I found your site. It looks somewhat close to what I have cobbled together for my marinade tonight, after 3 years of research. I may be… Read more »
tacos al pastor smells delish when you see it in a restaurant in mexico city–it was nice to read more about it here.
tacos al pastor smells delish when you see it in a restaurant in mexico city–it was nice to read more about it here.
I’m bookmarking this one. Been wanting to make tacos al pastor for a long time — but, you know, well, laziness happens.
I’m bookmarking this one. Been wanting to make tacos al pastor for a long time — but, you know, well, laziness happens.
Good recipe–there are some variations. Guajillo seems to be a unanimous choice. I’ve seen ancho and arbol too elsewhere. Got to have garlic and pineapple.
Good recipe–there are some variations. Guajillo seems to be a unanimous choice. I’ve seen ancho and arbol too elsewhere. Got to have garlic and pineapple.
This looks delicious. I love food with pineapples. Will definetely try cooking this.
This looks delicious. I love food with pineapples. Will definetely try cooking this.
Have just put marinated pork butt in the oven. It smells terrific, the smokiness of the peppers and sweet-tart of the pineapple blend so perfectly my house has been transformed from 1950’s ranch to banana-leaf protected cabana. I hope I don’t mess it up because I’m planning to cart the left-overs to my sister’s for Memorial Day tacos. I’ve been eating these at Houston taquerias for years, but this is the first time I’ve made them. Sabor!
Have just put marinated pork butt in the oven. It smells terrific, the smokiness of the peppers and sweet-tart of the pineapple blend so perfectly my house has been transformed from 1950’s ranch to banana-leaf protected cabana. I hope I don’t mess it up because I’m planning to cart the left-overs to my sister’s for Memorial Day tacos. I’ve been eating these at Houston taquerias for years, but this is the first time I’ve made them. Sabor!
thanks! the salsa verde was awesome!
thanks! the salsa verde was awesome!
Stumbled across your blog and how happy I am that I did. Great recipes and wonderful photos.
I have my pork butt on the grill now for this very recipe. It looked too delicious to wait. I will probably blog it and definitely credit you. Thanks again for an amazing take on a classic.
Stumbled across your blog and how happy I am that I did. Great recipes and wonderful photos.
I have my pork butt on the grill now for this very recipe. It looked too delicious to wait. I will probably blog it and definitely credit you. Thanks again for an amazing take on a classic.
Hi!
I tried your Tacos Al Pastor recipe yesterday and it was awesome! I was so excited as I started blending all the ingredients for the the marinade together. The chilis smelled heavenly! I was a little scared to work with chilis, but the recipe was easy to stick to and I had no troubles. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Hi!
I tried your Tacos Al Pastor recipe yesterday and it was awesome! I was so excited as I started blending all the ingredients for the the marinade together. The chilis smelled heavenly! I was a little scared to work with chilis, but the recipe was easy to stick to and I had no troubles. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Are you in NYC? We should talk…I’ve come pretty close to replicating Al Pastor like taqueria san jose #1 in san francisco…let me know where you are!
Are you in NYC? We should talk…I’ve come pretty close to replicating Al Pastor like taqueria san jose #1 in san francisco…let me know where you are!
Looks Divine, I’m Hungry ….
how many people does yhis feed,,?? any one know ?
This should make about 30 tacos.
I want to match this one with my own canning salsa recipe. This will surely be a hit! Thanks.
I had tacos al pastor several times when I was in Mexico recently, and I was excited to see this recipe. The salsa is one of the best I’ve ever tasted, let alone made. I like the flavor of the al pastor, but it doesn’t have the pungency you get in a restaurant. The crunchy bits on the outside were amazing when I took it out of the oven, but it seemed like all that “washed off” when I covered the meat and let it rest. I think if I do it again, I’ll let it rest on the rack.… Read more »
That could be an interesting idea, though the meat you cut off may get
dry if you leave it in the oven and will get cold if you take it out
of the oven. One thing I do to get more crust is to chop up the meat
and then fry it in a pan with a little oil. This is also a great way
to reheat leftovers.