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.
Units
Ingredients
- 1.8 kilograms pork shoulder
- ¼ fresh pineapple (sliced into long 1/4" thick strips)
for marinade
- 2 dried ancho chiles
- 1 dried guajillo chile
- ¾ cup fresh pineapple
- ½ 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 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ¼ teaspoon achiote paste (or 1/2 teaspoon paprika)
for serving
- corn tortillas
- ½ 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)
- ½ onion sliced into wedges
- 4 jalapeno peppers (sliced in half lengthwise)
- 3 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup cilantro (about 4 sprigs)
- ½ lime juiced
- salt to taste
Instructions
- 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.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Jon, you could skip the soaking and add the chili powder straight into the marinade. That said most things sold as “chili powder” in the US are actually a blend of spices and seasonings, so you may want to try and see if you can fine ground chilies without the other things added.
Jon says
Ahh good to know. Thanks, as always. Cooking up your chicken piccata for now, but I’ll give that a try this weekend!
Cessy Deleon says
Hi Marc!! Is there any way you can come cook these tacos at my house???
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Cessy, if you’re interested in having me come cook for you, have a look here https://marcmatsumoto.com/chef/ and send me an email.
Snail says
I’ve been making my own brand of pork tacos meat for a few years, and decided to try all pastor as that’s really what I wanted to shoot for. This recipe details seemed pretty legit and I’ve got my first batch in the oven. This looks and smells great in the pan and I cannot wait to dig in. This will likely become a staple item this year. I’ll try making the salsa next time, but am just sticking with jarred salsa Verde this time. Peace.
Christine Jackson says
I really love all your recipes. I would surely try to have my hands on this one because I love Tacos Al Pastor and have tried it at many places, but now I would try to make my own through our recipe. Really thanks!!
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks Christine! Al Pastor is one of my favorites too! I hope you enjoy it!
Sharon says
This recipe is awesome. Makes it easier to make your marinade the day before. Lots of stuff a d steps, then actually do the pork the next day, cut, rub, marinade and then roast. Large pork loin from Sam’s is great for double batch. .
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Sharon, I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed this! Thanks for letting us know!
Kathy Stroup says
Not surprised to find you’ve written the book on Al Pastor!🙇♀️😄 I must admit, I’m a noob to this dish. It looks delicious and your recipe is flawless! Going on the ever-growing list of must-try recipes from this site. I hope that you get to eat some top-notch Mexican food while you’re visiting the U.S..
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks Kathy, I really need to update this recipe. The proteolytic enzyme in pineapple (Bromelain) is REALLY potent and will turn the meat to mush if left for too long. I always cook any marinade that includes fresh pineapple now (heat destroys the enzymes).
Kathy Stroup says
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐∞! That was the most incredible pork taco I have ever eaten, let alone cooked! I just kept thinking how much easier it would have been if there was a video. I made a couple of mistakes, but no fatal ones!😅 It’s been years since I tied a roast, and I made the mistake of saucing the outside before tying it.😕 I did cook the marinade for ten minutes, since you had expressed your concerns about the bromelain being too strong. I also flubbed the chiles, using Arbol for the Ancho. It would have had a slightly different flavor, but the Guajillo has a similar profile. And there’s more than enough fruitiness from the pineapple.
My husband dashed into the Mexican market on his lunch and picked up some fresh tortillas. The salsa was perfect. I’ll be making this again and again! I’m so glad I found this!😍