Tacos al pastor is my favorite taco. There’s something about the meat, pineapple, onions, and cilantro that makes it a magical combination. Put it all in a freshly made tortilla and you cant have a more perfect bite.
I will show you how to cook the meat spit-style, as they do in Mexico City, using just a pineapple and a few skewers. This recipe will take time, but I promise you that it will all be worth it.
And if you want to go the extra mile, Masienda is my favorite for masa. Their stuff is really good.
Recipe below.
Tacos Al Pastor
This is one of those dishes that’s all about bold, layered flavor with a little heat and sweetness in the mix.
Ingredients
Method
FOR THE AL PASTOR
- Heat a skillet over medium high heat and place chiles, garlic, coriander, and cumin in the pan to toast.
- Once the chiles and garlic begin to brown and char, flip them over to toast the other side. Stir the spices to ensure they toast evenly.
- Once the spices become fragrant and your chiles are nicely toasted, pour the stock over the pan to stop the cooking.
- Pour all of the contents of the pan into a blender. Add salt, vinegar, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, annatto seeds, oregano, cut pineapple, and sugar into the blender. Blend until smooth.
- In a large bowl, pour the marinade over your pork. Massage the sauce into the pork until every piece is generously coated. Let the pork marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Preheat your oven to 500ºF.
- Entering through the fruit side, puncture the pineapple bottom with three thick skewers around the core. Push the skewers all the way through so that the bases of the skewers are held firmly in the pineapple bottom.
- After the pork has been marinating for 30 minutes, begin skewering the pork on to the pineapple bottom in even layers. Try to skewer as many pieces of meat through all three skewers for a sturdier foundation.
- Top your meat with about a 1½ inch cut of pineapple.
- Place your skewered pineapple meat on a cake pan and put it in the oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, take the pan out of the oven. Using a serrated knife, cut the outer layer of meat and leave the pieces of meat at the bottom of the pan. Drizzle oil over all of your meat and place the pan back into the oven.
- Repeat step 10 until you have cut all of the meat and pineapple off the skewers. This should take about an hour and a half total. Add ¼ cup of water to the bottom of the pan to prevent the bottom of the pan from burning.
- Mix all of your cooked meat and pineapple slices into the sauce.
FOR THE TORTILLAS
- Combine masa, water, and salt into a large mixing bowl. (**You can use beet juice or any vegetable juice instead of water for a different color/flavor tortilla).
- Use your hands to mix the ingredients until the masa absorbs all the water and the mixture forms a ball of dough.
- Knead the dough until it feels soft and malleable. Cover and let the dough rest for about 10 minutes.
- Divide the dough into two. Roll out each portion into a thick log and divide into 5 or 6 equal portions.
- Roll each of the dough portions into a ball.
- Using a cut gallon sized plastic bag, press the dough with a tortilla press. You can also use a heavy cast iron pan to flatten your masa ball if you do not have a tortilla press.
- Preheat an electric griddle or a skillet to medium heat.
- Place a tortilla on the griddle. After 30 seconds, flip the tortilla over and lightly press down on the tortilla with a spatula then cook for another 30 seconds. Flip the tortilla once more to cook for the last 30 seconds and it should start to puff. Remove the tortilla from the griddle and wrap in a clean kitchen towel.
- You can place multiple tortillas on to the griddle and repeat step 8 for each tortilla. Place all of the tortillas together wrapped in the kitchen towel.
TO BUILD TACOS AL PASTOR
- Place minced onion into an ice water bath for a couple of minutes and drain. Combine onion with cilantro in a small bowl.
- Top each tortilla with pork and pineapple. Garnish with cilantro and onion mixture and squeeze lime juice over tacos.
