I think the 3 things I miss most about California are driving 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. Tacos al Pastor is one of my favorite Mexican dishes, the smell of spit-roasted chile-marinated pork and pineapple wafting through the air is irresistible on a summer’s day. Fortunately, you don’t need a spit to make succulent, spicy, sweet roasted pork at home.
- Why This Recipe Works
- History of al Pastor
- Pineapple Tenderizes Meat
- How to Serve al Pastor
- 📖 Recipe
- Comments
Why This Recipe Works
- Bromelain in the pineapple tenderizes the pork roast while it marinates.
- Cooking the marinade helps to keep the pineapple from over-tenderizing the pork.
- Slicing through the roast helps the marinade penetrate the meat and simulates the “shawarma” method of cooking.
- Frying the finished roast adds that crispy caramelization that al pastor is known for.
History of al Pastor
One of my favorite 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.
Pineapple Tenderizes Meat
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 marinate for a short amount of time.
How to Serve al Pastor
The meat is stunningly tender with a distinct earthy-smoky flavor coming from the dried chiles, and a nice balance of sweetness, tartness and salt. The chunks of grilled pineapple add an extra burst of acid and sweetness. I like my tacos simple (like they serve them at taquerias in Mexico): load up a double layer of corn tortillas with meat, then add a bit of minced sweet onion, cilantro and salsa verde on top.
📖 Recipe
Equipment
Units
Ingredients1x2x3x
- 1.8 kilograms pork shoulder
- ¼ fresh pineapple (sliced into long ¼" 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 ½ 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 jalapeño peppers (sliced in half lengthwise)
- 3 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup cilantro (about 4 sprigs)
- ½ lime juiced
- Salt to taste
- Pepper
Instructions
- Put the 1.8 kilograms pork shoulder in the freezer until it’s firm enough to cut (about 30 minutes). Slice the ¼ fresh pineapple into spears.
- Remove the seeds and stems from the 2 dried ancho chiles and 1 dried guajillo chile and put them in a bowl. Boil some water and pour it onto the chilies, allowing them to rehydrate (about 10 minutes). Put the chilies in a food processor along with the ¾ cup fresh pineapple , ½ onion , 1 Chipotle chile , 1 tablespoon adobo sauce , 1 tablespoon vinegar , 5 cloves garlic , 2 teaspoons salt , 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon , ½ teaspoon oregano , and ¼ teaspoon achiote and process until smooth. To make a smoother marinade, pass the mixture through a strainer. 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 ½" 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. You can also put the cut up meat and pineapple onto a foil-lined pan and broil it until it gets some char.
- To assemble the tacos, just heat up a pile of corn tortillas in the microwave covered with a damp paper towel for about 30 seconds. Using 2 tortillas per taco, fill with meat, then top with minced ½ vidalia onion , cilantro and 1 batch salsa verde . Serve with a wedge of 1 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 4 large tomatillos (so they don’t explode) then place them on the foil. Place the 4 jalapeño peppers skin side up around the tomatillos along with the ½ onion and 3 cloves 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 ¼ cup cilantro , juice from ½ lime , Salt and Pepper . Process until smooth.
Nutrition Facts
Tacos al pastor
Equipment
- 1 Baking Sheet - Half
- 1 small stainless saucepan
- 1 Food Processor
- 1 Strainer
Ingredients
- 1.8 kilograms pork shoulder
- ¼ fresh pineapple (sliced into long ¼" 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 ½ 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 jalapeño peppers (sliced in half lengthwise)
- 3 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup cilantro (about 4 sprigs)
- ½ lime juiced
- Salt to taste
- Pepper
Instructions
- Put the 1.8 kilograms pork shoulder in the freezer until it’s firm enough to cut (about 30 minutes). Slice the ¼ fresh pineapple into spears. 1.8 kilograms pork shoulder
- Remove the seeds and stems from the 2 dried ancho chiles and 1 dried guajillo chile and put them in a bowl. Boil some water and pour it onto the chilies, allowing them to rehydrate (about 10 minutes). Put the chilies in a food processor along with the ¾ cup fresh pineapple , ½ onion , 1 Chipotle chile , 1 tablespoon adobo sauce , 1 tablespoon vinegar , 5 cloves garlic , 2 teaspoons salt , 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon , ½ teaspoon oregano , and ¼ teaspoon achiote and process until smooth. To make a smoother marinade, pass the mixture through a strainer. 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. 2 dried ancho chiles, 1 dried guajillo chile, ¾ cup fresh pineapple, ½ onion, 1 Chipotle chile, 1 tablespoon adobo sauce, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 5 cloves garlic, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon, ½ teaspoon oregano, ¼ teaspoon achiote
- 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 ½" 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). ¼ fresh pineapple
- 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. You can also put the cut up meat and pineapple onto a foil-lined pan and broil it until it gets some char.
- To assemble the tacos, just heat up a pile of corn tortillas in the microwave covered with a damp paper towel for about 30 seconds. Using 2 tortillas per taco, fill with meat, then top with minced ½ vidalia onion , cilantro and 1 batch salsa verde . Serve with a wedge of 1 lime for squeezing. corn tortillas, ½ vidalia onion, cilantro, 1 lime, 1 batch salsa verde
- For Salsa Verde
- Move your oven rack to the top position and lay down a piece of foil. Score the bottoms of the 4 large tomatillos (so they don’t explode) then place them on the foil. Place the 4 jalapeño peppers skin side up around the tomatillos along with the ½ onion and 3 cloves 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. 4 large tomatillos, ½ onion, 4 jalapeño peppers, 3 cloves garlic, ½ lime, Salt, ¼ cup cilantro
- Flake off any excess char (you want to keep some of it) then toss everything in a food processor along with the ¼ cup cilantro , juice from ½ lime , Salt and Pepper . Process until smooth.
