Tacos al Pastor Recipe!
How is Tacos Al Pastor, Tacos Arabe or Arabian Tacos made?
The marinated Tacos Al Pastor meat is stacked carefully on a long spit and then is placed on the Spinning Grillers Shawarma Grill. The heat from the Spinning Grillers machine will start to sear and crisp the outside of the meat while cooking the inside. The Grill will keep the meat juicy and moist as it cooks on the vertical broiler. Grilling time depends on the amount of meat used. It usually takes between 30 to 60 minutes to cook the meat.
What is served with Tacos Al Pastor?
Traditionally, Tacos Al Pastor is served in a corn or flour tortilla with many fixings. Some of these fixings include tomato, red onions ,cilantro, pineapple slice, salsa verde and hot sauce.
How to marinate the meat?
Upon buying your meat, ask your butcher to slice it thin or you can choose to slice it yourself. Then marinate the meat as per the following recipe. Leave the meat to marinate in the fridge for 45 minutes. For best results, refrigerate overnight.
How to assemble the tower of meat?
Begin with the longer piece of meat on the bottom of the tower and start assembling the next pieces in a criss-cross manner. You can layer pieces of meat on top of each other without having to insert them through the spit. Some recipes include a layer of fat in between the stacks of meat. The purpose of adding this layer is to keep the mea moist. Place a pineapple piece on top of the tower and you are ready to grill it.
Tacos Al Pastor
Ingredients:
- 2 ½ lbs bonless pork loin thinly sliced
- ½ Cup orange juicer
- 2 Dried Guajillo Chili peppers
- 1 small chipotle Chili and 2 teaspoon adobo from canned chipotle chilies in adobo
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
- ¾ Cup pineapple juice
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ pineapple cut crosswise into 1-2 inches rounds.
Begin by putting the Guajillo peppers in 2 cups of water and boil until they soften about 3-5 minutes. Seed peppers and combine with chipotle, adobo, onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, pineapple juice, orange juice and 1/4 of the pineapple chunks in a blender and chop all together. Pour the marinade on the pork and store in the fridge overnight for best results. You can also trim the meat to make it look like a cone. See video titled "Shawarma- How to Assemble the Meat Cone."
Tacos Al Pastor Courtesy of GOYA
Ingredients:
- 5 Guajillo Chilles
- 5 Pasilla Chiles (Negro Chiles)
- 1 chipotle chile from Adobo Sauce
- 1 medium white onion, halved
- 1 can (20 oz.) Pineapple Chunks
- ¼ cup White Vinegar
- 2 tbsp. Minced Garlic
- 1 tsp. Cumin
- GOYA Adobo with Pepper, to taste
- 3 lb. boneless, skinless pork butt sliced thinly
- 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
Bring 2 cups water to boil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add guajillo and pasilla chiles. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until chiles soften, about 10 minutes; transfer to plate. Remove and discard stem and seeds. Meanwhile, coarsely chop one onion half; reserve remaining half. Strain pineapples; reserve juice and fruit separately.
Transfer guajillo, pasilla and chipotle chiles, chopped onion half, reserved pineapple juice, vinegar, garlic and cumin to bowl of food processor. Puree until smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer chile mixture to saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring chile mixture to a boil; cook until paste looses raw onion taste, about 2 minutes. season with adobo; cool. In large container with lid, or in large ziptop bag, combine pork slices, cooled chile marinade and reserved pineapple chunks; transfer to refrigerator. Marinate at least 12 hours, or up to 24 hours.
Strain pork and pineapples, discarding marinade. Stack the pork on your Spinning Grillers. See video on how to stack the meat. Cook until dark golden brown on all sides and cooked through.
Meanwhile, finely slice remaining onion half. Transfer sliced onion to bowl with cilantro.
Serve pork and pineapple mixture in warm tortillas. Garnish pork tacos with cilantro, onions and limes.
