al pastor
al pastor
I have a recipe for you to try… This one is special. For most who know me…you know how much I love TACOS and PORK… to blend the two to become Al Pastor is MAGICAL. Nothing is better than well seasoned pork, cooked to perfection and cradled in a white corn tortilla. Well…. ok… there is one or two other things but this is a family “show.”
If you have not had Al Pastor before… I suggest you run, not walk to your nearest AUTHENTIC mexican restaurant and order Al Pastor tacos prior to trying this recipe just so you can make a comparison that is real in your taste bud archive.
Now.. I’ve never made Al Pastor, nor anything like it. It’s not hard, easy in fact. It’s just one of those dishes that I’d rather eat out than try to make at home, until I actually did it. So now it’ll be hard to eat it out when I know this recipe works so well and tastes JUST as good if not BETTER than anything you will find in a restaurant.
Ok.. here goes… you’ll need an old (or new) coffee grinder to use for grinding your own spice blend that goes in the marinade; a ziplock bag; a hand blender or blender; a grill and about 6-8 hours to marinate pork tenderloin.
Ingredients:
6-8 dried guajillo peppers
2 dried chipolte peppers
5 dried chile d’arbol
1 teaspoon whole cumin seed
1 teaspoon dried mexican oregano
3 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon hot chile powder
(grind all of the above in the spice grinder aka coffee grinder to a powder)
1 small white onion or 1/2 of a large one
8oz canned pineapple with juice
5 cloves garlic
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup tequila
1/2 cup chile honey (Whole foods carries it… if not available regular honey will do)
(liquify the above five ingredients with the hand blender or blender)
Mix all of the above to combine with 3 tablespoons of canola oil
2.5-3# (one whole package of pork tenderloins) of pork tenderloin, patted dry and sliced LONG ways into strips
Add to marinade in ziplock bag and refrigerate.
Your marinade should yield close to 4 cups of liquid, add the strips of tenderloin and let rest in the fridge for no more than 8 hours.
Miscellaneous items:
1 whole, ripe pineapple
corn tortillas
dice onion
cilantro
foil
Fire up the grill and when it’s HOT, strip the pineapple of its skin and slice 1/2 of it into pineapple “slabs” and grill long enough to get some color and wrap in foil while pork cooks.
Now it’s PORK time….
Pull the pork from the marinade and slap it on the hot side of the grill and let it go until its all nice an charr-y brown… then flip it over. keep your meat moving until it’s all good and carmel-y looking and slightly charred. When the meat is done… (15 minutes or so) pull it off and let it rest under foil. While the Pork is resting, chop the grilled pineapple into a small dice (1/4 in x 1/4 in-ish) and add to a bowl. Slice or chop the pork roughly the same size as the pineapple and mix together with the pineapple.
Warm the tortillas wrapped in a damp paper towel in the microwave or in a non-stick pan individually. Portion meat mix evenly amongst tortillas, top with cilantro and onions….
EAT. EAT and REPEAT….
Enjoy!!!!
