Tacos el Pastor
This classic dish was inspired by the Shawarma made by Lebanese immigrants to Mexico. They adapted this dish to use an adobo sauce and pork. This is a great party dish, where everyone can make their own tacos according to what they like. The sauce is spicy, but not overly so. It also makes a generous amount of sauce so you can either slather it on the pork and veggies, or make another dish another day with it (I’m going to marinate some chicken breast in my leftovers).
You can either make or buy your adobo sauce and green salsa, depending on your time or interest. I made the adobo but bought the green salsa because tomatillos are hard to find in my area.
This dish was inspired by recipes from Arnie Tex, Kent Rollins, and Tastes Better from Scratch.
Tacos el Pastor
Notes
Adobo marinated pork steak on the rotisserie, along with some sauced pineapple and onions on the grill.
Ingredients
- Adobo Marinade:
- 6 dried guajillo chilies, de-seeded
- 4 ancho chilis, de-seeded
- 3 chilis de arbo (or red cayenne chilies) de-seeded
- 6 garlic cloves, cut in half
- 1 white onion, quartered
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup neutral oil
- ½ cup crushed pineapple
- ½ cup pineapple juice (from the pineapple rings)
- 2 Tbsp seasoning (Creole or Cavenders)
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- 2 Tbsp achiote paste (optional)
- 2 Tbsp lime juice (1 lime)
- Green Salsa:
- 2-4 Jalapenos
- 4-6 Tomatillos or small green tomatoes
- ½ white onion
- 1 bunch of Cilantro
- ¼ cup of water
- 1 Avocado
- Tacos:
- 4-5# of Pork Shoulder Steak, deboned and cut into palm sized pieces
- 24 soft corn tortillas
- Green salsa
- 1 red or white onion sliced
- 1 large can pineapple rings
- Cilantro, chopped
- Queso fresco
- Limes, quartered
Instructions
- Place the chilies, garlic cloves, onion and bay leaf in a in a sauce pan. Cover with water and bring to a boil for about 10 minutes, or until the peppers are tender and the water turns red.
- Remove the peppers, onion and garlic from the sauce pan (keep the water for now) and place in a blender. Blend until smooth.
- Add the rest of the marinade ingredients to the blender and blend through. If it’s too thick, add some of the red water and blend.
- While the mixture cools, cut your pork steaks into palm size boneless pieces
- When the adobo is cooled, pour some into the bottom of a large bowl or casserole dish. Place some of the pork into the bowl and then alternate the adobo and pork steaks. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours and preferably overnight.
- Preheat the grill or smoker of your choice to 350 degrees. When it reaches temp, add some oak or mesquite wood for smoke.
- Use a skewer stand, a rotisserie, or place the meal on the grill grates, and cook the meat to 145 degrees F, basting every 15 to 20 minutes with the leftover adobo sauce until the meat is done.
- Combine all of the salsa ingredients except the avocado and blend until mostly smooth. Add the avocado (without the skin) and just pulse for 2-3 times. Season with salt just before serving.
- Adding the pit from the avocado will keep it from browning.
- Grill the onion slices and the pineapple rings for the last 10-15 minutes, basting it with some of the adobo.
- Warm the corn tortillas on the grill or in a skillet.
- Cut the cooked meat into thin strips.
- Top each tortilla with a large helping of the meat, onions and pineapple, then top with queso fresco cheese, salsa and cilantro, spritz with lime juice and serve.