Would you call me clinically insane if I were to tell you that one of Mexico's most famous dishes, Al Pastor, was actually semi-created by Lebanese immigrants? Well, believe it or not, late 19th century Mexicans witnessed their newly immigrated Lebanese pals cooking lamb on vertical spit-roasts and transformed what we call Shawarma into Al Pastor! While the cooking method may be derived from the Lebanese, the food itself is anything but similar. Thin slices of pork shoulder are heavily marinated with dried chilies, herbs, pineapple, and achiote paste, a natural red food colorant made from annatto seeds, then slow roasted on a vertical skewer and typically shaved off to make tacos. This popular street food has spread to the U.S. and quickly become a fan-favorite among all taco lovers. While it may require a bit of special equipment or MacGyver-like ingenuity, Al Pastor is simply among the top best meats to ever grace a tortilla and fill a hungry belly! Whether you own a fancy stainless steel vertical skewer setup or just willing to jam a skewer in a piece of pineapple, anyone can make Al Pastor at home and be the envy of the entire neighborhood. Do you want to make your next Taco Tuesday the ultimate talk of the town? Stick around and I'll show you how it's done....Let's Get Cooking!
The key to making the perfect Al Pastor is in the marinade. Nine times out of ten I try to only cook things that are standard to most pantries, but today's recipe is unique enough that it requires a few specialties from the store, although still available in most standard grocery stores. The first step we need to do for this marinade is to prepare the dried chilies. We are using 3 specific dried chilies; the mild but rich flavored pasilla, the sweet and smokey guajillo, and the spicy chile de arbol. These are three very common chilies in Mexican cuisine making them readily available in dried form at your local grocery store.
Use scissors or a knife to slice open the dried chilies to remove the stems and seeds. Place the dried chilies in near boiling water to soak for 25 minutes and rehydrate. While the chilies steep in the hot water, continue preparing the remaining ingredients for the marinade. Rough chop a white onion and add it to your blender. Additionally, add some pineapple juice, white vinegar, garlic, salt, Mexican oregano, cumin, and cinnamon as listed below on the recipe card. The other specialty ingredient required for this marinade is achiote paste, a blend of annatto seeds used mainly for natural red food coloring but also a slight peppery taste. I will admit that achiote paste is less common so you may have to visit a Mexican-specific grocery store or order it online from Amazon. It's relatively inexpensive and available in small quantities, but vital to this recipe so don't try to skimp out and replace it.
Continuing on, after the chilies have soaked and rehydrated in the hot water for 25 minutes, add them to the blender with the other marinade ingredients along with a 1/4 cup or so of the steeping liquid. It's full of chili flavor and will help loosen up our marinade so it isn't overly thick. Start with a 1/4 cup or so and add more if necessary. Blend the mixture until fully pureed and everything has been liquified. Be extremely careful at this point because that red achiote paste makes this marinade a potential stained-clothes, kitchen disaster nightmare! Also, be sure to wear gloves when handling the marinade from this point unless you enjoy red-stained hands for a week, just saying!
Now that we have made the Ultimate Al Pastor Marinade, we need to prepare the pork shoulder. Be sure to purchase a boneless, half shoulder to make things easy. They are available everywhere and are typically 4 to 5 pounds in weight making them perfect for this particular recipe. The main point here is to use pork shoulder, not pork loin or any other cut. Pork shoulder has the best meat-to-fat ratio and is the cheapest so why use anything else? Anyway, cut your pork into 1/8th to 1/4 inch wide slices. You may find it helpful to put it in the freezer for an hour or so beforehand to make slicing easier. I did mine by hand with a very sharp chef's knife, but feel free to pull out your meat slicer and make super thin slices if you enjoy washing extra equipment or feel the need to get extra fancy.
In a large mixing bowl, add the marinade to the thin-sliced pork and mix it well so that everything is completely covered. Wear gloves and use your hands to fully coat the pork for two reasons. One, we didn't make the marinade just to get dirty and stain our kitchen or clothes and two, we are only going to marinate the pork for 6 to 8 hours and sliced it thin for that reason so make sure it is entirely covered! When you have done your due diligence and thoroughly coated the pork slices, cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
After at least 6 hours, remove the marinated pork from the refrigerator about an hour before cooking. This will give it a little time to warm up to room temperature for more even cooking. Now, this preparation step can be a bit tedious and requires either a stainless steel vertical skewer or you can make your own and save a few bucks. I would suggest just making your own by sticking a regular skewer or wooden dowel into the bottom core of a fresh pineapple the first time. Place that in a shallow baking dish or cast-iron pan to catch any drippings or pieces of meat. You can also opt to use 2 skewers offset from the center for a bit more stability. You will, however, likely find yourself making this recipe multiple times so eventually ordering the fancy pants stainless version will pay off, plus you can use it for shawarma, gyros, or even whole roasted chickens in your oven, smoker, or on the grill. They are quite the versatile cooking tool! Mine came with 3 different length vertical skewers and only cost around $30 on Amazon. Oh, and before I forget, check your oven shelves to make sure your completed tower will fit whether using the homemade or fancy vertical skewer. You don't want to have to move hot racks once everything is preheated and ready.
Anyway, the very bottom layer of your Al Pastor pork tower will be an inch or so thick bottom ring of fresh pineapple. Then, throw some gloves back on and let any excess marinade drip off your pork slices before layering them up the skewer. Rotate them directionally as you go to keep things mostly round and even. Any extra little scraps of pork or trimmings can simply be laid on top of a regular slice close to the skewer and covered with another full slice to hold them in place. It sounds much more difficult than it reads, but just trust me and follow the process. My pork tower ended up being around a foot tall of thin slices and only took about 10 minutes or so to layer so preheat your oven or smoker to 250 degrees Fahrenheit during the process. It honestly seems much more intimidating than it actually ends up being. Any extra chunks or leftover pieces can simply be placed around that bottom pineapple ring, which as you can see below basically disappeared on mine. Top your Al Pastor tower with another thick slice of pineapple, which will help baste those juices down through the pork as it cooks.
Once your tower is complete and oven or smoker at 250 degrees, slide it in and let it cook 3 to 4 hours, until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees Fahrenheit. I set up a wireless thermometer to make my life easy, but you can also just probe it after 3 hours and watch it from there. Once you hit the target temperature, remove the Al Pastor and let it rest a few minutes so all those juices can redistribute throughout the pork and keep things tender and tasty!
To serve your Al Pastor, use a sharp knife and simply carve in a downward motion shaving off the sides of the pork tower. You will end up with countless little pieces of meat perfect for tacos, burritos, or just about any imaginable way you wish to serve up this masterpiece! While the pork itself is plenty great on its own, be sure to serve it with some corn tortillas, finely diced white onion, fresh cilantro, lime wedges, and maybe even some pico de gallo. Additionally, be sure to dice up the rest of that fresh pineapple we used to make our base and top rings. A few small chunks or pineapple with the Al Pastor truly create the street food taco of your dreams! Once you are done with your meal, simply slice off the remaining pork and store in a sealable container. The pork reheats well and there is nothing like making your coworkers jealous than chowing down on a few of these bad boy 'tacos al pastor' while they look on and drool!
What do you think? Will you be giving this recipe a try for your next Taco Tuesday or Fiesta del Cinco de Mayo? I freely admit a few ingredients and possibly even that fancy vertical skewer will have to be bought, but once you try this once you will be instantly addicted and happy for life! Besides, the dried chilies and vertical skewer can be used in so many other Mexican dishes and preparations they will more than pay off to keep handy in your pantry going forward. Don't be intimidated, head over to the kitchen, and make some Al Pastor or other delicious food to feed the ones you love...Just Keep Cooking!
AL PASTOR
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