Mexico · Mexican street food (Mexico City)
Tacos al pastor
Thin slices of pork marinated in a red adobo of dried chiles, achiote and pineapple, roasted until caramelised and crisp at the edges, served in warm corn tortillas with charred pineapple, onion and coriander.
Cookhuddle Editorial Cookhuddle | Mexico
Editorial selection: recipes cross-checked against several documentary sources. They have not been tested in our kitchen: follow the precautions given and adapt times to your own oven.
Photo: Isaacvp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source · cropped
translation Translated from Spanish. Translation by Cookhuddle Editorial. Read the original
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- Servings
- 8
- Preparation
- 30 min
- Cooking
- 70 min
- Resting
- 720 min
- Total
- About 820 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
Cuisine / tradition: Mexican street food (Mexico City) (MX) — declared by the author
- Main dish
- Street food
- Baked
Ingredients
For 8 servings
- 6 piece dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 2 piece dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 50 g achiote paste
- 150 ml pineapple juice
- 80 ml white vinegar
- 4 clove garlic cloves
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1.2 kg boneless pork shoulder, sliced 5 mm thick
- 500 g fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and cut in 1 cm rings
- 1 piece white onion, finely chopped
- 1 bunch coriander, chopped
- 16 piece small corn tortillas
- 4 piece limes, in wedges
Method
- Step 1. Toast the guajillo and ancho chiles in a dry pan for 30 seconds per side. Soak them in hot water for 15 minutes, then drain, keeping 100 ml of the soaking water.⏱ 15 min
- Step 2. Blend the chiles with the reserved soaking water, the achiote, pineapple juice, vinegar, garlic, oregano, cumin, sugar and salt for 2 minutes until perfectly smooth.⏱ 2 min
- Step 3. Coat the pork slices thoroughly with the adobo in a non-metallic bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally 12 hours.
- Step 4. Heat the oven to 200 °C. Press the marinated slices tightly, layer upon layer, into a loaf tin or around a skewer standing in a roasting tin, to imitate the trompo, and put 2 pineapple rings on top. Cover with foil.
- Step 5. Roast for 40 minutes, remove the foil and roast for 20 minutes more, until the top is caramelised and the pork is tender. Check the pork with a thermometer pushed into the centre of the block: it must reach at least 70 °C and no longer be pink; if not, roast 10 minutes more. Rest for 10 minutes.⏱ 60 min
- Step 6. Meanwhile, grill the remaining pineapple rings in a very hot pan for 3 minutes per side until charred, then chop them finely.⏱ 6 min
- Step 7. Slice the pork thinly from the outside of the stack, then crisp the slices for 1 minute in a very hot pan with a little of the fat.⏱ 1 min
- Step 8. Warm the tortillas for 30 seconds per side. Fill each with pork, pineapple, a spoonful of chopped onion and coriander, and serve with lime wedges and your favourite salsa.
Story and cultural note
Tacos al pastor descend from the shawarma that Lebanese immigrants brought to Mexico in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Sources place the adaptation in Puebla in the 1930s, under the name tacos árabes, or in Mexico City, where by the 1920s pork had replaced lamb and cooks marinated it in a dried-chile adobo and served it on corn tortillas; by the 1960s the taco al pastor was popular. In the taquerías the meat is stacked on a vertical spit, the trompo, and shaved into the tortilla, often with a piece of pineapple on top. The sources do not agree on dates or place. This recipe, roasted as a stack in a domestic oven, imitates the trompo: it is a home adaptation, not the traditional method.
Tips for success
Slice the pork thin (5 mm) and press it tightly into the tin: the compact block gives the juicy, caramelised edges of the trompo. Marinate overnight for depth. Finish the sliced meat in a very hot pan for the crisp edges. Warm the tortillas just before serving.
Serving and presentation
Serve immediately on a board, with the pork, chopped pineapple, onion, coriander, lime and a red or green salsa, so that everyone fills their own tortillas.
Diet and allergens
Information declared by the author. CookHuddle does not verify or certify it. If you have an allergy, check the ingredients yourself.
DietGluten-freeDairy-freeEgg-freeNut-free
Containsnone declared
May contain traces ofSulphites
