Tacos al pastor

Ingredients

Adobo

• 6guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 3ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 2chiles de arbol
• 2 tbspachiote (annatto) paste
• 5garlic cloves
• ½white onion
• 120 mlwhite vinegar
• 120 mlpineapple juice
• 1 tspdried Mexican oregano
• 1 tspcumin seed, toasted
• 4cloves
• ½ tspblack peppercorns
• 1 tbspsalt
• 1 tbspsugar

Meat and spit

• 1.5 kgpork shoulder, cut across the grain into slices 5 mm thick, fat left on
• 300 gpork back fat or streaky belly, sliced thin, for layering
• ½fresh pineapple, peeled and cut into thick rounds
• 1white onion, cut into thick rounds

To serve

• 24small corn tortillas, warmed on a comal
• 1white onion, finely chopped
• 1large bunch coriander, chopped
• 3limes, in wedges
• Salsa verde or a chile de arbol salsa
• Grilled pineapple, chopped small

Directions

1. Toast the chiles on a dry comal for 20 seconds a side until they smell sweet, then soak them in hot water for 25 minutes.
2. Blend the drained chiles with the achiote, garlic, onion, vinegar, pineapple juice, oregano, cumin, cloves, pepper, salt and sugar to a completely smooth adobo, then sieve it. It should be thick enough to coat a spoon and stain everything it touches deep red.
3. Turn the pork slices in the adobo so every surface is coated, cover, and marinate in the fridge for at least 12 hours and up to 24. The vinegar and pineapple both tenderise, so do not go far beyond a day or the meat turns mushy.
4. Build the trompo. Push a slice of onion onto a vertical spit or a sturdy skewer set in a loaf tin, then stack the pork slices flat one on top of another, slipping a slice of back fat in every fourth layer, pressing each down hard so there are no gaps. Cap the top with a thick round of pineapple and a slice of onion.
5. Cook it: on a vertical rotisserie next to a gas flame, or in a 200°C (400°F) oven with the stack standing in a tin, for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, until the outside is dark red-brown and crisping and the internal temperature at the centre reaches 75°C (165°F). The fat and the pineapple juice baste the stack as it goes.
6. Rest 10 minutes, then shave. Hold a long sharp knife against the outside of the stack and slice downward in thin strips, taking only the browned exterior; the classic taquero move is to catch the falling meat on a tortilla held in the other hand.
7. Crisp the shavings for 30 seconds on a very hot comal or plancha if the outside has not caught enough. Every taco should have some charred edge in it.
8. Char the remaining pineapple rounds on the comal until marked and hot, then chop small.
9. Warm the tortillas properly, in pairs, until soft and pliable. Al pastor is always served on doubled small tortillas so they do not tear.
10. Fill each with a small heap of meat, a pinch of onion and coriander, a few pieces of pineapple, salsa and a hard squeeze of lime. Eat immediately, standing up, and order the next round.

Technique

• Al pastor is Lebanese shawarma remade in Mexico by Lebanese migrants to Puebla in the mid twentieth century: the vertical spit and the shaving technique are the inheritance, the chile-achiote adobo and the corn tortilla are what Mexico did with it.
• The pineapple is argued about. Most taquerias crown the trompo with it and serve pieces on the taco; many purists keep it out of the adobo itself, since its enzymes break down the meat if it sits too long.
• Layering the fat between the slices is not optional. It renders through the stack as it turns and is what stops the meat drying out on a home rotisserie.
• Shave only the crisp outside and return the stack to the heat. Slicing deep into raw interior meat is the most common home mistake and gives pale, steamed pork instead of caramelised edges.

Substitutions

• No spit: press the marinated slices into a loaf tin, roast at 200°C (400°F) for 1 hour, then chill, slice thin and crisp the slices hard on a plancha. It is not the same, but it is the standard home workaround.
• No achiote paste: 2 tbsp of ground annatto seed with 1 tsp of white vinegar and a pinch of oregano approximates the colour and earthy note.
• Pork shoulder can be replaced by thin-cut chicken thigh, though the result is properly a taco de pastor de pollo and is drier.

Variations

• Gringas serve the same meat with cheese between two flour tortillas, griddled until the cheese runs.
• Tacos arabes, the Puebla ancestor of the dish, use a pita-like flatbread and a much simpler cumin-and-garlic seasoning without chile.
• Volcanes are the meat piled on a crisped tortilla with melted cheese instead of a soft one.

History

Brought to Mexico by Lebanese immigrants in the early 1900s, who arrived with shawarma: lamb stacked and roasted on a vertical spit, carved off in thin strips. Cooks in central Mexico, especially Puebla and Mexico City, swapped in the pork more available locally, added a dry adobo of dried chilies, achiote and pineapple, and kept the vertical trompo spit — the same rig, the same knife motion, an entirely different marinade. The pineapple on top of the spit is both flavour and function: its juice drips down and tenderizes the meat as it turns. What reads today as quintessentially Mexican street food is, by build, an adapted Middle Eastern one.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tacos al pastor?

Tacos al pastor is a street food from Mexico: chile-marinated pork shaved from a spit, with pineapple and coriander. Brought to Mexico by Lebanese immigrants in the early 1900s, who arrived with shawarma: lamb stacked and roasted on a vertical spit, carved off in thin strips. Cooks in central Mexico, especially Puebla and Mexico City, swapped in the pork more available locally, added a dry adobo of dried chilies, achiote and pineapple, and kept the vertical trompo spit — the same rig, the same knife motion, an entirely different marinade. The pineapple on top of the spit is both flavour and function: its juice drips down and tenderizes the meat as it turns. What reads today as quintessentially Mexican street food is, by build, an adapted Middle Eastern one.

How long does Tacos al pastor take to make?

Tacos al pastor takes 40 min plus overnight marinating of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings, about 24 small tacos. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Tacos al pastor?

Yes, within limits. No spit: press the marinated slices into a loaf tin, roast at 200°C (400°F) for 1 hour, then chill, slice thin and crisp the slices hard on a plancha. It is not the same, but it is the standard home workaround. No achiote paste: 2 tbsp of ground annatto seed with 1 tsp of white vinegar and a pinch of oregano approximates the colour and earthy note. Pork shoulder can be replaced by thin-cut chicken thigh, though the result is properly a taco de pastor de pollo and is drier.

What is the most important thing to get right in Tacos al pastor?

Turn the pork slices in the adobo so every surface is coated, cover, and marinate in the fridge for at least 12 hours and up to 24. The vinegar and pineapple both tenderise, so do not go far beyond a day or the meat turns mushy.