street food

🥄 Pairs well with: Salsa Verde Cruda, Salsa Roja de Chile de Árbol

Real al pastor is cooked on a trompo (literally “spinning top”), a vertical spit stacked with marinated pork, crowned with a pineapple and shaved to order by a taquero with a flick of the wrist. Most of us do not have one in the kitchen. Good news: with thin-sliced pork shoulder, a bold adobo and a two-stage cooking method, you can get the charred edges and juicy interior at home.

Ingredients

For the adobo

• 4 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 2 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 3 tbsp achiote paste
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

For the tacos

• 2 1/2 lb (1.1 kg) boneless pork shoulder, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1/2 fresh pineapple, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch rings
• 16 small corn tortillas
• 1 white onion, finely diced
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• Limes and salsa verde, to serve

Timing

Stage	Time
Prep (toast chiles, blend adobo, slice pork)	30 minutes
Marinate	4 to 12 hours
Broil stacked pork	25 minutes
Rest, slice and sear	10 minutes
Total active time	About 1 hour 5 minutes

Method

1. Toast the guajillo and ancho chiles in a dry skillet for 20 to 30 seconds per side until fragrant. Cover with hot water and soak for 15 minutes.
2. Drain the chiles and blend with the achiote, pineapple juice, vinegar, garlic, oregano, cumin, cloves and salt until completely smooth.
3. Toss the pork slices in the adobo until every piece is coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
4. Heat the broiler to high and set a rack about 6 inches from the element. Line a sheet pan with foil.
5. Stack the pork slices tightly into a compact “mini trompo” loaf about 4 inches wide on the sheet pan. Lay pineapple rings around it.
6. Broil for 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is deeply charred and the center reaches 150°F (65°C). Rest 5 minutes.
7. Slice the stack thinly across the layers, then sear the slices in a smoking-hot cast-iron skillet for 1 to 2 minutes to crisp the edges.
8. Chop the charred pineapple. Pile pork into warm tortillas and top with onion, cilantro, pineapple, a squeeze of lime and salsa.

Tips for better al pastor

• Slice partially frozen pork. Thirty minutes in the freezer makes 1/4-inch slices easy.
• Do not skip the skillet sear. The broiler cooks; the skillet makes it taste like the taquería.
• Double-stack your tortillas the way street stands do, so juicy pork does not blow through.
• Leftovers make an excellent gringa: al pastor and melted cheese in a flour tortilla.

Curious where this dish came from? Read how Lebanese immigrants gave Mexico al pastor.