Where I grew up, taco trucks were the place to get satisfy your taco craving. They were parked all over town and I had a few favourites I used to frequent.
None of that Taco Bell nonsense for me!
One of the most famous tacos on the menu was tacos al pastor. The crispy pork meat filling was cooking on a huge vertical spit. As it cooked, the chef would shave off the crispy bits and scoop them generously into my tacos.
I was surprised when I moved to Europe and saw the same cooking technique being done at the takeaways here.
The thing is, and this isn't known by many, the famous tacos al pastor is actually has Lebanese influences.
The history of Tacos al pastor...
The first introduction to this style of cooking was in the 1930s when Lebanese immigrants. If you've ever tried a shawarma, that's what they were making.
The Mexicans loved shawarmas and adapted the recipe.
The Lebanese used lamb for their shawarma as pork was a big no no. The Mexican used pork and for some reason unknown also added pineapple.
The pork version - tacos al pastor - was also marinated in a more Mexican style marinade like you will see in the recipe below.
To be honest, I never knew that pineapple was such a popular ingredient in tacos al pastor as they didn't use it at the taco trucks I went to.
In Mexico, however, many street food stalls top the meat with grilled pineapple pieces. I don't do this as I'm not a big fan of the fruit but if it sounds good to you, do it.
If you like this tacos al pastor recipe, you might like to try some of these too...
Pork carnitas tacos
Pico de gallo salsa
Camping burritos
Grilled fish tacos
Shredded beef tacos
Easy salsa recipe
Recipe
Tacos al Pastor
Ingredients
- 4 dried guajillo chillies
- 4 lbs (2 kg) boneless pork shoulder
- 3 tablespoons achiote paste
- 5 cloves garlic - crushed
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon pepper
- ¾ cup (175ml) white distilled vinegar
- 1 cup (250ml) pineapple juice
- 1 pineapple
Instructions
- Slice the pork shoulder into thin slices as shown above.
- Roast the dried chillies until fragrant but not yet smoking. Then blend all the marinade ingredients. Add the black pepper.
- Marinate the meat for 24 - 48 hours.
- Slice the center out of the pineapple. If you like pineapple, you can barbecue it with the meat and add chunks of roasted pineapple to your tacos al pastor.
- pre-heat your oven or barbecue to 400f (200c).
- Cook the pork for 1 and a half hours or until it begins to char on the exterior.
- Slice the charred bits off and continue cooking the pork, helping yourself to the meat when you want another taco. Season with salt to taste.
- Pile high on warmed or fried corn tortillas topped with your salsa of choice and onions to garnish.