Tacos al Pastor

Tacos al pastor is a taco dish filled with shawarma style grilled guajillo rubbed pork, grilled pineapples, onions and cilantro, in short it is a Mexican Middle Eastern wrap mashup.

Tacos al pastor is a taco dish filled with shawarma style grilled guajillo rubbed pork, grilled pineapples, onions and cilantro, in short it is a Mexican Middle Eastern wrap mashup. This dish was created in Central Mexico brought by Lebanese immigrants inspired by the lamb based shawarma hence the name “Al Pastor”, shepherd style.

Unlike its Lebanese counterpart this dish is made out of pork, it is similarly cooked in a vertical rotisserie called a trompo with a piece of fresh onion and a pineapple on top which makes the meat tender due to the enzymes of the dripping pineapple juice.

I was surprised the first time I had this dish, I never knew that pineapples would work really well with tacos. The spices, the savoury pork, sweet and tangy pineapple with the sour lime makes this dish really stand out compared to other tacos I had before, I love it, in fact this would be the best taco variation I had so far.

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Tacos al Pastor

★★★★★ 4.8 from 8 reviews

• Author: Raymund
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 40 mins
• Category: Main Course
• Cuisine: Mexican

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Description

Tacos al pastor is a taco dish filled with shawarma style grilled guajillo rubbed pork, grilled pineapples, onions and cilantro, in short it is a Mexican Middle Eastern wrap mashup.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Taco

• 1 kg pork shoulder chops or fatty pork loin, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
• 1 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into rounds 1/2 inch thick slices
• 1 white onion, finely chopped
• small tortillas
• handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
• creamy avocado dressing
• tomato salsa
• lime wedges

Grilled Pork Marinade

• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 white onion, halved
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 4 tbsp chili powder
• 6 garlic cloves
• 2 pcs jalapeno pepper
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp cumin

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Instructions

1. In a blender combine all Grilled Pork ingredients and 3 pineapple slices, puree until marinade is smooth.
2. Place pork in large resealable plastic bag and pour the marinade making sure pork pieces are coated evenly. Remove air from bag, seal then let it marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
3. In a grill, cook pork slices for 5 minutes per side then set aside.
4. Grill the remaining pineapples for 5 minutes on each side or until slightly charred.
5. Place pork pieces in a large chopping board and slice pork into thin slices. Do the same with your pineapples.
6. Combine sliced pork, sliced pineapples, onion and cilantro in a bowl then toss to combine.
7. Serve pork mixture with warmed tortillas, tomato salsa, creamy avocado dressing and lime wedges.

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