Tacos al pastor are one of our most popular and beloved street tacos. Marinated pork slow-cooked between pineapple chunks and served with fresh coriander and onions over corn tortillas. Pure beauty! You can easily make them at home on the air fryer or in a frying pan, the secret is the lovely marinade where guajillos, anatto and a few other spices are blended until smooth, ready to infuse the pork with beautiful flavour and colours.
Al Pastor Adobo
-5 garlic cloves
-¼ white onion
-4 bay leaves
-1 tbsp vegetable oil
-⅓ cup pineapple chunks
-⅓ cup water
-⅓ cup white vinegar
-4 allspice
-8 peppercorns
-3 cloves
-¼ tsp oregano
-¼ tsp cumin
-¼ tsp ginger
-1 tbsp achiote/annatto paste
-1 tsp salt
1 Clean the guajillo chiles by removing the stem, seeds and veins. Cut them into three or four pieces.
2 Set a frying pan to medium heat and add the oil. Once hot, fry the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes, turning them often to avoid burning them. Add the guajillo chile pieces and the bay leaves. Fry them for a couple of minutes, turning them often. Once the chiles are bright red and fragrant, pour the water and the vinegar into the pan, bring to a simmer and cook under a lid for 10 minutes on low heat. Allow it to cool for at least 15 minutes once the heat is off.
3 If you have a powerful blender, you can add the spices directly to it, but you can also grind them ahead on a mortar or spice grinder.
4 Once the guajillo mixture has cooled down add it to a blender with the spices, pineapple chunks, chipotles in adobo, annatto paste and salt. Blend until smooth.
Al Pastor Tacos
-1kg pork shoulder steaks or boneless pork chops
-Adobo
-wood skewers (for air fryer cooking instructions)
-vegetable oil, the necessary
-pineapple, to taste
-white onion, diced
-fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
-lime wedges
1 Place the pork steaks in between plastic wrap and pound until thin and even. Place them on a shallow container and brush them generously on both sides with the adobo. Ideally, allow the pork to marinate overnight or for at least two hours.
Air fryer
1 Measure the wooden skewers so they fit inclined inside the air fryer basket and cut them if necessary. Submerge the wooden skewers in water for a few minutes.
2 Chop the pineapple into even-sized cubes that match the pork steaks.
3 Chop the marinated pork steaks into even-sized cubes that match the pineapple chunks.
4 Assemble the wooden skewers with pineapple first and a few pork pieces after and close with another pineapple piece.
5 Arrange as many skewers as possible inside the air fryer, trying that they do not overlap each other. Fry on 175C for 12 to 15 minutes until nicely charred on all sides. Cooking times may vary depending on your fryer.
Frying Pan
1 Set a frying or grill pan to medium heat and add about a tablespoon of oil. Once hot, fry the marinated pork steaks for three minutes on each side. Work in batches, and set them aside. If the marinade collects on the pan and burns, remove it with a spatula before frying the next pork steak.
2 Once you have fried all the pork steaks, slice them thinly. Add a little bit more oil to the pan and fry some pineapple chunks and the sliced pork for a couple of minutes until nicely charred and ready to serve.
To Serve
1 Warm the corn tortillas and keep them warm inside one of our tortilla warmers or a tea towel.
2 Serve the pastor with little bits of pineapple and top with plenty of fresh diced onions and coriander.
3 Enjoy your tacos with freshly squeezed lime juice and your favourite salsa!
Do you love to make homemade tacos? Try our latest Tacollection where you will find our favourite recipes to enjoy real Mexican Twists at home! Find it here.
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