Mexico City · 3 h · Meat · Main course · For confident cooks
Tacos al pastor
In German: Tacos vom Drehspieß mit Ananas · In English: Spit-roasted pork tacos with pineapple
For 4 servings · US units
Paper-thin pork in a chile-achiote marinade with charred pineapple
Tacos al pastor are a cornerstone of Mexican cooking, born in Mexico City and as much at home on a street corner as on your own stove. A marinade of dried chiles, spices and achiote stains the pork deep red, and in a screaming-hot pan the edges caramelize — with seared pineapple alongside to push back with its sweetness. Everything goes into small, warm corn tortillas with onion, cilantro, a squeeze of lime and salsa.
Ingredients
- 1⅓ lbPork shouldercut into very thin slices
- 5dried, seeded, for the marinadeA dried, deep red Mexican chile with smooth, glossy skin, mild to medium hot, fruity and slightly tart.Substitute: The closest match is dried New Mexico or California chiles, which are similarly mild and red but less tart and complex; outside North America they are just as hard to find. Sweet paprika with a pinch of chile flakes matches the colour but not the fruity acidity or the body of soaked, puréed pods, so the dish turns out flatter.Read more
- 2dried, seeded, for the marinadeA dried ripe poblano pepper, broad, wrinkled and nearly black-red, with mild heat and a sweet flavour of raisins and cocoa.Substitute: The closest match is mulato, a darker, more chocolatey dried form of the same poblano; pasilla or guajillo also work, pasilla being more bitter, guajillo brighter, tangier and a little hotter. Ground ancho powder gives the flavour but not the smooth body of a puréed pod. Sweet paprika with a little mild chili powder is only a stopgap: the colour and warmth are roughly right, but the raisin sweetness and body are missing.Read more
- 2dried or in adobo, for heat and smokiness (optional)A smoked, dried jalapeño, smoky and assertively hot.Substitute: Hot smoked paprika topped up with a little cayenne matches the smoke and heat, but not the fruity, raisin-like depth or the body a whole pod gives a sauce.Read more
- 1⅓ ozgives the marinade its deep red colourBrick-red seasoning paste of ground annatto seeds, spices, garlic and acid, typical of Yucatán cooking.Substitute: The best option is to make it yourself from whole annatto seeds, sold in Latin American and some Asian shops; soaked or finely ground and mixed with the spices, garlic and acid, this comes very close to the original. A blend of sweet paprika, a little turmeric, oregano, cumin and vinegar matches only the colour and roughly the seasoning, while the earthy base note of annatto is lost.Read more
- ¼ cupVinegarcider, pineapple or white wine vinegar, for the marinade
- 10½ ozPineapplefresh, in slices or chunks, for searing
- 3⅓ tbspPineapple juicefor the marinade (optional)
- 3 clovesgarlicfor the marinade
- 1 tspcuminground
- 1 tspOreganodried
- 3Clovesfor the marinade
- ½ tspblack pepperground
- 4Allspiceberries, ground for the marinade (optional)
- 2bay leafwhen softening the chiles (optional)
- 1onionfinely diced for topping
- 1 bunchchopped for toppingThe fresh leaves of the coriander plant, with a bright, citrusy and slightly peppery taste.Substitute: There is no true substitute. Flat-leaf parsley, perhaps with a little lime zest, adds colour and green freshness but not cilantro's distinctive citrusy note.Read more
- 2limein wedges, to squeeze over
- 12small, to warm throughThin flatbreads made from nixtamalized corn dough, with a gently earthy corn flavour.Substitute: Homemade ones from masa harina are just as good, whereas ordinary cornmeal or polenta won't bind into a dough. Wheat tortillas work for filling but taste blander, are softer and don't crisp the same way when fried.Read more
- 2 tbspoilfor frying
- saltto taste
- salsato serve (optional)
Method
- Seed the guajillo and ancho chiles and toast them briefly on a hot comal or in a dry pan until they smell fragrant — don't let them scorch or the marinade will turn bitter. Do the same with the chipotle chiles if you want more heat and smoke.
- Cover the toasted chiles with hot water and soak for 15 minutes, or simmer them soft in vinegar and water with the bay leaves. Drain and fish out the bay leaves.
- Grind the cumin, oregano, cloves, black pepper and, if you like, the allspice. Blend the softened chiles with the achiote paste, vinegar, garlic, the ground spices and, if you like, the pineapple juice into a smooth, deep red marinade, then season with salt.
- Slice the pork shoulder paper-thin, coat it completely in the marinade and leave it covered in the fridge for at least 2 hours — overnight is better still.
- Heat the oil in a pan or on the comal until very hot and sear the meat in batches on both sides, until the edges caramelize. Chop it finely on a board and keep it warm.
- Sear the pineapple pieces in the same pan until the edges go dark, then cut them into cubes.
- Warm the corn tortillas in a dry pan until they're soft and pliable.
- Fill the tortillas with the meat and pineapple, scatter over finely diced white onion and chopped cilantro, and serve with lime wedges and salsa.
Tips and variations
Instead of the pan, you can thread meat and pineapple alternately onto wooden skewers and cook them for 10–15 minutes at 180 °C in the oven. Some cooks use a mix of pork and beef cut into cubes rather than thin slices, others drop a thick slice of pineapple or a splash of pineapple juice straight into the marinade. Another nice route: fry onion slices and garlic in oil first, simmer them with the chiles in vinegar, and braise extra onion strips along with the meat and pineapple — or simmer the raw chiles with onion and spices for 20 minutes and blend them with pineapple juice. Put the onion, cilantro, lime wedges and salsa on the table in little bowls so everyone builds their own tacos.
Allergens
Contains: Sulphur dioxide and sulphites
Not every ingredient in this recipe has been checked, so nothing is promised as free from.
These notes follow from this recipe's ingredient list. Ready-made products and brands may contain further allergens — please check the packaging yourself.
Something not right?
This recipe was put together from independent sources and checked before publishing. Even so, a mistake can slip through — an amount that does not add up, a step that does not work as written. If you spot something, write to us: we will look into it and put it right.
