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My review
Grilled Pork Tacos al Pastor
Chef John
"Al Pastor is a really popular way to prepare pork, famous in San Francisco's Mission District. It's a marinated roast pork. They make the most incredible tacos and burritos. This is inspired by those flavors."
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Ingredients
9 h 25 m servings 250 calsOriginal recipe yields 16 servings
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Directions
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Prep
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Ready In
- Place dried guajillo and pasilla chiles into a bowl and pour in boiling water to cover. Let chiles stand 30 minutes to soften.
- Cut pork tenderloins in half crosswise and in half again lengthwise again to make 8 long strips.
- Drain water from chiles and pour in pineapple juice and vinegar. Add garlic cloves, chipotle pepper, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, cumin, and oregano. Transfer chile mixture to a blender and blend to make a smooth marinade.
- Place pork into a resealable plastic bag and pour marinade over pork; knead bag several times to coat pork. Squeeze out excess air and seal the bag. Refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat outdoor grill (preferably charcoal) for high heat and lightly oil the grate.
- Remove pork from bag and drain and discard marinade; transfer pork to a platter. Drizzle meat with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and season with salt. Use tongs to gently stir pork pieces to coat lightly with oil.
- Cook pork strips on preheated grill until meat shows good grill marks and is lightly pink in the center, 7 to 8 minutes per side. An instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the center of the largest piece should read at least 145 degrees F (65 degrees C). Transfer pork to a fresh platter.
- Drizzle a nonstick skillet with 1 teaspoon vegetable oil and place over medium heat. Lay a tortilla into the hot oil and place 1 slice of Monterey Jack cheese into center of the tortilla. Cook until tortilla is hot, lightly browned on the bottom, and cheese has melted, 1 to 2 minutes. Repeat with remaining tortillas and cheese slices. Transfer each tortilla to a plate.
- Slice pork strips across the grain into pieces about 1/4 inch thick. Divide shredded cabbage onto each tortilla and top each with about 6 slices of pork, 1 tablespoon roasted tomato salsa, and a few slices of jalapeno pepper. Fold taco over fillings to eat.
Footnotes
- Cook's Notes:
- If you can't get the dried chile peppers, you can use dried ground chiles. Just be sure to use one with a name, such as ancho, instead of using generic chili powder.
- Stop putting shredded lettuce on tacos. Use shredded cabbage. It's so much better for you, crunchier, and just as easy and cheap.
Nutrition Facts
Per Serving: 250 calories; 14.7 g fat; 14.7 g carbohydrates; 22.5 g protein; 57 mg cholesterol; 478 mg sodium. Full nutrition
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Reviews
Read all reviews 7Most helpful
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12/2/2013
Wow! These turned out very tender and delicious! It's very close to what my daughter had a few weeks ago at our new favorite Mexican joint. This will definitely be in with our taco collection....
6/25/2014
Didn't have chile peppers, so used some fresh jalapenos, and cooked it in a cast iron skillet on the stove with some chunks of pineapple. Great recipe!
9/28/2016
Tacos al pastor is one of my favorites so I used this pretty much just for the meat part of the recipe. I setup toppings for the tacos and we topped them to our own tastes. The pork was really d...
4/8/2018
These were excellent! I couldn’t find the appropriate peppers so I did two fresh jalapeños. I took a bit of the marinade out before mixing with the raw pork and heat until bubbling to mix with t...
10/17/2017
Turned out good...Family liked the different taste...for myself, I wanted more spice...next time I will spice it up more.