Tacos de Adobada/Tacos Al Pastor

[MacKenzie]

@Tekobo, jam packed full of flavour, wow. I can't believe I've missed doing that roadside sauce all these years. Just copied the recipe and will be trying that very very soon. Thanks.  👍👍

[tony b]

👍👍

[tony b]

That Roadside Chicken recipe goes all the way back to the old POSK Forum days. It's pretty tasty as I recall - been a long time since I made it, as I've moved on. My go-to recipe is for Cornell Chicken or Alabama White Sauce (very similar recipes.)

[Poochie]

I ended up cutting it with kitchen shears and putting it in a food processor.  I'll know next year to dye my Easter eggs with this stuff. I wish I would have read Tony's post before I did this. I eventually got all the red out by using Dawn Powerwash and some scrubbing. However, the chicken I fixed with this stuff was really good.  If fact, after I blended it with some hot and spicy sauce and a little apple cider vinegar, I dipped some chips in it and it tasted great.  I'm pretty sure my mouth and throat is stained red for the next century, but it was worth it.  Thanks for all the tips.

[tony b]

Always listen to your Elders, @Poochie!! 😆

[Poochie]

I'm as old as you are....ya old hippy!

[tony b]

19 hours ago, Poochie said:

I'm as old as you are....ya old hippy!

[Troble]

I think this is my favorite dish to cook. Haven’t made it since January 2022. I did t have any issues mixing up the Achioete paste but i broke it up into smaller pieces first then I let it sit in the olive oil and apple cider vinegar a big while I made the adobo sauce. Then I threw it all in the food processor to finish. Easy peasy, no mess easy cleanup 

 

 

[Poochie]

My next project. As usual, yours looks delicious!

[MacKenzie]

It looks fabulous, Troble.  

[tekobo]

Gosh that looks delectable @Troble.  I agree, it’s a GREAT recipe.  Looking forward to making it again soon.

[Troble]

15 minutes ago, tekobo said:

Gosh that looks delectable @Troble.  I agree, it’s a GREAT recipe.  Looking forward to making it again soon.

I will say @tekobo that you are right about the quantity of the marinade it’s a lot. I bought a small 7lb pork butt not really paying attention to the size at the store. After I froze it (per recipe) and trimmed the fat cap and sliced it for cuts that could be used on the stand it felt a little bit small for my gathering. There was probably 1/2-3/4 lb of meat still on the home that I couldn’t chop and I probably chopped 1/2 lb of fat from fat cap so I maybe had 4-5 lbs of meat and all that marinade. I went to the store the next day and picked up another pork but that was around 8 lbs, repeated the process and threw all of it in a larger bag with the original marinade. It was still plenty of marinade and I reckon I had about 9-10 lbs of meat in there 

I was able to pack the trompo king down and really stuff it full of meat and still had probably 1-2 lbs of meat in the bag.

so takeaway is that you could likely halve the marinade recipe or you could store extra marinade like @tekobosaid or double the meat quantity like I did

[MacKenzie]

Now I will post my cooks in the correct place. 😁

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2023 by MacKenzie

[PVPAUL]

So tomorrow is the big day for my first Al Pastor cook. Made the Marinade about a week or two ago and divided it in half and froze it. Just got the pork marinating in the Pastor tonight so it should be marinating for about 18 hours before the start of cooking. Made the Nixtamal with blue heirloom corn masa today so fresh tortillas will be ready also. I will get some piics of the cook and post them tomorrow or Friday (maybe a few Margaritas deep during the cook tomorrow). I really appreciate the inspiration from @Troble, @tekobo and @Syzygies .

Cheers,

Paul

[tekobo]

Looking forward to seeing the results @PVPAUL and hearing about how it went.  My hope and expectation is that it was a hit.

[PVPAUL]

So the Al Pastor cook was definitely a success and enjoyed by everybody. I did one pork shoulder so about 7lbs and we had 8 adults and could have probably fed 16-20 persons easily. This was fun to make and will definitely be in the rotation for parties. One of our amigos brought over this tequila from their last vacation to Mexico and one of the best we’ve ever had and it complimented the meal. Tacos made with Nixtamalized blue corn along with cilantro, onions, radish, pineapple, homemade salsa and Pico de gallo along with Mexican street corn salad and some Spanish rice. 

All the best,

[MacKenzie]

Wow, looks lovely and I bet it was a fun cook too.

[tekobo]

That does look like a great plate of food @PVPAUL.  And I wouldn't have minded a taste of that tequila!

Soo..given you are of Mexican origin you must know more than any of us about how Al Pastor should taste.  Was this authentic from your point of view?  I see that you put a stone underneath the pan.  Was that to keep the meat tender?  I usually try to get the base as hot as possible towards the end so that the meat that I have cut off, crisps up a bit in the pan.  Is that what you did too or should I be doing less of that and taking the meat off sooner?  Thanks. 

 

[Tyrus]

What a festive looking meal, that looks delishe'oshish.

[PVPAUL]

Hello @tekobo, unfortunately my Mexican heritage is not helping me with Al Pastor, a slightly non-politically correct comment here…My father is Mexican and my mother is German……so I sometimes jokingly refer to myself as a “Beaner Schnitzel “ HaHa!!!

I honestly loved the flavor of the Pastor. I was concerned with the quantity of achiote paste but decided to go with the recipe as outlined in the video @Troble posted. I think any bitterness that may have been present was offset by the pineapple in the tacos. 

I decided to put the patio pavers (haha) under the Trompo King as I thought this would make the base heat more consistent. I really didn’t know if I was going to leave the meat in the pan base as the rest of the pork cooked. I did stir it up the cut up meat in the base now and then and decided to leave it in there for the balance of the cook which worked out fine. We had both crispy and tender pieces in the mix. 

A couple of years ago we were in Sayulita Mexico and had Al Pastor tacos from the guy (Talivan)  in the video……while the tacos were small they were only about 80 cents each!! If you watch the video after the guys slices off meat straight into the taco he knicks off a small piece of the pineapple into the taco too….Kind of like going to Benihana’s. 

I’m planning to cook Pastor next week when my sister and her family come to our home for a long weekend vacation and will post anything worthwhile to this thread.

Today I’m cooking up 4 Pastrami’s with some corn beef briskets points I picked up on sale after St. Patty’s day!!!

All the best,