Tacos al Pastor

Tacos al Pastor

Tacos al pastor, a Mexican street-food staple, are a perfect synthesis of local flavors (pineapple, chiles, annatto), Spanish influence (pork, adobo), and Middle Eastern technique (a spinning, shawarma-style vertical rotisserie). The synthesis comes from Mexico’s history, but perfection comes from the combination of sweet pineapple, spicy meat and fragrant corn. This recipe, from the chef Gabriela Cámara, provides an easy way to make it at home; try boneless chicken thighs if you don’t want pork. Either way, make sure to blot the meat until very dry before cooking it so you get a hard sear that mimics the char of a grill. —Julia Moskin

Yield: 12 tacos (3 to 4 servings)

For the Adobo (marinade)

2 dried cascabel chiles

1 dried ancho or guajillo chile

2 plum tomatoes, halved and cored

¼ small white onion

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1 to 2 chiles de árbol (depending on how much heat you like), stems removed

3 garlic cloves

1 whole clove or ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon ground achiote (annatto) seeds

Pinch of ground cumin

Pinch of dried oregano

1 tablespoon kosher salt

For the Tacos

2 pounds pork tenderloin, thinly sliced crosswise then cut into bite-size slices and shreds

Kosher salt

1 cup small chunks fresh pineapple

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

12 corn tortillas

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more as needed

Minced white onion and chopped fresh cilantro, in separate bowls, for topping

Hot sauce and lime wedges, for topping

Make the marinade: Break off the stem ends of the cascabel and ancho (or guajillo) chiles and shake out and discard the seeds. Place chiles in a saucepan and pour over cold water to just cover. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then turn off the heat and let the chiles soak, 15 minutes.

In a blender, combine tomatoes, onion, oil, citrus juices, stemmed chile de árbol, garlic, clove, achiote seeds, cumin, oregano and salt. Add the soaked chiles and a few tablespoons of the soaking water and purée until smooth. Add more of the soaking water if needed to make a thin paste. Set aside about ½ cup of the marinade for cooking.

Sprinkle the meat with salt. Place in a container, add remaining marinade, and mix until well coated. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight. (The recipe can be made up to this point up to 1 day in advance.) Bring to room temperature before cooking.

Combine the pineapple and sugar in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Stir often until the sugar is melted and the pineapple is caramelized, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 225 degrees. Prepare a tortilla basket or slightly damp clean dish towel. On a griddle or in a heavy skillet, warm the tortillas on both sides until hot and blistered, stacking them in the basket or wrapped in the towel. Transfer to the oven until ready to serve.

Place a large, heavy skillet over high heat. Drain off all excess liquid from the meat and blot between layers of paper towels. Add the oil to the hot skillet, swirl to heat through, then add 2 tablespoons marinade. Let sizzle for a moment, then add the meat, spreading it out in a single layer. (If your skillet is smaller than 12 inches, cook in batches to avoid crowding the pan.) Let meat cook undisturbed over high heat until browned on the bottom, then sauté over high heat, stirring often, until cooked through but still moist, about 5 minutes. After 3 minutes, taste and stir in more reserved marinade as needed. When cooked, transfer to a serving bowl.

Place everything on the table, including the toppings, and serve at once.

TIP: Like Gyros or Doner Kebab, Al Pastor refers to meat stacked onto a vertical spit, which is then sliced off the outside as it cooks. Put the pork loin in the freezer for 20 minutes or so to firm it up. You'll have an easier time slicing it thin, then put it in the marinade. A dash of liquid smoke in the marinade is a nice cheat, if you like smoky meat.

*I was too lazy to pat mine dry but cooking it in a 12" cast iron pan created the char I was looking for that reminded me of when I had Al Pastor in Puerto Vallarta. As long as you have a searing hot pan and don't overcrowd it, it should do the trick. :)

*Marinate before and sauce after. Marinate >> Cook >> Sauce. Marinate the meat reserving a small portion (this recipe says 1/2c) to help additionally flavor the meat during cooking. Using the marinade after cooking would do very little in getting flavor penetration and also ruining the crispiness that you're trying to achieve on the meat.

*I make this similarly but pound the pork after slicing the disks. Then cut two 1-inch slices of pineapple for the top and bottom supports. I set 3-4 skewers through a pineapple and then layer the pork, finishing off with the final slice of pineapple to hold the skewers together. I cook at 275F for two to three hours. It doesn't have to be cooked all the way. Let it rest until manageably cool. Slice thinly and mix with pineapple then saute on high in cast iron until crisp/cooked.

*Excellent recipe. Here’s the lazy version with what I had at home. Instead of the dried peppers, I used gochugang powder, Aleppo pepper flakes, plenty of smoked pimentón de la vera and a splash of La Morena chipotle sauce. I am a purist from Mexico City and the pastor flavor came through. You gotta use corn tortillas and all the trimmings for real al pastor delight. Also excellent for fish al pastor tacos, like Chef Camara serves at Contramar, her fabulous restaurant in Mexico City.

*Delicious and pleasing. Marinade is similar to a homemade adobo sauce; used 2 pasilla chilis instead of cascabel, 1 tsp ancho chili powder instead of dried ancho chili (this all is what was available locally). A little extra fresh orange juice for the sweetness to cut down spiciness of the red chilis de arbol. Pineapple takes longer to caramelize (20 minutes). Used red onion instead of white. Didn't add marinade when sauteeing the meat, but people used the reserved marinade as sauce on tacos.

Birria de Res (Beef Birria)

Birria de Res (Beef Birria)

Birria took off in the United States as a soupy style made with beef and as birria tacos, popularized by birria vendors in Tijuana. The chef Josef Centeno, who grew up eating beef and goat birria in Texas, makes a delicious, thickly sauced version based on his grandma Alice’s recipe, mixing up the proteins by using oxtail, lamb on the bone and even tofu (you can, too). Preparing the adobo takes time, as does browning the meat, but it’s worth it for the deep flavors in the final dish. The best way to serve birria is immediately and simply, in a bowl, with some warm corn tortillas, which can be used to wrap the meat for tacos. But make sure to put any leftovers to work: Extra meat, pulled from the bones, can be shredded for crisp quesabirria tacos, fried in the birria fat for cheesy, lacy edges. And the leftover broth, or consomé, is ideal for a comforting bowl of birria ramen, with an egg and some fresh herbs on top. —Tejal Rao

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

2 poblano chiles

5 guajillo chiles, seeded, stemmed and halved lengthwise

5 pounds bone-in beef shoulder, cut into large pieces, or goat or lamb stew cuts on the bone

1 tablespoon fine sea salt

¼ cup neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed

1 medium white onion, finely chopped

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

6 garlic cloves, peeled

2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger

2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano

2 teaspoons toasted white sesame seeds

½ teaspoon ground cumin

4 cloves

Fresh black pepper

1 cinnamon stick

2 fresh or dried bay leaves

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 limes, quartered

Corn tortillas, warmed

Heat the oven to 325 degrees.

Prepare the chiles: Use tongs to place the poblano chiles directly over the open flame of a gas burner set to high. Cook the poblanos until totally charred all over, turning as needed, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap so the poblanos can steam. After 10 minutes, use your fingers to pull the blackened skins away from the poblanos, then remove the stems and seeds. Roughly chop the poblanos and set aside.

While the poblano chiles steam, place a large skillet over medium heat. Working in batches to cook the guajillo chiles evenly in one layer, flatten the chile halves on the hot skillet and toast them for about 15 seconds, turning once. Put the chiles in a bowl and add 2 cups hot water to help soften them. Set aside.

Prepare the meat: Season the meat all over with the salt. Heat the oil in a large, oven-proof pot over medium-high. Working in batches, sear the meat on all sides until well browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side, transferring the browned meat to a large bowl as you work.

After you’ve seared all the meat, add the onion to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 5 minutes. Return all the meat to the pot.

Meanwhile, add the tomatoes, vinegar, garlic, ginger, oregano, sesame seeds, cumin, cloves and a few grinds of black pepper to a blender, along with the chopped poblanos, toasted guajillos and the chile soaking liquid. Purée until smooth, scraping down the edges of the blender as needed.

Pour the blended mixture into the pot with the meat. Add the cinnamon stick and bay leaves, along with about 4 to 6 cups of water, enough to amply cover the meat.

Cover and cook in the oven until the meat is fork-tender, about 2 hours.

Divide among bowls and sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with lime wedges for squeezing on top, and a side of warm tortillas.

TIP: a fine way to toast chiles without dirtying dishes or worrying about burning them, is to put them on a paper towel and just microwave them for fifteen to twenty seconds. (this is a kenji lopez-alt method and it really works! just, if you're toasting spicy chiles, resist any urge to deeply inhale as you open the microwave ;))

*This is almost exactly what I have been doing to make birria, which I kind of pieced together from a few different recipes online. I like to add a couple anchos or pasillas and a couple chiles de arbol, as well as some coriander and a couple allspice berries. A mix of oxtail, short rib and chuck roast works great if you can't get bone-in beef shoulder

*Instant pot recipe:

3 1/2 lbs boneless beef chuck roast cut into 2 inch chunks. Season w/ 2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

2 dried ancho chiles

no poblanos

2 tomatoes, not 28 oz canned

apple cider vinegar not distilled white

1 tsp black peppercorns: toast

1 tsp cumin seed: toast

Pressure 1 hour. quick release

Tinga de Pollo (Chicken with Chipotle and Onions)

Tinga de Pollo (Chicken with Chipotle and Onions)

Guadalupe Moreno runs Mi Morena, a tacos de guisado business in the Bay Area, where a number of saucy fillings and toppings are used to mix and match tacos to order. She shared her recipe for tinga de pollo with Leticia Landa and Caleb Zigas for their cookbook "We Are La Cocina." Ms. Moreno's tinga de pollo works perfectly in tacos and also on top of crisp tostadas with lettuce and salsa, inside quesadillas or as a tamal filling. It’s a great way to use up any leftover cooked chicken (just skip straight to step 2), whether pulled from a roast or poached bird, or grocery-store rotisserie. —Tejal Rao

Yield: 4 servings (about 3 cups)

For the Chicken

2 pounds bone-in chicken legs, breasts or a combination

½ medium white onion

1 celery stalk, cut into 2-inch pieces

2 small carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces

For the Sauce

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 medium white onion, halved and thinly sliced

¾ cup canned crushed tomatoes

3 chipotles in adobo with sauce (⅓ cup)

2 garlic cloves, peeled

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the chicken: Combine the chicken, onion, celery and carrots in a large saucepan and add 4 cups cold water. Add more water if needed to cover the solids. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Cook until the chicken is very tender and falling off the bones, about 45 minutes.

Transfer the chicken to a bowl. When cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones, then pull the meat into very fine shreds. Strain the broth and reserve for Tamales de Pollo or another use.

While the chicken cooks, make the sauce: Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. While the onion cooks, puree the tomatoes, chipotles and garlic in a blender until smooth. Add to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the chicken to the sauce and gently fold to evenly coat and heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately or cool to room temperature to use a filling for Tamales de Pollo.

TIP: This sauce is delicious. But use your Instant Pot for the chicken: I cooked bone-in thighs with the prescribed veggies and 3 bay leaves under pressure for 12 minutes 5 minutes natural release. Came out perfect. Served the tacos with 1:1 avocado & mango in a vinaigrette with lots of cilantro. Also served with queso casero. Huge hit.

*Easy and good! Instant pot for even easier chicken: half a cup of water, big squeeze of lime juice (acid helps keep chicken tender), chicken in pot for 12 min 5 natural release. Don’t bother with the extra veggies you won’t miss them. You can shred chicken in a stand mixer with with the paddle attachment (after deboning)! Sauce is easy, I noticed tastes best with some acid on the taco - squeeze a lime or similar

*I took the advice of nandu and cooked the chicken right in the sauce, skipping the whole broth step. It was excellent. Because I had a can of tomatoes with twice the volume called for in the recipe, I just doubled the sauce recipe, except for the chipotles -- but it was still quite spicy! And there wasn't excessive sauce, either, perhaps because the chicken breasts (all I had were boneless, skinless) absorbed some. A definite keeper.

*I made this using a rotisserie chicken to make it quicker and it came out perfect. I experimented with the chipotles as I didn’t want a really hot sauce. I used 2/3ds of what was called for and it still had some heat. I served with soft & hard tacos, and sides of avocados, queso fresco, lettuce & chopped tomatoes. This was a real hit. Stunningly simple but delicious.