Siempre Te Amare Tacos Al Pastor

A lover of all tacos...keep it clean people...I have never attempted or even knew how al pastor was made. As luck would have it Facebook - or more precisely Tasty- had released another one of those over head cooking videos called "homemade al pastor". As a taco officiendo I felt it was my duty to try that recipe out. Also I believe it was other folks thoughts as well as that video was sent to me by friends. Shout outs to Vicki for posting it to my page. That helped too cause I'm one of those dummies that doesn't remember where I saw something nor thinks to write it down. Pretty much before today I've stuck to three types- chicken, steak, and turkey- for meat choices when cooking tacos at home. All signs and the magic 8 ball pointed to "YES" so had to try it out.

In case you are not familiar and/or have not tried it, Al Pastor is pretty much like a Mexican  pork version of Shawarma and/or a Gyro- at least in how its cooked. Difference being that this is marinaded with spices, pineapple juice, and various other stuff prior to cooking. My go to choice of tacos is usually steak, however depending on where I'm at the alternative is Al Pastor. Just has a lot of flavor to it.

Al Pastor Marinade 

So the video "how to" for the Home made Al Pastor was originally in Spanish and did not include the written out ingredients and directions. I was going to post that however I found a site with the recipe in addition to the video (which is in English) and figured two birds with one stone. You can find that page HERE. So during my lunch break from work (FYI I work from home thus why you see me in ragged clothing), I decided to do the marinade and butchering- as the meat is suppose to marinate for at least 2 hours. Per the recipe it calls for 5 lbs of pork shoulder, but I went with a 3 pounds as there's only 3 of us. I suppose if you don't eat pork, you could probably use chicken instead and adjust the cooking time accordingly. 

Rugged man does rugged butchering

Playing Al Pastor Jenga

Probably the most work of this recipe was cutting up the pork shoulder. Otherwise it would be skewering the meat. I will say the only issue I had was with aligning the skewer into the pineapple. Because I was off center with it ended up tipping over in the oven. As the Macguyver type I am, I just compensated by adding/pouring the marinade into the tray. Figured that would keep it from burning/overcooking. Also halfway through I flipped it over.

Al Pastor resting on its skewers

Finish product: Karen edition as indicated by sour cream

Overall I think- like all those famous cooking shows would say- came out pretty tasty. In this instance I'm not lying cause I really did enjoy it. If it was crap I would say so. #BelieveIt.  Anyway if you're adventurous I say go for it. Just don't forget to invite me cause you know you ain't going to eat all that food.

#FoodieSquadGoals,

Reef