Tacos al Pastor

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg pork shoulder, sliced thin
• 3 dried ancho chillies
• 2 tbsp chipotle in adobo
• 1/2 pineapple, half blended, half in wedges
• 5 garlic cloves
• 3 tbsp cider vinegar
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp achiote paste
• 18 corn tortillas
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• a big handful of coriander

Method

1. Make the adobo

   Soak the anchos in boiling water for 20 minutes, then blend with the chipotle, blended pineapple, garlic, vinegar, cumin, oregano, achiote and plenty of salt. The pineapple is not only for flavour — its enzymes tenderise the pork.

   20 min

2. Marinate, but not too long

   Coat the sliced pork and marinate 2 to 4 hours. Left overnight the pineapple keeps working and turns the surface of the meat mushy.

   2 h

3. Stack it

   Pack the slices tightly into a loaf tin or on a skewer standing in a tin. Stacked, the outside chars while the inside stays juicy — the closest a home oven gets to a vertical trompo.

4. Roast, then char

   Roast at 180°C for 90 minutes, then turn the oven to maximum, add the pineapple wedges alongside, and blast until the edges blacken.

   1 h 30 min

5. Slice thin

   Rest 10 minutes, then shave thin slices off the stack, including the charred outside. Chop the roasted pineapple small and mix it through.

   10 min

6. Serve

   Warm the tortillas in a dry pan, double them up, and fill with pork, onion and coriander. Two tortillas per taco is not excess — one will not hold it.