Pork shoulder is a relatively inexpensive cut of meat and layered with enough fat that when marinated and cooked on high heat, it emerges tender and juicy.
What kind of meat is al pastor?Īl Pastor is traditionally spit-roasted pork but for our homemade Al Pastor we are going to use boneless pork shoulder. The citizens of Mexico developed their own guajillo chille marinade with its signature tangy chile flavor and applied it to pork instead of lamb or other meats. The “pastor” in Al Pastor is the name given to the Lebanese merchants who brought the concept of shawarma with them. As the rotisserie rotates, the outside cooks and thin pieces are continually shaved off. These immigrants cooked their thin cuts of meat stacked together in a cone-like shape on a vertical spit-grill, known as shawarma (one of my favs, coming soon!), much like Greek gyros. I am always fascinated by the origins of popular “authentic” food so I was surprised to learn the concept for Al Pastor was brought to Central Mexico by Lebanese immigrants in the early 1900s. The Al Pastor is sliced off the spit-grilled meat to-order in thin slices accompanied by chunks of fresh pineapple. The outside edges of the pork become beautifully crisp and caramelized while the inside remains splendidly juicy. If you aren’t familiar with Al Pastor, (meaning “shepherd style” in Spanish), it is a popular pork dish in Central America in which pork is marinated in pineapple, chilies and spices then stacked and vertically roasted on a slowly turning spit with a pineapple on top which bathes the pork with its juices. I hope this Al Pastor recipe joins the ranks of my Mexican Chicken, Salsa Verde Chicken, Carnitas, Chipotle Pork, Carne Asada, Beef Barbacoa and Chipotle Chicken as one of your favorite new Mexican protein staples. In fact, he had three teenage boys from our church youth group over to our house to eat the leftovers that night – and they ate ALL of it. He loved the Al Pastor as it was coming off the grill, he loved it as it was barely warm after photos and he loved it reheated the same night. My foodie critic husband (who loves Mexican food even more than me – which is barely possible) would agree. The combination of smoky, tangy, chile pork, with grilled pineapple is 1000X crave worthy so I knew I was up for a challenge to create a traditional al pastor tasting recipe that was homemade BUT, I think we have done just that and I can honestly say this is arguably one of the best homemade Al Pastor recipe out there. When we go out, I usually order it in some form or another from authentic Tacos Al Pastor to Ada Haba Pina California Burrito (burrito with Al Pastor, pineapple, French fries, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, etc.) to Al Pastor Nachos. I recently shared in my Al Pastor Kabobs post, that I am obsessed with Al Pastor.
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