Tacos Al Pastor

From 'The Road to Mexico' by Rick Stein

Tacos Al Pastor is a true Mexican classic. These pork tacos were traditionally based on doner kebah preparartions bought over to Mexico from Lebanon.

Ingredients:

• 4 dried guajillo chillies, cleaned and seeds shaken out, cut into 3 or 4 pieces
• 60ml pineapple juice, from a tin, bottle, or carton
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 60ml cider vinegar
• 25g achiote paste
• ½ onion, chopped
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ¼ tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 900g pork shoulder steaks, about 1.5cm thick, with some fat
• 1 small fresh pineapple or 425g tin of pineapple slices in juice
  • To Serve
• 12-16 x 15cm Corn Tortillas
• 1 serving of your choice of salsa
• 1 small onion, chopped
• Handful of coriander, chopped

Recipe:

1. Put the dried chillies in a bowl and cover them with about 250ml of just-boiled water. Cover the bowl with cling film and let the chillies soften for about 20 minutes.
2. Put the chillies in a food processor with 5-6 tablespoons of their soaking liquor.
3. Add the pineapple juice, garlic, vinegar, achiote paste, onion, oregano, and cumin; then blend until you have a smooth marinade. Season with salt.
4. Put the pork steaks in a bowl, pour the marinade over them and massage it into the meat.
5. Cover the bowl with cling film and put it in the fridge for 3-4 hours.
6. Preheat your grill to medium and cook the steaks for about 7 minutes on each side.
   1. If using a barbecue, it’s best to cook the steaks in foil to avoid burning the marinade.
7. Once the meat is cooked through, leave it to rest for 10 minutes, covered in foil.
8. If using fresh pineapple, peel and core it and cut it into slices 1cm thick. If using tinned, drain the slices. Increase the heat to medium/high and cook the pineapple slices on both sides until browned and charred around the edges.
9. Warm the tortillas.
10. Cut the pork into thin strips and the pineapple into chunks, and serve both in tortillas. Top with salsa, chopped onion, and coriander.