Authentic Tex Mex Part 22: A Recipe For Tacos Al Pastor
Back in the early 90s when we started riding our old motorbikes across northern Mexico we ate like kings at tiny taco carts in Sierra Mojada, Acuna, Piedras Negras, and La Babia.
You could get a flophouse motel room for $10 or $15, the bars would charge a flat $10 for all you could drink, and tacos were a buck apiece.
It was a wild era brought to a screeching halt when the narcotraficantes started the sideline business of kidnapping American visitors, and holding them for ransom. The last place on earth you want to be is in a dingy Nueva Federacion-held house in the scrubby deserts of Coahuila.
The best al pastor I ever put in my mouth was served off a plancha powered by a car battery near Plaza Benjamin Canales in Ciudad Acuna. A pair of tias were patting out corn tortillas by hand, and carving pastor off a spit licked by brazier flames.
It was 5am, and tacos were needed to tamp down all the Tecate Light we’d been drinking at Pancho’s Bar.
Earlier this month I was woodshedding recipes in Austin when I came up with this one
It didn’t take long. All I had to do was daydream for a couple hours about all the middle-of-the-night tacos I used to live for down by the Rio Grande on the Mexican border.
A Recipe For Tacos Al Pastor
Ingredients
12lb Pork Shoulder, cut into 1” cubes
2 Ancho Chiles, toasted
2 Guajillo Chiles, toasted
1 c. Maggi stock, 4 cubes dissolved in 1c. Water
24 oz Conchita bitter orange juice
1 c. Jumex Mandarin Orange nectar
2 T. Mexican oregano
2 T. Cumin
1 T. Cinnamon
1 t. Ground cloves
1 3.5 oz bar Achiote paste
1 c. Chipotle puree
¼ c. Vinegar, white
2 T. Paprika
1 bulb garlic, chopped
3 T. Salt, kosher
1 c. Soy sauce
3 T. Black pepper
¼ c. Sugar
Method
Notes
If you can source good heritage pork from a local farm please do so
The difference in heritage pork and grocery store pork is immeasurable
The recipe is quite long but actually really easy
The key is mise en place (get all ingredients out and in one place)
These tacos does not need any salsa
Play with the formula all you’d like
Make it your own by adding or subtracting various ingredients
Enjoy the article? I’ve worked on this site 7 days a week for the past 10 years
My Venmo is @Russell-Reeves-6 if you’d like to make a small contribution
Brent Swanson says:
What is chipotle purée? Is it chipotles in adobo sauce? I’ve spent hours on your site this week. Can’t wait to try these recipes out. I want to make these tacos on my new rec tec matador.
RL Reeves Jr says:
Thanks for the kind words, yes, the tinned chipotle chiles are what you seek.