Grilled or Spit-Roasted Pork
Cerdo Al PastorIn small restaurants all over Mexico, vertical spits slowly roast marinated pork to perfection. A small peeled pineapple is often positioned on top of the spit, to allow the juices to drip down and flavor the meat as it cooks. Thin bits of cooked pineapple are later served with the meat.Since most home kitchens lack a vertical spit, here's a way to season and cook pork at home for tacos, burritos, and tortas, that's truly mouth-watering. Start the recipe one day ahead, as the meat needs to marinate overnight. The dried red chiles called for in the recipe are quite common and can be found in Mexican markets and sometimes in the Mexican section of supermarkets. Each kind of chile adds its own flavor and spiciness to the marinade. The small chile de arbol is the hottest of the listed chiles
Ingrediënten
Makes about 1½ cups filling for about 4 large burritos, 4 tortas, or 6 tacos
- 1½ pounds boneless pork leg or boneless country-style ribs
- 2 guajillo or New Mexico chiles stemmed and seeded, veins removed
- 2 ancho or pasilla chiles stemmed and seeded
- 2 chiles de arbol stemmed and seeded
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano Mexican variety preferred, crumbled
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper or to taste
- ½ cup white vinegar
- ½ cup water
- 5 large or 8 small garlic cloves peeled and sliced
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 peeled pineapple rings optional
Instructies
- Cut the pork into slices about ⅓ inch thick and put into a glass baking dish or in a glass pie plate.
- In a medium pan, over medium heat, cook the chiles, oregano, cloves, cumin, salt, pepper, vinegar, and water, until the chiles are soft, about 10 minutes.
- Cool about 5 minutes, then pour the mixture into a blender.
- Add the garlic and purée to a paste.
- In the same pan, heat the oil and cook the mixture, over medium-low heat, about 5 minutes.
- Cool completely and spread over the meat.
- Cover the meat and refrigerate overnight.
- Remove the meat from the marinade, and scrape off the excess.
- Cook the meat, on a hot grill pan or in a nonstick skillet until no longer pink inside, 2 to 3 minutes on each side.
- Pan grill the pineapple on the edge of the pan.
- Chop and serve with the meat.
- Chop the meat into small pieces, and use to fill burritos, tacos, or tortas.
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