Douglas S. Ladden > asked in message
. 224.154...
> I have been getting a serious craving for Tacos al Pastor, and it
> looks like my trips to Mexico keep getting postponed, so I call
> upon the wisdom of the NewsGroup. Can someone help me
> make some decent Tacos al Pastor at home, without the Trompo
> that they are normally made on?

"Trompo?" I don't recognize that word.

> I know that we should start with very thinly sliced pork meat,
> but from there, I don't really have a clue. Thanks for any tips,
> ideas, etc. that you are willing to post!

The Al Pastor (burrito and taco) from my favorite place is chopped pork not
sliced, fried crunchy with red chili powders, and then served in a small
corn tortilla with cilantro, and onions. (The burrito has a lot more
schtuff -- rice, cheese, jalapenos, beans -- but that's strictly due to the
tortilla being significantly larger.) Sometimes I think it's twice cooked
(baked first) but I can never get them to release the recipe; they do enjoy
me trying to weedle it out of them, though.

Here's one from:
http://www.mexgrocer.com/531-tacos-al-pastor.html

Tacos al Pastor
Courtesy of Ricardo Batista

Recipe Ingredients:
10 Chiles Pasilla
10 Chiles Guajillo
1/2 Garlic bulb
1/4 tsp. Cumin
1/4 Lt White Vinegar
5 Cloves
2 lbs. Thin pork meat
1 Onion
1 Beer
2 Limes
Salt to taste
Pineapple (fresh or canned)
Fresh Cilantro (coriander)

Recipe Instructions:
Cooking: In a taqueria they would roast the "top" of meat with pineapple
on top of it so that the juice gives the meat some of its flavor. The meat
would be rotated constantly as the cook cuts very small slices of meat and
pineapple to be served in a taco. Chop the cilantro and onion. Without a
rostisserie, our only choice is to cut the pork in small bits so that it can
be eaten easily in a taco. Use a frying pan and cook the meat with small pie
ces of pineapple making sure the pork is fully cooked and just about to burn
in some cases (well roasted). Cut the limes in quarters. Serve the tacos
with chopped cilantro, onion,and the limes.
Enjoy this delicious tacos al pastor Mexican recipe!

The Ranger