Tacos al Pastor

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There’s a great little Mexican place in Richmond called TioPablo. It’s relatively new and since it’s tucked away down in Shockoe Bottom,it’s somewhat unknown. I ate there with a friend for lunch recently and judgingby the really delicious flavors, it won’t be unknown for long. One of the tacosI had was the al Pastor, which is basically spicy pork with pineapples. Pairingthe spiciness of the pork marinade with the sweetness of the pineapple was atruly wonderful combination, so I decided to try it at home.
I found the recipe on this beautiful site called I Am A FoodBlog. It’s a very simple recipe but one of the ingredients, the achiote paste,was difficult to find. I expect you could get it at a Hispanic focused grocery.We found a (completely inauthentic) substitute recipe made from things youprobably already have at home, and it turned out fantastic. It had tons of flavor,it’s bright and colorful, and pretty easy to make, considering. The only thingthat we felt was missing was a little bit of Mexican Crema to cool it down alittle. If you don’t like very spicy food, I would cut down on the chipotlechiles.  

3 1/2 ounce package achiote paste (or the substitute below)3 canned chipotle chiles en adobo, plus 4 tablespoonscanning sauce1/4 cup vegetable oil1.5 pounds thinly sliced pork shoulder1 cup pineapple chunks, draineddiced onionchopped cilantrotaco tortillas
Combine your achiote paste, chipotles, adobo sauce, andvegetable oil in a food processor or blender. As I’m re-reading the recipe Irealize that they also added ¾ cup of water, but I missed that. It turned outgreat without the water, so I personally would just leave it out. Maybe if youwant to dilute the spiciness a little it would help, though. Blend this all upand pour over your sliced pork in a bowl or a baggie to marinate for at leastan hour. We let it marinate for about 3 hours.
If you can’t find the achiote paste this is the substitutewe used. Like I said above, I’m positive that this is not authentic because itdoesn’t use annatto seeds. However, if you can’t find the paste, I thinkfinding annatto seeds will also be a challenge. This substitute usesingredients you already have around the house. Just blend these ingredientstogether first, then follow the directions above.
Achiote Substitute3 cloves garlic 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil2 Tbsps. white vinegar3 Tbsps. paprika 1 ½ Tsps. dried oregano½ Tsp. ground cumin
To cook the pork, heat up a little oil in a cast ironskillet over medium high heat. You want it to be hot, but not so hot that itsmokes up your entire kitchen. Believe me, we did that and this spicy marinadeis not so pleasant to breath into your lungs so be careful. Grill the meat insmall batches until they are cooked and have a nice char on them. If you’vesliced them thinly enough it shouldn’t take much more than a minute per side.Set them aside while you grill the pineapple in the same pan. They’ll get someof the marinade flavor on them from the pan. Just brown them up; it should onlytake a few minutes. Spoon pork and pineapple into your warm tortillas and topwith the chopped red onions and cilantro. I also added about a tablespoon ofthe pineapple juice into the onion and cilantro to make more of a fresh salsa. Ithink some sour cream or Mexican crema would be a great added flavor as well.Try these, and then hit up Tio Pablo and try some of their other wonderfultacos as well!