Instant Pot Al Pastor taco.
Al Pastor pork is marinated in citrus juice and it’s our favorite taco meat next to lengua. In Mexico, the product is cooked on spits rotated next to an open flame so the meat carved off is crispy on the outside, tender inside. You can achieve this same effect with our Instant Pot Al Pastor. This is a modification of the recipe from the reliable Spruce Eats. Our recipe makes a huge amount, maybe 20 servings, so please read the instructions to save the leftovers for later.
Ingredients:
Whole pork shoulder roast or Boston butt, 6-8 lbs
2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce from a can
1 t adobo sauce from that can
1 c fresh pineapple, cored and chopped
Half a medium red onion
2 T chili powder (a generic blend, not chipotle)
½ t ground cumin
2 T lime juice
2 T white vinegar
1 T kosher salt
½ t black pepper
½ c fresh squeezed orange juice
2 cloves garlic
Method: cut the pork roast into 1-inch cubes, working around the Y-shaped bone. Don’t worry too much about getting all meat off the bone because it will cook with the pork later. Mix all other ingredients except the water or stock in a mini-chop. Add chopped meat and marinade to Instant Pot inner container. Mix thoroughly with your hands or a large spoon. Marinate 2 hours, turning once, but no longer because the pineapple contains a tenderizer that would make the pork mushy.
To cook, add 1 c water or chicken stock along with the reserved bone (push the bone to the bottom of the pot). Set to Meat for 45 minutes with natural release. (We got impatient and released at about 45 minutes after the pressure cooking was done, but the dish was fine.) When you open the pot you will see the pork has thrown off a lot of liquid including a thick layer of fat at the top. If you have time, refrigerate the pot for a few hours then skim off this fat.
The al pastor meat should look like this after cooking down: crispy on one side, tender on the other.
At serving time, take generous scoops of the cooked pork and transfer to a nonstick skillet. Cook down on low heat for several minutes till almost all liquid has evaporated and the pork is crispy on the skillet side, still tender and moist on the top side; this will approximate the condition of the meat sliced off a spit. (If you’re going to store the product, do this step first then warm up in microwave or a skillet.)
Serve in tortillas garnished with Pineapple Salsa, crumbled cotija cheese and cilantro.
am dying to try Pastor made the traditional way on a spit…but not thinking I will find it here in the Capital District…this looks really yummy…
There are a few places selling Al Pastor in the Cap Dist but I doubt they are doing the volume that would justify cooking on a trompe (that’s the Mexican term for the spit). The Instant Pot solution, including the key step to cook it down at the end, is as good as any I’ve had locally.