Embers and Vine originally started as a taco stall. Our menu and dishes have moved on since then but tacos are still very close to our heart and there was one particular style that appealed to us Tacos Al Pastor. This was one of the first dishes we ever sold and is still a favourite.
The vertical split was bought to Mexico by Lebanese immigrants in the 1930’s which they used to serve ‘tacos arabe’ Since then, the Mexicans have swapped the lamb for pork, added achiote and chilli, replaced the pitta bread for tortilla and added roasted pineapple on top.
We use our rotisserie to recreate the original trompo which you are unlikely to have but you can still enjoy these tacos so we have written the recipe for you to cook on outside on your barbecue. There are some special ingredients required for this which really are key for the dish – we recommend Sous Chef.co.uk
The marinade is key to dish and is known as ‘”Adobo”
Meat:
1.5 kg polar collar
Our Adobo:
3 dried guajillo chillies
3 dried ancho chili
200 ml pineapple juice
15g distilled vinegar
50g achiote paste
1 whole garlic bulb
5g ground cumin
3cm Ceylon (or regular cinnamon)
10g salt
Toast the dried chillies in a dry hot non stick pan until they puff up. Remove the seeds and stalks and soak the chilli in the pineapple juice and vinegar for 15 minutes. Blend with the rest of the ingredients to make a smooth marinade.
Slice the pork into thin strips against the meat fibres and pour over the marinade. Leave to marinade overnight.
Light your barbecue (all the charcoal and wood on onside) and heavily charr the pork pieces on both sides over the coal – then move to the side no coal and shut the lid. This will slowly cook the pork (We call this indirect cooking).
After a few hours (you may need to top up the coal) the pork should be beautifully tender
Serve in warm tacos with some roasted pineapple and salsa verde!
