The Meatwave

In theory I should have been all over al pastor skewers way sooner than this—I really love al pastor and serving it in a different form is something right up my ally when thinking of recipe ideas for this site. The reason I took so long to get this dish though is because I actually ordered al pastor skewers at restaurants a couple times and was left underwhelmed. I actually wondered if the smoky and earthy flavor of an al pastor marinade truly needed the self basting spit action and additional taco elements to taste complete. Those previous experiences though taught me that maybe this dish needs to be reconsidered a little to make it work in skewer form, so I did just that and came out with the al pastor skewer I wished I had previously.

For my taste buds, those past skewers didn't pack the flavorful punch I was expecting, and the flavor that they did have leaned into the peppers without much contrast. My attempt in trying to correct this was undertaken by using my past al pastor recipes—I have done a few to varying degrees of success—plus this Serious Eats recipe and find the right areas of modification for a stand alone dish. The first thing I did was actually increase the pepper amount to create a more full flavored base.

After doing that though, I knew I had to balance the spice out properly and did that by adding dark brown sugar and pineapple juice—two flavors that would not only inject sweetness but also complement the al pastor flavor we all know and love. After steeping the chilies and blooming the spices and garlic, all the marinade ingredients took a whirl in the blender and I was pretty pleased with how it was tasting on its own. I wondered if I should add a tad more sugar though, but held off knowing that the heat would caramelized and concentrate the sweetness down the road.

That Serious Eats recipe suggests cutting longer, thinner strips of pork shoulder and then folding them over on the skewer to mimic the layering that happens on a vertical spit, and in theory I'm all in for that and it's actually how I often prep meat for skewers. However, on this day I was making five different skewer recipes for a large crowd, so I opted to go with the faster preparation of large cubes and hoped that they would fare well.

After cubing up a couple chunks of fatty pork shoulder, I placed all the meat in a bag, poured in the marinade, and tossed the bag around to evenly coat. If you're an avid reader of this blog, you've probably noticed in recent years that I've ditched the single use plastic bags for this use, but the quantity of food I was making required me to go with space saving bags, plus I just didn't have enough bowls for all the recipes I was working on at the same time.

I found it a bit odd that onions were omitted from all the skewers I had because I've never eaten an al pastor taco that didn't have them, so I knew they would make an appearance in my recipe. When prepping onions for skewers, I always do a method I learned from Cook's Illustrated and cut them up into stacks of at least three layers. When the onions don't have this depth to them, they easily fall off the skewer while cooking, plus don't provide as much flavor in each bite.

I let the meat marinate overnight, then the next day I assembled the skewers by threading on a couple chunks of pork, then a stack of onions, followed by a cube of pineapple, and then repeated that until the skewer was full. I ended up with six pieces of pork and two pieces of pineapple and onions each on every skewer.

When I first took up grilling and barbecue, I learned that pork shoulder needs to be cooked low and slow in order not to be tough and chewy. That advice led me to use pork loin for skewers and had me missing out on many, many years of the best possible skewers. As I continued my cooking adventures, things like souvlaki and Filipino barbecue taught me that pork shoulder not only does great cooked hot and fast in smaller pieces, but it's so much more flavorful and forgiving thanks to all the fat in it. That knowledge gave me confidence when grilling these skewers to cook them until they looked well charred on the outside and I didn't worry much about the internal temperature knowing that going a little over on doneness wouldn't be a big deal.

I had a little trepidation when taking the first bite of these because I didn't want these al pastor skewers to be just ho hum like the others I'd had. Luckily that wasn't the case and these were pleasantly tender, juicy, and most importantly, incredibly delicious. I'm attracted to big flavors and these skewers delivered with a strong smoky, earthy, and fruity pepper character that was upfront, but not totally dominant thanks to the multiple sweeteners that were also present. The spices and garlic helped give everything additional depth in a way that blended well with the more present dried peppers. The pineapple chunks were a requirement for full al pastor delivery, but the onions were just as key in my mind, adding not only a little sweet and sharp bite, but a bit of crunch that offered a nice textural addition. I was hoping these would turn out the way they did, which is why I also made a vegetarian version using tofu so every guest that day could enjoy them, and all of them certainly did when not one was left at day's end.

Published on Thu Jul 25, 2024 by Joshua Bousel

You Might Also Like