Andy opens
his taco cart every night when the sun sets, more or less. That's when all the
magic starts and the food lovers of San Miguel come out of their nest to get a fast
food fix. I know. I am one of them.
Andy knows me
by name. I’m one of his best customers. He also knows my secret. I'm passionately
addicted to his food and that comes with both benefits and consequences. It’s
up to you to determine what they are.
Call me one
of Andy’s Taco junkies; he's got plenty of them. Just show up some night to
witness the ritual. You’ll have to get in line though. Yep, the end of the line
starts way back there. You might as well drop the aggravation and savor the
experience. This encounter will change the way you think about street food.
As a food
writer, I’m always excited to find a meal for $30 pesos…especially one this
good. You’re officially an aficionada when you come here more than once a week.
Unlike the other pastor vendors in town, Andy caramelizes his meat to an almost-crunchy texture. That process makes it picture-perfect when he shaves it off the vertical spit, fries it, splashes it with a somewhat fiery salsa, kisses it with thin slices of pineapple and hands it over with a grin. If you blink twice from the sweet-smelling smoke in your eyes, you'll swear that Elvis is alive and well and living in San Miguel. That's part of the reason you come here.
Andy has a night
vibe. Call it a religious experience that happens as it moves toward the
midnight hour and now partygoers show up looking for an after-hours feast while
still intoxicated by the magic of the fiesta.
I’ve looked
for his equal at nearly every place in town including Tacos Mesones and Chilly
Willy’s.
Tacos Mesones doesn’t fire their meat long enough to get that mandatory char and when Chilly Willy’s pointed to a bowl of canned pineapple after I asked where the fruit was, I threw up my hands and declared the competition over. It was never really a close contest to begin with.
Local chef Michael
Coon recently sent me the recipe for Andy's Tacos al Pastor that was published
in the Wall Street Journal last year along with a wonderful article written by
Nani Power. In 2014, Nani moved to San Miguel for the summer with her
teenage son. He was craving Big Macs, chips and junk food until he discovered
Andy’s Tacos al Pastor. They became her son’s new favorite fast food and it
brokered a rapprochement between them. http://www.wsj.com/articles/diplomacy-in-a-tortilla-tacos-al-pastor-1412353763
Tacos al
Pastor has always been one of my favorite foods and triggers a memory in me of
what it was like to bring a teenage son to Mexico for the summer. For that
reason alone, it will always be a comfort food. It was also one of my favorite
feeds every Sunday morning at Rubi’s in Chicago’s Maxwell Street Market.
I took on the
challenge of the recipe but when I got around to actually making it, I was in
for a big surprise. It was a lot of work.
I know you
are looking at the recipe right now saying it’s far too time-consuming and
complex to even think about making. You’re right. It is. Who would go to all
this trouble when you can walk down the street and get one for 10 pesos but the
thought of finally knocking off my favorite street food recipe was just too tempting.
I was in.
Believe me
when I say there are no shortcuts to this flavor. For all of the hours I
boiled, cooked, blended and BBQed, I swore I would only make it once.
I even tried
another Tacos al Pastor recipe from Food
and Wine Magazine and Paul Kahan of Big Star restaurant in Chicago. It had
plenty of short cuts. This recipe used more spices, orange juice, coca cola and
also guajillo chilies. You microwave the chilies and cook it a shorter time,
finally grilling it over a moderate instead of medium-high heat.
This is when
I discovered that when it comes to flavor, there are no shortcuts. The recipe
was good but it wasn’t Andy’s.
When I finally sat down to the fruit of my labor and took one bite of the WSJ recipe, it erased every bad memory and word I used in the process to make it.
This was the
best Tacos al Pastor I had eaten since my trip to Andy's last night.
The recipe
for six was instantly demolished by me in one sitting and I didn't feel the
least bit guilty. In fact, all I could think about was who I was going to make it for tomorrow
night.
Buen
Apetito!
Andy's Tacos Al Pastor Recipe
Active Time:
30 minutes Total Time: 6 hours
Serves: 6
For the pork al pastor:
2 cups water
5 dried ancho chilies
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted
3 whole cloves, toasted
1 dried chipotle pepper
3 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 tablespoon achiote or annatto paste (available at Latin
American markets)
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ cup white vinegar
1 medium tomato
3 ounces pineapple juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds boneless pork butt, sliced ¼-inch thick
½ pound salt pork, rind removed and sliced ¼-inch thick
¾ cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/2 chopped white onion
Make pork marinade:
Bring 2 cups
water and ancho chilies to a simmer in a covered sauce pan over medium heat.
Simmer until soft, 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Once cool, drain
chilies, reserving cooking liquid.
Remove stems
and seeds from chilies and place in blender along with cooking liquid, RESERVING
½ CUP OF THE LIQUID.
Add cumin,
cloves, chipotle, garlic, half the roughly chopped onions, sea salt, achiote,
sugar, vinegar, tomato, pineapple juice, soy sauce and oregano to blender and
purée until consistency is similar to that of light cake batter.
If too thick,
add reserved cooking liquid, 1 tablespoon at a time. I used the entire amount.
Place
marinade in a saucepan over medium heat, bring to a simmer and cook for 15
minutes.
Remove from
heat and let cool to room temperature.
Lightly
season both sides of pork-butt with salt and pepper.
Cut into
1-inch squares.
Cut salt-pork
slices into 1-inch squares.
Place
pork-butt and salt-pork pieces in a large bowl.
Add cooled
marinade to pork, tossing to coat evenly.
Cover bowl
and chill in refrigerator at least 4 hours and up to overnight. I marinated it
overnight.
For the chipotle salsa:
6 dried chipotle chilies
2 cups water
2 large tomatoes
½ large white onion, quartered
3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
½ teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Heat a large
frying pan over high heat. Once hot, add chilies to pan and cook until lightly
toasted, 2 minutes per side. Add 2 cups water, bring to a simmer and cook until
chilies are soft, about 15 minutes. Drain chilies and set aside.
Reserve
cooking liquid.
Wipe pan
clean and set over high heat. Once hot, add tomatoes, onions and garlic, and
cook, turning frequently, until lightly charred all over, 10-15 minutes.
Place
softened chilies, charred vegetables and remaining ingredients along with half
the reserved cooking liquid in a blender and purée until combined but still
slightly chunky.
Taste and
season as needed. I used an additional 1/2 tsp sugar and sprinkled it over
top after making to take off a little of the heat.
Set salsa aside
and clean the blender.
To Cook:
½ pineapple, peeled and core removed, cut into pieces
½ large white onion, cut into 1-inch wedges, for skewers
Thread onion
and pineapple on skewers. Brush with oil.
Remove
chilled, marinated pork from refrigerator.
Thread pork
pieces onto 4 long metal skewers.
Let skewers
come to room temperature, 30 minutes.
Heat a grill
to medium-high. Close cover and get the grill really hot.
Place skewers
on grill rotating every 5 minutes, until cooked through, 15 minutes
total.
Remove
skewers from grill and let meat rest 10 minutes.
Chop and Fry Pork:
Once pork has
rested, remove from skewers and chop into ¼-inch chunks. Heat oil in a large
frying pan over high heat, add pork and cook, stirring frequently, until CRISP,
10 minutes.
Warm Tortillas:
Wrap
tortillas in paper towels and heat in the microwave for 40 seconds.
Remove
tortillas and transfer to a cloth-lined basket and cover.
For the sauce:
In a sauce
pan over medium heat, bring reserved marinade and chicken broth to a simmer and
cook for 15 minutes.
For the tacos:
12 small corn tortillas
Chopped cilantro, for serving
½ large white onion, finely chopped, for serving
Lime wedges, for serving
To serve:
Place two
tablespoons crisped pork in each tortilla.
Drizzle with
about ½ teaspoon broth-marinade mixture.
Top with
grilled, chopped pineapple.
Serve with
chipotle salsa, cilantro, finely chopped white onions and limes.
Serve grilled
onion quarters on the side.