Homemade Adobada Tacos

3hrs 30min
10

Homemade Adobada Tacos

This is one of those things that you have on the street corner and never really attempt to cook at home. I mean, unless you’re making shwarma or adobada tacos, who the heck has one of those vertical rotisseries (a trompo) at home? But then I saw one of those Facebook food videos that shows you a recipe in a fraction of a second and it actually caught my attention (I usually skip ’em). The video showed the process of stacking marinated, pounded pork fillets on a baking sheet and roasting them just like that for tacos. Genius! I have no idea who the post was from (and I saw a few different versions while researching), but man, oh man… this came out good! By the way, the achiote paste can be found online if you don’t have a Latin market nearby – it’s made from ground annatto seeds that add both flavor and color to the adobo (marinade) that covers the pork. Everything else is pretty readily available and waiting for you at your local market!

My sis Carina came into the test kitchen the day Isabella was working on this and fell in love with the recipe; that’s when I knew it was a hit (she lives on a diet of beans and tortillas so for her to venture out means it must be good!). What’s great is that it’s an easy recipe and it’s kid friendly… I imagine she thought it’d be good to make for her 3 girls for dinner and it truly is!

The secret to the extra deliciousness in this recipe lies in the step almost at the end where you smear the tortilla with the leftover oil from the pan before warming them in a pan (or better yet, a comal) – this is a crucial step not only to add flavor but pliability to your tortilla! These are a MUST TRY!

Preparation

Ingredients

  • 2 guajillo chiles, hydrated by soaking in warm water 10 minutes, and drained
  • 2 ancho chiles, hydrated by soaking in warm water 10 minutes, and drained
  • 2 whole garlic cloves
  • 1/2 bar achiote paste
  • 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
  • 1/2 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
  • 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, sliced into ¼-inch-thick slices (milanese-style)
  • 10 slices of bacon
  • 1 small pineapple, peeled and thinly cut into ¼-inch-thick slices
  • 4 tablespoons of canola oil
  • 1 cup of white onion, finely chopped
  • 1 cup of cilantro, finely chopped
  • 6 limes, cut into quarters
  • Small corn tortillas

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. In a blender, combine chiles, garlic cloves, vinegar, orange juice, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Blend until all ingredients are combined: consistency should be paste like. Set aside.
  3. Place a slice of meat between two sheets of plastic wrap. Using meat mallet (or rolling pin), gently flatten meat until it is very thin, about ¼-inch thick. Continue to do this for remaining meat.
  4. Grab a baking pan and spread with oil. This will help your meat to not stick to baking pan. Start by putting a couple of slices of meat on pan. Season with salt and pepper. Spread adobo paste on meat until fully covered, top with 3 slices of bacon and then a couple slices of pineapple and repeat until you are out of meat, bacon and pineapple. It looks just like a stack of marinated meat. Let your meat marinade for 2 hours in the refrigerator.
  5. Preheat oven to 375F. Let meat stand 15 minutes at room temperature (so it’s not too cold when you put in the oven). Drizzle with oil and roast until cooked through in the center, about 40 to 50 minutes.
  6. Let stand 10 minutes, then transfer the entire stack to a cutting board (do not discard of the oil left on the baking pan, it will be used to heat the tortillas). Starting from an edge of the stack, thinly slice downwards so you get a stack of thinly sliced, cooked strips of pork and pineapple. Make a few slices so you can make a few tacos.
  7. Once your meat is sliced, grab a tortilla and, using a pastry brush, smear leftover oil from pan on both sides of the tortilla. Place tortillas on a warm pan over medium-high heat until warmed through. Make tacos using sliced meat, onion, cilantro, cooked pineapple, and a sprinkle of lime juice. Go ahead and add fresh salsa (if you have any), but I think this has enough flavor as is!