Crispy flour tortillas filled with juicy marinated pork, cheese, onion and coriander with salsa roja and lime wedges to serve. Fresh, loads of flavour and pretty easy to make at home on the BBQ or pan-fried.
Category
Lunch
Servings
8
Prep time
4 hours 30 minutes
Cook time
25-30 minutes
Crispy flour tortillas filled with juicy marinated pork, cheese, onion and coriander with salsa roja and lime wedges to serve. Fresh, loads of flavour and pretty easy to make at home on the BBQ or pan-fried.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp pork lard (or peanut oil)
- ½ small white onion, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 ancho chillies, seeded and stemmed
- 2 pasilla or guajillo chillies, seeded and stemmed
- 2 arbol chillies, seeded and stemmed
- 125ml (½ cup) chicken stock
- 125ml (½ cup) water
- 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp achiote paste
- 1 tbsp chipotle chile in adobo sauce
- 60ml (¼ cup) apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp sea salt
- cracked black pepper
- 2 tsp caster sugar
- 2kg pork butt, boned, sliced thinly
- 8 flour tortillas
- 200g (2 cups) grated mozzarella cheese
- 1 white onion, finely diced
- 1 bunch coriander, leaves picked
- Salsa roja. Lime wedges, to serve
Al Pastor Pork (Marinade)
To assemble
Directions
Prep the marinade
Heat the lard or oil in a large deep frying pan on medium heat. Cook onion and garlic for 4-5 minutes until starting to brown.
- Add bay leaves and dried chillies, cook for 1-2 minutes until softened and fragrant. Stir in oregano, cumin and achiote paste and cook for a further 30 seconds to toast.
- Stir in chicken stock and water to deglaze the pan, stirring until achiote paste dissolves. Remove from the heat.
- Transfer to a blender along with the chipotle, vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar. Puree until very smooth.
- Toss the marinade through the pork in a large bowl until very well coated. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours up to overnight.
Cook the pork
Preheat a bbq grill to medium high. Place the pork slices on the grill in a single layer. Close the lid and cook for 2 minutes, until well charred.
- Turn the pork slices over and cook for another 2-3 minutes on the other side with the lid closed. Transfer the pork to a wire rack over a tray and leave to rest for a few minutes.
Assemble the Gringas
Roughly chop the pork and set aside. Place a flat plate on the bbq grill and preheat to medium high.
- Place flour tortillas down on the flat plate, working with 2 or 3 at a time, depending on the available space. Top each with a little of the cheese. Once the cheese has melted, then add some pork and spread out over the tortilla to an even layer. Sprinkle over some white onion, coriander leaves and more cheese. Top with another tortilla and close the lid.
- Flip the tortillas over once the underside is golden and crisp. Continue to cook with the lid closed until both sides are cooked.
- Transfer to a board and slice into wedges. Serve with salsa roja. lime wedges and extra white onion and coriander leaves.
Recipe notes
What are Gringas?
Gringas is a variety of quesadilla which has al pastor meat (usually pork) and cheese cooked between two flour tortillas.
Sourcing
Speak to your butcher about sourcing a large piece of pork butt, also known as Boston Butt or square cut shoulder. To slice it very thinly you can partially freeze the pork to make it easier to slice.
Substitutions
The dried chillies, Mexican oregano and achiote paste are available at quality green grocers, but if you can’t find the oregano, this can be substituted with Greek or regular dried oregano.
Storage
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat in a hot oven briefly to serve again.
Serving ideas
The Al Pastor pork can be used in a variety of your favourite Mexican dishes - burritos, salad bowls, nachos or tostadas.
Cooking method
If you don’t have a hooded bbq grill then you will simply need to cook both the pork and tortillas a little longer to cook through fully.
You can also cook the pork and tortillas pan-fried if you don’t have a BBQ. You will need to cook the pork for a little longer (about 3-3.5 minutes each side) to ensure they are completely cooked.
Can I make this dish ahead of time?
The pork can be marinated a day in advance.
Is it spicy?
It has a mild spice, but can be altered by the number of chillies added to the marinade or adding some of the seeds.
