Slow Cooked Tacos Al Pastor
Morita chiles are red, fully mature Chipotles. This gives them a unique, medium – hot smokey flavor which is popular in many Southwestern dishes. These can be added to sauces (including Mole) to add smokey flavor and maintain the red color of the sauces. These peppers are about 2-4 inches in length, 1 inch in width, and have a deep brick reddish brown color. The word Chipotle translated to smoked chile. Consider the Chipotle a 6.5 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the hottest). Scoville heat units 7,000-25,000.
Suggested Use:
Use Morita in enchilada sauces, chili, stews, barbecue ribs, and corn bread. Their smoky quality combines well with poultry, meats and fall squash.
Yield: app. 12 tacos
Ingredients
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp black pepper
3 tsp chili powder
3 lb pork tenderloin
7 oz chipotles, rehydrated in hot water first
1 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored & chopped (divided)
1 cup chopped red onion (divided)
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
12 oz bottle of beer
12 small tortillas
¼ cup cilantro
2 limes (sliced into wedges)
Instructions
Combine the kosher salt, oregano, cumin, black pepper and chili powder in a small bowl.
Rub the mixture onto the pork tenderloin and place the pork into the slow cooker.
Add the chipotles, 2 cups of fresh diced pineapple, ½ cup of red onion, garlic, lime juice and apple cider vinegar to a food processor, or blender.
Blend until smooth.
Pour this mixture over the pork in the slow cooker, then pour the beer over the top.
Cover and slow cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.
Remove from the crock pot and grab those meat claws to quickly and easily shred the meat.
Flip the meat claws over and easily transfer the meat back into the crock pot.
Toss the meat with the sauce in the crock pot then serve the meat on tortillas, topped with the remaining pineapple and red onion, as well as cilantro and lime wedges.
Adapted from a recipe from littleleopardbook.com