🕒 4 min read

Confining tacos to be enjoyed on a single day - especially an in-between day like Tuesday - is ludicrous. 

The versatile handhelds are ideal any time (hint: 10am) or day of the week. Thanks to vibrant flavours and contrasting textures, tacos aren’t just instant crowd-pleasers; they’re a reprieve from your usual go-tos (Pasta, again?). Even better, whether it’s dinner for one or twelve, they’re conducive to any setting: formally at the dinner table, on odd chairs pulled together in the backyard, or very likely, on the couch.

Cactus Rosado Taco Bar in Baldwin Village celebrates tacos every damn day. The restaurant that was to commemorate their grand opening last week, offers an impressive array of tantalizing menu options including: beef tongue, jerk chicken, octopus, roasted pumpkin, Brussels sprouts, and beets, for starters. The secret to their creations? Fresh ingredients, house made sauces, and proteins marinated in flavour-packed concentrations.

Head chef Aaron Okada adapted their Al Pastor (aka spit-grilled pork) recipe for home cooks, and it’s surprisingly quick and easy once you’ve assembled all the ingredients.

Tender, crispy strips of savoury pork paired with a tropical sweet and spicy salsa results in a well-balanced dish that is anything but boring, no matter the day of the week.

Al Pastor Tacos with Pineapple Salsa

Yield: 5-6 people (2 tacos each, with leftovers!)

Al Pastor

1 kg              Pork shoulder

Marinade

1 ½  cups    Orange juice
¾ cup   White vinegar
¼ cup   Chipotle in adobo
1            Guajillo chili, toasted and soaked 15 min to rehydrate
1            Ancho chili, toasted and soaked 15 min to rehydrate
2 cloves   Garlic
1 tbsp   Cumin
1 tsp         Black pepper
1 tbsp   Oregano
1 tbsp   Salt
1/2        White onion, roughly chopped
2 tsp         Achiote paste or powder
2 tsp         Smoked paprika

Directions 

1.Blend all ingredients to form a marinade.
2. Cut pork shoulder into ¼-inch thick strips, anywhere from 1 to 3 inches long each.
3. Marinate pork overnight using about 1 1/2 cups of liquid for every 1 kg of meat. 

To cook the pork

At the restaurant, it’s cooked in thin slices, layered on the spit like shawarma. At home, cook it in a frying pan as you would a stir-fry.

1. First, drain the liquid, reserving some for later.
2. Fry the pork strips in a pan on high heat until cooked and seared enough to get little crispy bits. You may need to do this in batches, so the pan isn’t too full.
3. When it’s almost done, you can add some of the marinating liquid into the pan and allow it to cook/reduce for a short time, just to get that last little bit of flavour in. You don’t want the end result to be too saucy.

Pineapple Salsa

1 whole Pineapple, cleaned and cut into small dice
1 whole Red onion, cut into small dice
1/2        Serrano chile, minced
½ cup   Cilantro leaves, pick off stems and roughly chop
1 fl oz    Honey
2 tsp       Salt
1 tsp        Black pepper

Directions

Mix ingredients together in bowl.

To serve

Heat up tortillas (we use 6” white corn tortillas) on a frying pan with a tiny bit of oil. Layer each tortilla first with some al pastor pork, then a drizzle of crema or sour cream, topped off with a spoonful of pineapple salsa.

Cactus Rosado
26 Baldwin St.
416-901-8892

Discover other Secret Recipes.

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