Ribs Al Pastor: Mexican Recipe

Mexican Style Pork Ribs

Pork ribs allow for daring and innovative combinations. Smoking is the crucial phase that allows you to obtain a dish rich in flavor and taste. To amaze you can choose the Al Pastor method that brings together pineapple and Achiote: Mexico is the land rich in ideas and inspiration.

The perfect combo is the result of the perfect mix that the ingredients manage to create: the juiciness of the ribs is accentuated by the Achiote which, thanks to its acrid touch, manages to welcome the pineapple.

It sounds perfect, at least on paper, but how do you achieve the perfect Al Pastor smoking?

Al Pastor Smoking of Meat

To refine the technique you need to know the origin: Al Pastor smoking comes from Mexico and their typical dish: Tacos al pastor. Thanks to their innate inventiveness, the Mexican people have created a new method of smoking in the kebab style. Before being cooked, the meat is first marinated in Achiote sauce and spices, a process thanks to which it acquires a bright orange color, and then layered and placed on a trompo, so as to allow the cooking phase on a vertical rotisserie. The layering is made of thin slices of meat and corn tortillas: a Mexican must! Finally, the dish is completed with pineapple decorations: sweet, bitter, juicy. Al Pastor-style smoking requires a pineapple-based brine with a touch of salt added, to prevent the fruit's sweetness from overpowering.

Mexican Ribs: Other Ingredients

Choosing the quality of ingredients is a fundamental step to offer diners an original and genuine dish at the same time.

Pineapple, cane sugar, lime and Achiote sauce are natural ingredients that contribute, thanks to their conformation, to the increase and determination of the taste.

Pork ribs are the cornerstone of the dish and to maintain a high level of authenticity, it is necessary to obtain ingredients from certified farms.

Authentic flavor is essential to recreate the balance of the dish. Carne Genuina takes care to create products that are genuine and controlled: the production chain and the breeding method tell of the respect for animals and the desire to bring to the tables of all the flavors of the past, with the variant of the revisitation and the risk with overseas combinations rich in flavor and taste.

The recipe for Mexican pork ribs

The recipe is curious, the result is delicious. Choosing to put smoked pork ribs Al Pastor on the table means creating an original, tasty and delicious dish.

The necessary precaution concerns the quantity of ingredients that must be weighed in a maniacal way: only in this way, in fact, can you guarantee the balance necessary to obtain the perfect dish!

Mexican Pork Ribs Ingredients

• 1 medium sized pineapple
• 1 cup white sugar
• 100g piloncillo (solid cane sugar molasses)
• 1 cup of water
• the juice of 1 lime
• ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Achiote sauce
• 12 Pork ribs
• a pinch of chili pepper (optional)

Perfect Brace: Tools and Tricks

• cherry wood for the embers
• 2 tongs for moving the pork ribs on the grill
• 1 saucepan for reduction
• 2 pots for pineapple and reduction
• 1 Al Pastor smoking grill
• 1 brush for spreading the sauce
• blotting paper
• aluminum foil

Mexican Pork Ribs Procedure

Turn the oven on to 200 degrees and prepare the pineapple: remove the ends and the peel, then remove the core from each slice and cut into 8 bites.

Using baking paper, place the pineapple pieces and bake for at least an hour and a half until they reach a hazelnut color.

Let the pineapple cubes cool and chop them finely. In the meantime, scrape the piloncillo block and add it to a saucepan with the water and white sugar.

Place on medium heat and continue stirring until boiling, then lower the heat and add the other ingredients: lime, apple cider vinegar and finely chopped pineapple. Continue reducing until the mixture thickens.

Turn the heat on to 120°C. While the barbecue is coming up to temperature, prepare the pork ribs.

Making sure to use the ingredient at room temperature, pat dry with absorbent paper to remove excess liquid. Using a brush, spread the Achiote sauce on the ribs and, if you want to add an extra touch, add a pinch of finely chopped chili pepper.

Wrap the pork ribs in baking paper and place on the stove for 3 hours on one side and 2 hours on the other.

Remove the ribs from the heat and spread the pineapple reduction over the meat, place back on the heat, wait at least 5 minutes (up to 10, if necessary), plate. Enjoy!