The Cooking Mistake That Is Ruining Your Homemade Pork Al Pastor

If you're planning to make our taco al pastor-style pork chili recipe and really want to chase that nice charred meat flavor, there is one thing you need to look out for. According to Marc Marrone, the executive chef at Arriba Abajo, a fun rooftop cantina in Austin, Texas, there's a huge cooking mistake that can ruin your homemade pork al pastor. "[You're] overcrowding the cooking surface with pork [and that] steams the meat versus getting the nice char crust you find with pastor," he explained.

Meat, like pork, releases moisture when cooked. Adding too much pork to a skillet, pan, or griddle will result in too much moisture pooling on the cooking surface. You're technically cooking the pork in its own juices, rather than allowing it to char and caramelize on the hot pan. With the pan being too crowded with the meat, there's no space for the steam from the juices to escape, which, as Marrone explained, leads to the meat getting steamed. While the pork will be soft and tender, it won't be nicely charred, and it won't have the desirable flavor you get with the Maillard reaction and browning of meats.

So, what's the solution here? The easiest way to avoid steaming your pork when making homemade al pastor is to simply cook the pork in smaller batches until the pork has a nice char crust. 

Now let's say you want to make something like our slow cooker al pastor recipe. How can we get the nice charred flavor? In this case, you want to sear the pork on both sides until browned before cooking it in the slow cooker. If you're using a pressure cooker or instant pot, be sure to saute and char the meat first as well. 

Once you've cooked your homemade pork al pastor to perfection, it's time to serve it. If you're making tacos, you might want to take a page out of a culinary celebrity's book. For example, Andrew Zimmern likes to keep taco toppings simple. He loves taco al pastor served simply with cilantro, lime, and onions. He would skip the sour cream and guacamole. 

We bet Zimmern would love our smoky-sweet chicken al pastor recipe. Like pork, chicken also releases moisture and juice when cooked. To ensure the chicken gets a nice sear and char, we would also have to avoid overcrowding the cooking surface when making chicken al pastor.