September 1, 2020

Al Pastor Ribs

Name: Al Pastor Sauce and Ribs
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 360 min
Total time: 495 min
Ingredients: 1 tbsp cumin; 2 tsp kosher salt; 1 tsp white pepper; 1 tsp garlic powder; 1 tsp onion power; 2 tsp chipotle; 1 tsp chili powder; 1 cup fresh pineapple; 1 ½ jalapeno; 1 tomato, fresh; 1 juice full lime; 1 tbsp salt; 2 tbsp cane sugar ((substitute for piloncillo) ); 4 tbsp "achiote" sauce ((see below)); 1 tsp oregano (for achiote); 2 clove garlic (for achiote); ½ tsp cumin (for achiote); 2 tbsp paprika (for achiote (more for more red colour)); ¼ cup cider vinegar (for achiote); ½ can light beer (lager/pilsner), honey-lager or cola

Home Cooked Feast for all!

Mexican BBQ Smoked Meat Feast

I got some good news last week and, well, what better way to celebrate than by cooking a bunch of Mexican-style meat in a mix of cherry and mesquite smoke! This was a piece of my largest ever, single-day feast and had a ton of fun. Even upon arriving at the store, I wasn’t quite sure what kind of theme my smoked meat would have and what kind of flavours I wanted to celebrate with. Then came the Al Pastor Ribs themed meal..

Jump to Recipe

Ribs, Pork Belly, Chicken Quarters and Sausage

I’ve done tons of pork belly in char sui for ramen and once for bao tacos and I’ve done tons of ribs in gochujang or maple soy sauce (similar to teriyaki), so I figured it was a time to stray away from my typical “Asian-fusion” style BBQ. This was the first time I tried smoking chicken quarters, which I blackened (I have done many chicken thighs before, but usually trend against bone-in, even though I know you get juicier meat with bone…but, I digress)

The Mexican inspiration

I was inspired when, walking through the bakery, I found some mini-tortillas. When I picked up an impulse pineapple, the deal was as good as done. The pineapple was a highlight in several of the dishes and the mini-tortillas were a huge part of rounding out the “intake method”. I knew they were a huge hit stuffed with Mexican-style red cabbage/pineapple slaw, topped with pico de gallo and “salsa al pastor”…which I expressly leave in quotations, due to the number of substitutions (no achiote, no pilonchillo)

Substitutions for the win

As smaller/start-up bloggers, I’m sure have all found great substitutions from the big players and fittingly enough, I found a great achiote substitutions from the queen of the kitchen, Rachael Ray, which turned out amazing. (thanks Rachael!)

This Mexican-fusion feast had plenty of spice and tons of flavour.

For Al Pastor Sauce on it’s own, click here!

The full feast looked like this!

Smoked Al Pastor Ribs.
Al Pastor smoked pork belly mini soft tacos.
Cajun garlic rub chicken quarters.
Smoked italian sausage.
Smoked corn on the cob.
Purple cabbage pineapple coleslaw.
Mexican pickled carrots, onion and jalapeño.
Spicy Cucumber and thai chili sunomono.
Green bean pineapple and sweet onion salad.
Broccoli cranberry salad.
Cilantro cumin black bean rice.
#homemade pico de gallo
Mini flour tortillas

RIBS: THE 3-2-1 METHOD

I resisted this technique when I first learned of it, but after trying it the last couple of times, I can now attest that it makes a notable difference. The night prior, salt or rub your ribs however you wish. On the day of, once your smoker is to temp, do 3 hours open, 2 hours wrapped, 1 hour (final hour) unwrapped and sauced.

When smoking meat, obviously, allowing smoke to penetrate the meat is super important and the majority of smoke will enter in the first 2 hours of the smoke. So, the 3 first hours are when the smoke will enter the meat. This will give the meat the smokey flavour right down to the bone.

Second block, add some beer (or coke or root beer, whatever you choose) and wrap medium-tightly in foil. This second block steams and tenderizes the meat and will give it that fall-off-the-bone softness.

Finally, for the last hour, this is when you would unwrap and sauce the ribs. The sauce will develop a smokey flavour too, but the main goal on this step is to hold all the moisture in the meat and bake in that nice flavour sauce.

This same method can be done with any flavour rub or sauce, but here I’ve done it with my gochujang sauce. This sounds more complicated than it is. Remember, if I can cook it, so can you!

This recipe is easily scaled, so feel free to double, triple or more! This makes a rack or two of ribs, so scale accordingly depending on the size.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEh7U5ulTU3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

RUBS AND SMOKES

What’s in a Rubs: How important is the rub? Salt is the only non-optional component. Salt will bring some of the liquid forward from the meat, so don’t skimp on the salt!

Make up your own rub: Rub whatever you want! Add, substitute or subtract any ingredients you may also like to add. The above rub is a very basic rub and can easily be modified to whatever you have in the pantry! Salt is the only true must-have/non-optional component in the rub.

The second stage, the baking, can be done in either in the smoker or in the oven, but since the smoker is already preheated and on, I prefer smoker. Leave cooking in wrap for 2 hours.In a multi-rack smoker, the heaviest smoke will collect in the top racks, while the lower racks are closer to the element are will be marginally hotter. Since we want the most smoke in the first phase, place closest to top shelf as possible.

Membrane: Don’t forget to the remove the membrane! It’s not the end of the world if you don’t but it creates this chewy layer on the inside of your ribs and while the smoking process does tender it up a little, it’s just better to do it right.

This Al Pastor Ribs recipe is not authentic by any means, but mimics flavours nicely and uses ingredients you definitely have in your kitchen!

Al Pastor Sauce and Ribs

Deliciously smoked ribs under the 3-2-1 method seasoned with simple rub and baked with pineapple and al pastor salsa

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 6 hrs

Rub 2 hrs

Total Time 8 hrs 15 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Mexican, Tex-Mex

Servings 3 rack side ribs

Equipment

Smoker

Ingredients

Rub (Overnight – min 2 hours)

1 tbsp cumin
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion power
2 tsp chipotle
1 tsp chili powder

Al Pastor Sauce

1 cup fresh pineapple
1 ½ jalapeno
1 tomato, fresh
1 juice full lime
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp cane sugar (substitute for piloncillo)
4 tbsp "achiote" sauce (see below)

"Achiote"

1 tsp oregano for achiote
2 clove garlic for achiote
½ tsp cumin for achiote
2 tbsp paprika for achiote (more for more red colour)
¼ cup cider vinegar for achiote

Smoking ingredients

½ can light beer (lager/pilsner), honey-lager or cola

Instructions

Mix rub and apply for minimum 2 hours. Overnight, if possible. Store in refrigerator.
When ready, preheat Smoker at 225°F
Starting out the 3-2-1 method, place ribs in a middle rack of smoker, uncovered for 3 hours total. Rotate after first hour and second hour.
After 3 hours uncovered, wrap tightly with 1 tbsp of beer, lining both sides of each wrapped half-rack with fresh pineapple.
Smoke in wrap for two hours. This stage can be done in the oven as well, if preferred.
After 2 more hours (5 hours in), remove foil, save pineapple and collect or discard any extra liquid from wrapping.
Apply salsa al pastor to both sides of each piece of ribs. Cook basted ribs for final hour, uncovered. If desired, increase heat to 275°C, which will create a slightly more crispy skin.
Once full cook is complete, remove from smoker, let rest for 5-8 minutes prior to cutting.
Enjoy!

Keyword 3-2-1 ribs, al pastor ribs, Fusion, fusion bbq, how to smoke ribs, mexican, mexican style ribs, smoked ribs, tex mex

NOTES AND HINTS:

Just don’t dry it out. These Al Pastor ribs moisten themselves with beer and salsa, so 225°F is the best temp for balancing an abundance of smoke in the box. I mention in the recipe that if you do already have meat in the smoker at a temp (for example, I like to finish off my ribs for the last hour (once they are sauced), at 250-275°F, which, fortunately, is also the amount of time required for you to toss in the corn (needs 1-1.5 hours), so timing is everything!

More or less veg: As far as ingredients, this is about the same as any other dish I recommend. I couldn’t stop pickling! More or fewer veggies are always a delight and adds that lightness and freshness, nevermind crunch, that perfectly complement richness and heaviness of smoked meat.

Salsa notes: As far as tasting notes, my sauce is admittedly still a bit of a trial and error/work in progress. These substitutions worked amazingly and I hope you give them a shot.