Tacos al Pastor For The Instant Pot

Adapted from Steven Raichlen’s recipe at Epicurious for use in the Instant Pot and other pressure cookers. As with so many kinds of marination, surface area is key, and it is a place where I think pressure cooking really does a much better job infusing flavor than conventional cooking.

• 1 large white onion, halved
• 1 pineapple, peeled, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. I ended up using a small can of pineapple rounds. You could also probably get away with canned pineapple bits or crushed pineapple. Note 2019-05-11: I have been buying 14 oz. sized produce section pineapple chunks, of which around 10 oz or so works pretty well. Much more than this tends to invite burning.
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1/4 cup guajillo chile powder. If this is unavailable, you can make this by stemming and seeding 6 dried guajillo chiles and running them through a spice grinder. I ended up using a much smaller amount — maybe a couple tablespoons — but as the guajillo chile is one of the milder varieties (2,500 to 5,000 Scoville units), it can take a bit to get to heat. More adventurous cooks may wish to save the seeds and reintroduce them prior to adding to the pressure cooker.
• 3 garlic cloves, halved. As ever, I incline to run them through the garlic press first.
• 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 large or 2 small chipotle chiles and 1 to 2 teaspoons adobo from canned chipotle chiles in adobo. I substituted a teaspoon of chipotle chile paste.
• 1 2 1/2-to 3-pound boneless pork loin, cut into 1/2-inch slices. (I used a 4-lb. pork butt cut into 1” slabs, and increased the rest of the ingredients by 50%.)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• For stovetop pressure cooker only: 2 cups of water
• Corn tortillas
• Smoky Two-Chile Salsa. (We did without.)
• Lime wedges

Coarsely dice the onion, reserving half. Take 2-3 pineapple rounds from the can, and chop them roughly. (Or, substitute about 1/3 cup of bits/crushed pineapple.) In a blender, combine half the onion, pineapple, orange juice, water (if using), and the next seven ingredients; puree until smooth.

Pour half the pureed mix into the Instant Pot. Add pork, and then add the remaining puree. Start cooking covered at the zero pressure setting, keeping an eye out for steam. Remove the cover and stir. (This helps to minimize burning.) Re-cover, and cook for 80 minutes at high pressure, or 55 minutes on a stovetop pressure cooker. Quick release pressure, and using tongs, take the meat out and shred it using forks, or Bear Paws. Remove the remaining liquid, run it through a screen (the meticulous will want to also use a chinois), and defat it using a fat separator, returning it to the meat. Mix the other half of the onion and cilantro (optional) and serve with lime wedges.

2020-06-08: Add instructions for minimizing burning.