Tacos are classic Mexican street food. When prepared correctly, they are quick and easy to assemble, delicious and irresistible. There are many varieties of tacos, which is why this tutorial shows you how to prepare different types of meat that will be their filling. Don't get confused though, this dish is very different from the tacos available in "fast food" although much tastier.
Steps
Method 1 of 5: Making Authentic Mexican Tacos
Step 1. Start with a corn tortilla
If you really want to make authentic tacos, you can only start with a corn tortilla made with your own hands using white corn tortilla flour and water. While it may seem like a difficult process, it is actually quite simple. Prepare the dough by mixing the water and white corn flour in the ideal proportions, get the tortillas and cook them quickly on a very hot surface.
- Wheat or white corn tortillas, which ones to use? Wheat tortillas are fluffier and tend to have a sweeter flavor. But the classic Mexican tacos are prepared with white corn tortilla where the meat is the protagonist of the stage. As always, the basic rule is to choose the ingredients that best satisfy your palate. Try both tortillas and choose the best one for your personal taste.
- Crispy or soft tacos? Again, the choice is yours alone. It's very easy to make crispy tacos, just fry them in hot oil, but authentic Mexican tacos are served in the soft variant.
- Use two tortillas or just one? In many places in Mexico, tacos are made from two tortillas. Since the filling is very abundant, this precaution prevents a single tortilla from breaking and is also useful for quickly consuming the tortillas left over from the day before. If you want to control the calorie count of your meal instead, opt for just one tortilla for tacos.
Step 2. Make an onion, coriander, and lime juice sauce
This is an incredibly simple sauce, but tacos don't taste right without this topping. Mix the following ingredients and let them sit for a few hours:
- 1 finely chopped onion
- 1 bunch of finely chopped cilantro
- 2-3 squeezed limes
Step 3. Alternatively, use the classic pico de gallo sauce.
Pico de gallo is a simple sauce made with tomatoes, onion, coriander and lime juice. It is a type of sauce that many people naturally associate with tacos and like onion sauce it is very simple to make.
Step 4. Make the tomatillo sauce
Regardless of where you want to cook your salsa verde, whether in a slow cooker, in the oven or on the stove, the idea behind it is the same: cook the tomatillos, onion, garlic and jalapeño peppers and season with a little of lime juice. A delicious addition to any type of tacos.
Step 5. Choose the meat
When it comes to tacos this is the most important choice. Meat is the ingredient that can make your tacos perfect or not (unless you are making vegetarian tacos in which case the meat is nil). This is why this guide offers several recipes for preparing meat for use with tacos. There are different types of meat and different preparations that you can use for your tacos:
- Carne asada ("grilled meat", for example beef)
- Carnitas (literally "small meat", for example pork)
- Al pastor (literally "shepherd's meat", cooked in a kebab style, it can be, for example, pork)
- De pescado (fish)
- De camarones (shrimp)
- Other cuts such as tongue (lengua), brains (sesos), guanciale (cachete), pig's nose (trompa), etc.
Step 6. Stuff the tacos with the meat and top them with all the toppings you want
The finished tacos consist of meat, onion salsa, salsa verde or pico de gallo. But if you want to customize them you can choose to add some of these ingredients:
- Black Beans (stew or stir-fry)
- Guacamole or avocado
- Cheese (fresh hard cheese or a Mexican cheese)
- Grilled corn
Step 7. Complete the dish and enjoy your meal
Some of the most used decorations include radishes and lime wedges. With a little more imagination, you can choose to use pickled onions or other vegetables, such as carrots. Serve your tacos to make your guests proud of you.
Method 2 of 5: Prepare the Carne Asada
Step 1. Blend dry and wet ingredients in a blender
Use the blender's maximum speed to blend the following ingredients:
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 seeded Jalapeño pepper
- 5 g of cumin seeds
- 125 g of chopped coriander
- Salt and Pepper To Taste.
- 60 ml of Lime Juice
- 30 ml of White Vinegar
- 2, 5 g of sugar
- 125 ml of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Step 2. Use marinade to marinade your meat, such as a 1kg belly or real cut steak
Use a sealable food bag. Let the meat marinate for an hour or a full day, depending on your needs. After 4 hours of marinating, the difference in flavor will begin to be negligible. In any case, do not marinate the meat for more than a day.
Step 3. Prepare the grill
After the embers have turned a nice bright red, you can place the grill. Carefully and gently move all the embers to one side of the grill to create a hot cooking area and a cooler one. The process of cooking carne asada requires the use of the colder side of the grill most of the time. The hot side should be used to toast the meat on the outside only at the end of cooking, in order to add a further touch of color and flavor.
Step 4. Grill the steak over the coals until it reaches the desired doneness
Start cooking the meat on the cold side of the grill, keeping the barbecue lid closed, but turning the meat often. Check the cooking of the meat regularly with a thermometer or by touching it to check its softness.
- 49 ° C = Cooking rare
- 55 ° C = Cooking rare / medium
- 60 ° C = Medium cooking
- 66 ° C = Medium / well done
- 71 ° C = Well done
Step 5. When the core temperature of the meat is approximately 8 ° C from the desired doneness, move it to the hot side of the grill
This step will give the meat a nice color and add flavor to the dish.
Step 6. When the core temperature of the meat is about 2-3 ° C from the desired doneness, remove it from the grill and let it rest
The steak will continue cooking even after it has been removed from the heat.
Don't ignore the importance of letting the meat rest after cooking. By cutting it immediately after removing it from the grill, you will drain all the juices, resulting in a dry and less flavorful meat. If, on the other hand, you leave it to rest for at least 5 minutes, it will remain moist and tasty even after cutting
Step 7. To add the meat to the tacos, cut it into cubes and top with the onion sauce and tomatillo sauce
Method 3 of 5: Prepare the Adobo
Step 1. Lightly brown about 90 g of dried chillies in a saucepan
While any type of chillies are fine, New Mexico, Ancho, or California-sourced varieties are ideal. Make sure the chillies are red so that your adobo sauce has a nice bright red color.
Step 2. After toasting the peppers, soak them in enough boiling water to completely cover them
Use a small dish so that the peppers are completely submerged in the water. Leave them to soak for about 30 minutes. At the end, set aside the liquid obtained.
Step 3. Blend dry and wet ingredients in a blender
Use the blender's maximum speed to blend the following ingredients:
- Chili Peppers
- 250 ml of the cooking water of the Chillies
- ½ teaspoon of oregano
- ½ teaspoon of cumin
- 1/2 onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
Step 4. In a large, high-bottomed saucepan, sauté the coarsely diced meat using a high heat until it has developed a nice color on all sides
Traditional adobo sauce is usually served with pork shoulder, but you can use a cut of beef or chicken if you like. In this step do not cook the meat completely, the complete cooking will take place in the next step.
Step 5. After browning the meat add the adobo and let it simmer until the meat is completely cooked
Step 6. Remove the meat from the adobo and use it to fill a tortilla
Top the tacos with the onion salsa and guacamole and serve.
Method 4 of 5: Prepare Carnitas
Step 1. Preheat the oven to 135 ° C
The meat in this preparation should be cooked at a low temperature for a long time so that it is very juicy and tender.
Step 2. Cut a piece of pork shoulder roast weighing about 1.5 kg into cubes about 5cm per side
The name carnitas comes from the fatty cut of the pork that is used in the preparation, so the shoulder is an ideal cut for this recipe.
If you wish, you can cut off any excess fat while cutting the pork into cubes. While this step isn't necessary, it will make your carnitas a healthier dish. Leaving the excess fat instead, most of it will melt during cooking, giving more flavor and juiciness to the meat
Step 3. Place the pork cubes in a saucepan with all the ingredients
You can make carnitas on the stove over low heat, but you will get a better result by using the oven and finishing the cooking with the grill to give it a crunchy touch. Use the smallest saucepan you have and add the meat with the following ingredients:
- 1 White or Golden Onion, peeled and quartered
- 4-6 Cloves of Garlic, peeled and crushed
- 2 tablespoons of lime juice (about 1 lime)
- 2 tablespoons of Red Wine Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
- 2 Bay Leaves
- Juice 1 orange including the fruit cut into quarters.
- Salt and pepper
Step 4. Pour enough liquid into the saucepan to completely submerge the meat
The choice of the nature of the liquid is up to you. Know that by choosing a cooking with oil instead of a non-fatty liquid, the meat will release many more juices. Of course, it won't be the healthiest dish in the world, but once in a while to get a real delicacy you can turn a blind eye. Here are some tips on the liquid to use to cover carnitas in cooking:
- Seed oil (high quality)
- Lard
- Waterfall
- Orange juice
Step 5. Cover the saucepan with a sheet of aluminum foil and bake it for about 3 hours
After 1 hour the carnitas should have reached a temperature of about 98 ° C, and then keep it until the end of cooking, two hours later.
Step 6. After cooking, remove the carnitas from the saucepan and let it cool, then start flaking the meat using your hands or a fork
Step 7. Heat the oven grill and, after placing the frayed meat on a baking sheet, cook it under the grill for several minutes
Continue cooking until the meat begins to become crisp and golden.
Step 8. Stir the carnitas with a fork, then bake it again for a few minutes
At the end of the browning with the grill you will have a crunchy, succulent and tender carnitas.
Step 9. Fill your tortillas with carnitas and serve to the table
Top the tacos with the onion salsa and tomatillo salsa.
Method 5 of 5: Prepare the American Tacos
Step 1. In a deep-bottomed skillet, brown an onion in oil using medium heat
This step should take 3 minutes.
Step 2. Add 450g of ground beef (fillet is the best choice) and brown it over medium high heat
This step should take 3-4 minutes. Break the minced meat into small pieces using a wooden spoon.
Step 3. Season the meat with the ready-made tacos spice mix and mix carefully to evenly flavor the meat
Follow the directions on the package to find out how much spice you need. Normally it is advisable to use about 2 tablespoons of spices for every 450 g of meat. If you don't have a tacos spice blend available, here's a recipe for effortless peppering right at your home:
- 2 tablespoons of chili powder
- 1 tablespoon of cumin powder
- 2 tablespoons of corn starch
- 2 teaspoons of Kosher Salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of Smoked Spicy Paprika
- 1 teaspoon of Coriander powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
Step 4. Add 170ml of chicken stock
Stir to mix evenly and bring to a slight boil. Cook for about 2-3 without covering, until the mixture thickens slightly.
Step 5. Prepare your American tacos
Start with a soft tortilla or preformed dry taco. Stuff with the meat and add any combination of these ingredients:
- Cheese
- Sliced jalapeño
- Diced tomato
- Sour cream
- guacamole
- Chopped fresh cilantro
- Sliced lettuce
