Street Tacos - spinoff

Pati has some pretty good Mexican recipes.

Tacos al pastor

A local tienda should have the ingredients that you need. I've made birria, lengua, and brisket tacos multiple times. I do marinate the birria.

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I can never quite get the flavor of the trucks and I'm not sure what it is.

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The secret is in the plancha (flat-top-griddle). Tacos are a popular menu item for food trucks because they are fast to prepare. This is achieved by cooking the meats ahead of time and rewarming them to order on the plancha. The result is a lightly charred and caramelized meat product that has a pleasant smokiness to it.

For example, say for carne asada, the meat will be marinated overnight then grilled the next day. It is then sliced thin against the grain and stored for service either in a hot steam well or cooled to the proper temperature. To pick up an order, the Taquero sears the meat a la plancha before assembling the tacos. The extra step of searing in on the flat top is what imparts the extra flavor. This process is usually reserved for items that have been grilled or spit roasted and you might see carnitas prepared this way to give it a crispy texture. You wouldn't cook tinga a la planca, but then again, you might.

I've had tacos that were not prepared this way because maybe the cook was lazy or overwhelmed with orders and in a hurry and there is a discernible difference.

For the past few years, I used Roy Choi's asada recipe with a few modifications. Roy's original Asada Marinade recipe below.

Ingredients
1/4 cup garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 onion, peeled
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1/4 cup ancho chile powder
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 jalapeño peppers
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
3/4 cup Budweiser or any other beer you got in the fridge
Juice and grated zest of 1 orange
Juice and grated zest of 2 limes
1/2 kiwi fruit, peeled
1/4 cup mirin
Good pinch of kosher salt
Good pinch of sugar

Instructions.
Place everything into a blender and process until a chunky puree is achieved. Pour over meat and marinate for 12-24 hours. Remove meat from marinade and wipe off any excess. grill over high heat.

My modified recipe
Ingredients
4-6ea garlic cloves, peeled
¼ea onion, peeled
2ea Ancho chiles, deseeded and stem removed
2ea Jalapeño peppers
1t Whole black peppercorns
4ea chopped scallions
1/2bn fresh cilantro
12oz Blue Moon Light Sky Citrus Wheat
2ea Bitter oranges, juiced*
1/2 kiwi fruit, peeled
¼c mirin
2t kosher salt
2t sugar
¼c oil

Instructions:
Heat the oil and softly sear the first four ingredients until blistered and lightly charred and the ancho is pliable. Add the black peppercorns and toast for 2-3 minutes. Place the total contents into a blender with the rest of the ingredients from the recipe and process to a chunky puree. Pour over meat and marinate for 12-24 hours. Remove meat from marinade and wipe off any excess. grill over high heat.

*Substitute the Juice and grated zest of 1 orange and 2 limes if unavailable in your area.

Now I want tacos...

Adding some Salsa Lizano sauce either as a marinade or topping would definitely add some depth.

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The tortillas honestly are the biggest shortfall I have when making this style tacos.

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It shouldn’t be LINK
Very easy and great taste.

If you don't have a plancha, a comal (cast-iron griddle) will work. Cooking the meat ahead of time and warning it up on a planca or comal, which you also use to heat up the tortillas is important. With lengua tacos, you cook the tongue, then dice it up and crisp up the pieces on the comal with a little olive oil.

A lot of commercial fajita/asada seasoning mixes also have MSG in them. I know people have mixed feelings about MSG, but try adding a little Accent to your marinate or spice rub when cooking skirt steak. It’ll definitely add the umami element that you might be missing. Grilling over mesquite is a distinct flavor component as well.

Lengua Tacos with onion, cilantro and lime. My absolute favorite.