TacoProject

Taco recipes, taquería reviews and regional guides from Austin: al pastor, birria, breakfast tacos, salsas and the stories behind them.

Recipes

Rajas con Crema and Mushroom Tacos

Prep (min)

15

Cook (min)

25

Total

40 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Heat 🌶

2

🥄 Pairs well with: Salsa Verde Cruda

Rajas means “strips,” and rajas con crema is a central Mexican classic: roasted poblano peppers cooked down with onion and cream until silky. We add well-browned mushrooms for a meaty depth and sweet corn for pops of color.

Ingredients

  • 4 large poblano peppers
  • 12 oz cremini or oyster mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 white onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3/4 cup Mexican crema (or heavy cream)
  • 1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco
  • 2 tbsp oil, salt, and 12 warm corn tortillas

Method

  1. Char the poblanos directly over a gas flame or under the broiler, turning until blackened all over.
  2. Seal them in a bowl covered with a plate for 10 minutes, then rub off the skins, remove the seeds and cut into strips.
  3. Brown the mushrooms in a hot skillet with 1 tbsp oil and a pinch of salt. Do not crowd the pan. Set aside.
  4. Add the remaining oil and cook the onion until soft and golden, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and corn for 2 minutes more.
  5. Stir in poblano strips, mushrooms and crema. Simmer 3 to 4 minutes until thickened. Season with salt.
  6. Spoon into tortillas and finish with queso fresco.
Is it spicy?

Poblanos are mild, but every so often you meet a feisty one. Taste a strip before adding it all, and balance with extra crema if needed.

More meat-free ideas live in Vegetarian Recipes.

Slow-Cooked Birria de Res Tacos with Consommé

Prep (min)

30

Cook (min)

210

Total

4 hrs

Serves

6 (18 tacos)

Difficulty

Weekend project

Heat 🌶

3

🥄 Pairs well with: Salsa Roja de Chile de Árbol

Birria comes from Jalisco, where it is traditionally made with goat and served as a stew. The word itself is a joke: birria means something like “a worthless mess,” supposedly what Spanish colonists called the tough goats they left to locals. The locals got the last laugh. Here in taco form, the Tijuana-style beef version (birria de res) has conquered the world, thanks largely to the ritual of dipping crispy tacos into a cup of hot consommé.

Crispy red birria tacos
Photo: T.Tseng / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Ingredients

  • 3 lb (1.4 kg) beef chuck, cut into large chunks
  • 2 lb bone-in short ribs or oxtail (for body in the broth)
  • 6 guajillo chiles, 3 ancho chiles, 2 chiles de árbol, stemmed and seeded
  • 4 Roma tomatoes and 1/2 white onion
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 1 cinnamon stick (Mexican canela if you can find it)
  • 3 bay leaves, 4 whole cloves, 1 tsp cumin seed
  • 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano and 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 8 cups water or beef stock
  • Salt, corn tortillas, diced onion, cilantro, limes

Method

  1. Season the beef generously with salt and sear in batches in a heavy Dutch oven until well browned. Set aside.
  2. Simmer the chiles, tomatoes, onion and garlic in water for 10 minutes until soft.
  3. Blend the softened vegetables with the cinnamon, cloves, cumin, oregano, thyme, vinegar and 2 cups of the cooking liquid until silky. Strain for the smoothest consommé.
  4. Return the beef to the pot, pour the sauce over, add bay leaves and the remaining water or stock. Bring to a simmer.
  5. Cover and cook on the lowest heat (or in a 300°F oven) for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, until the beef falls apart.
  6. Remove the meat and shred it. Skim the red fat from the surface of the broth into a small bowl and save it. Season the consommé with salt.
  7. Dip a tortilla in the reserved fat, lay it on a hot griddle, fill with beef, fold and fry until crisp on both sides.
  8. Serve with cups of consommé topped with onion and cilantro, and lime wedges for squeezing.

The quesabirria variation

Quesabirria tacos with melted cheese
Photo: Missvain / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

Quesabirria, the cheese-loaded version that exploded out of Tijuana and Los Angeles taco trucks in the late 2010s, is the same process with one addition: lay a handful of shredded Oaxaca cheese (or low-moisture mozzarella) on the fat-dipped tortilla before the meat. Let it melt and crisp at the edges, where it forms a lacy, frico-like crust. Some cooks go further and make a mulita, sandwiching the filling between two tortillas.

Can I make this in a slow cooker or pressure cooker?

Yes. Slow cooker: 8 hours on low. Pressure cooker: 60 minutes at high pressure with natural release, using about one cup less liquid.

Related

Made this recipe? Leave a comment below and tell us what you changed. Find more ideas in the Salsa Heat Guide and the Taco Glossary.

More Recipes

How to Make Homemade Corn Tortillas from Masa Harina

Prep (min)

15

Cook (min)

20

Total

35 min

Serves

16 tortillas

Difficulty

Easy

Heat 🌶

1

🥄 Pairs well with: Salsa Macha

A fresh corn tortilla is a different food from the stiff, bagged kind. The good news: masa harina, dried and ground nixtamalized corn, makes excellent tortillas with just water and salt. Nixtamalization, soaking corn in an alkaline solution of slaked lime, is a technique developed in Mesoamerica thousands of years ago. It loosens the hulls, makes the dough hold together, and unlocks niacin.

What you need

  • 2 cups masa harina (Maseca or a stone-ground brand)
  • 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups hot tap water
  • 1/2 tsp salt (optional)
  • A tortilla press (or a heavy pan and a flat plate)
  • A plastic bag cut into two squares
  • A comal, cast-iron skillet or griddle

Method

  1. Mix masa harina and salt, then add 1 1/2 cups hot water. Knead for 2 minutes. The dough should feel like soft Play-Doh and not stick to your hands.
  2. Cover and rest for 15 minutes so the flour fully hydrates.
  3. Heat your comal over medium-high heat. No oil.
  4. Roll a golf-ball-sized piece of dough, place it between the plastic squares, and press to about 1/16 inch thick.
  5. Peel off the plastic and lay the tortilla on the comal. Cook 30 seconds, until it releases.
  6. Flip and cook 45 to 60 seconds, until spotted underneath.
  7. Flip again. Press gently with your fingertips; if the tortilla puffs, you have done it right.
  8. Stack in a towel-lined basket. They continue steaming and softening as they rest.
A handmade tortilla on a comal
Photo: Juan Daniel Flores Romero / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Troubleshooting

ProblemLikely causeFix
Edges crack when pressedDough too dryKnead in water 1 tbsp at a time
Sticks to the plasticDough too wetKnead in a little masa harina
Stiff and leatheryComal too cool, cooked too longRaise heat; cook faster
Raw in the middlePressed too thickPress thinner or rotate the tortilla halfway
Never puffsHeat too low, or skipped the final flipHotter comal; press gently after the second flip
Tears when flippingFlipped too earlyWait until the edges lift on their own

The official tortilla hydration formula

For the engineers in the audience, we have reduced the process to science. Please do not cite this.

# tortilla_hydration.py  (results not peer reviewed)
water_cups = masa_cups * 0.8
           + humidity_penalty(kitchen)
           + 0.1 * abuela_is_watching
           - 0.05 * times_you_said_"it is fine"

if dough.cracks():
    water_cups += 1 / 16   # add a splash, knead, repeat
elif dough.sticks_to(hands):
    water_cups -= 1 / 16   # you went too far
else:
    return "perfect. stop measuring and start pressing."

Now go put them to work in some al pastor.

Made this recipe? Leave a comment below and tell us what you changed. Find more ideas in the Salsa Heat Guide and the Taco Glossary.

More Recipes

Tacos al Pastor at Home (No Trompo Required)

Prep (min)

30

Cook (min)

25

Total

4 hrs (includes marinating)

Serves

4 (12 tacos)

Difficulty

Medium

Heat 🌶

3

🥄 Pairs well with: Salsa Verde Cruda, Salsa Roja de Chile de Árbol

Real al pastor is cooked on a trompo (literally “spinning top”), a vertical spit stacked with marinated pork, crowned with a pineapple and shaved to order by a taquero with a flick of the wrist. Most of us do not have one in the kitchen. Good news: with thin-sliced pork shoulder, a bold adobo and a two-stage cooking method, you can get the charred edges and juicy interior at home.

Al pastor tacos topped with pineapple, onion and cilantro
Photo: City Foodsters / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Ingredients

For the adobo

  • 4 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
  • 2 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
  • 3 tbsp achiote paste
  • 1/2 cup pineapple juice
  • 1/4 cup white vinegar
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

For the tacos

  • 2 1/2 lb (1.1 kg) boneless pork shoulder, sliced 1/4 inch thick
  • 1/2 fresh pineapple, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch rings
  • 16 small corn tortillas
  • 1 white onion, finely diced
  • 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
  • Limes and salsa verde, to serve

Timing

StageTime
Prep (toast chiles, blend adobo, slice pork)30 minutes
Marinate4 to 12 hours
Broil stacked pork25 minutes
Rest, slice and sear10 minutes
Total active timeAbout 1 hour 5 minutes

Method

  1. Toast the guajillo and ancho chiles in a dry skillet for 20 to 30 seconds per side until fragrant. Cover with hot water and soak for 15 minutes.
  2. Drain the chiles and blend with the achiote, pineapple juice, vinegar, garlic, oregano, cumin, cloves and salt until completely smooth.
  3. Toss the pork slices in the adobo until every piece is coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
  4. Heat the broiler to high and set a rack about 6 inches from the element. Line a sheet pan with foil.
  5. Stack the pork slices tightly into a compact “mini trompo” loaf about 4 inches wide on the sheet pan. Lay pineapple rings around it.
  6. Broil for 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is deeply charred and the center reaches 150°F (65°C). Rest 5 minutes.
  7. Slice the stack thinly across the layers, then sear the slices in a smoking-hot cast-iron skillet for 1 to 2 minutes to crisp the edges.
  8. Chop the charred pineapple. Pile pork into warm tortillas and top with onion, cilantro, pineapple, a squeeze of lime and salsa.
Tips for better al pastor
  • Slice partially frozen pork. Thirty minutes in the freezer makes 1/4-inch slices easy.
  • Do not skip the skillet sear. The broiler cooks; the skillet makes it taste like the taquería.
  • Double-stack your tortillas the way street stands do, so juicy pork does not blow through.
  • Leftovers make an excellent gringa: al pastor and melted cheese in a flour tortilla.

Curious where this dish came from? Read how Lebanese immigrants gave Mexico al pastor.

Related

Made this recipe? Leave a comment below and tell us what you changed. Find more ideas in the Salsa Heat Guide and the Taco Glossary.

More Recipes