TacoProject

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Hidalgo

Salsa Borracha

“Drunken salsa”: toasted pasilla chiles blended with pulque or dark beer, orange juice and garlic. The classic partner for Sunday barbacoa.

Base

Dried chile

Chiles

Pasilla

Heat (1–5 🌶)

2

Texture

Smooth

Scoville low (SHU)

1000

Scoville high (SHU)

2500

Keeps (days, fridge)

7

Best with

Barbacoa, lamb, grilled mushrooms

Ingredients

  • 6 pasilla chiles, toasted
  • ½ cup pulque or dark Mexican beer
  • Juice of 1 orange
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • ÂĽ onion
  • Salt

Where to find it

Written by

Barbacoa Los Magueyes

Lamb, maguey leaves and a pit dug before sunrise.

Whole lamb wrapped in roasted maguey leaves and cooked overnight in an earthen pit, served by the kilo with tortillas, salsa borracha and a cup of the rich consomé that drips into the pot below.

A weekend institution on the highway out of Mexico City. Arrive early; the best cuts go first.

Barbacoa tacos with chile rayado salsa
Photo: Daniela Gomez / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

At a glance

Price

$$

Type

TaquerĂ­a (sit-down)

Neighborhood

Actopan

City

Actopan, Hidalgo

đź’µ Cash only. There is an ATM nearby, but it charges a fee.

Ratings

Tortilla /5

4.5

Salsa /5

4.5

Meat /5

5

Value /5

4

Vibe /5

4.5

Overall /5

4.6

Must order

Barbacoa taco + a cup of consomé

Skip

Skipping the consomé

Hours & location

Hours

Sat–Sun 6 a.m.–2 p.m.

Address

Carretera México–Pachuca km 84
Actopan, Hidalgo

Signature salsas

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