Street Food Taster - "Tacos"
A taste of Mexican street food!
Tortillas are Mexican flatbreads originally made from corn flour, and were being eaten by the Oaxacan peoples (in now southern Mexico) at least ten thousand years ago. Of course they only became called tortillas, meaning little cakes, with the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadores in the 15th Century, who also contributed the wheat-floured versions.
I understand that tacos are usually little nibbles made from corn or wheat tortillas about 4" wide, folded up around small amounts of filling.
Unfortunately, Instructor Ben had only supplied us with soft wheat tortillas a foot across, thus ensuring that any taco we made by folding these in half would be the size of a horse's head.
Not exactly convenient for eating on the street!
These giant tortillas are better suited to making burritos: cylindrical wraps, completely enclosing the contents.
Instructor Ben provided some chorizo and pre-marinated chicken breasts and minced beef for us to play with.
I don't recall the flavours or spices involved in that marinating, but I believe garlic, lime juice and Mexican spices were mentioned.
Both Spain and Mexico have a spicy sausage called chorizo. But there the similarities end - the Spanish version being more like a salami: cured, dried and edible without cooking, whereas the Mexican variety is raw, more like a spicy British pork sausage, and is most often stripped of its skin before being fried like mince.
Unfortunately, the chorizo provided was of the Spanish type.
Tortillas are Mexican flatbreads originally made from corn flour, and were being eaten by the Oaxacan peoples (in now southern Mexico) at least ten thousand years ago. Of course they only became called tortillas, meaning little cakes, with the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadores in the 15th Century, who also contributed the wheat-floured versions.
I understand that tacos are usually little nibbles made from corn or wheat tortillas about 4" wide, folded up around small amounts of filling.
Unfortunately, Instructor Ben had only supplied us with soft wheat tortillas a foot across, thus ensuring that any taco we made by folding these in half would be the size of a horse's head.
Not exactly convenient for eating on the street!
These giant tortillas are better suited to making burritos: cylindrical wraps, completely enclosing the contents.
Instructor Ben provided some chorizo and pre-marinated chicken breasts and minced beef for us to play with.
I don't recall the flavours or spices involved in that marinating, but I believe garlic, lime juice and Mexican spices were mentioned.
Both Spain and Mexico have a spicy sausage called chorizo. But there the similarities end - the Spanish version being more like a salami: cured, dried and edible without cooking, whereas the Mexican variety is raw, more like a spicy British pork sausage, and is most often stripped of its skin before being fried like mince.
Unfortunately, the chorizo provided was of the Spanish type.
menu
Taco Fillings
mexican ingredients snack
The class was invited to to help themselves to the vast array of ingredients on offer and invent exciting taco fillings from the provided collection of
tomatoes, onions, corn, chillies, garlic, parsley, coriander, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, carrots, celery, lemon, limes, sour cream, flaked crab-meat, cheeses, avocado and much else,
with little guidance.
So I shoved a sweet potato and a corn cob; silk, leaves and all, into the oven and got to work...
So I shoved a sweet potato and a corn cob; silk, leaves and all, into the oven and got to work...
Ingredients
For Baking:- sweet potato
- corn-on-the-cob
Optional Extras:- avocado
- sour cream
- shredded lettuce
Crab:- shredded crab meat
- lime juice
- minced red chilli
- coriander, chopped
- cucumber, finely chopped
- salt & black pepper
- sour cream
Chicken:- Mexican-style spices to marinate
- lime juice to marinate
- chicken breast
- chorizo
- corn
- cheese, grated
- spring onions, sliced
Beef:- Mexican-style spices to marinate
- lime juice to marinate
- garlic to marinate
- beef mince
- red onion, roughly chopped
- red pepper, sliced
- chillies, sliced
- coriander, chopped
- sour cream
- cheese, grated
Salsa Fresca:- tomatoes, deseeded, chopped
- chillies, finely chopped
- onion, finely chopped
- coriander, roughly chopped
- lime juice
- salt
Preparation:
Bake the vegetables.
When the corn cob is tender, peel away the leaves and silk strands, stand it up and slice vertically down all sides with a sharp knife to free the kernels from the husk.
Coat one side of the tortilla with this paste before filling and rolling.
Karl's Beef Taco Filling:
I got a frying pan good and hot, added a glug of oil then fried the beef over high heat, stirring, until it coloured up nicely.
I stirred through a little sour cream to moisten it up, sprinkled with a generous quantity of chopped coriander, and covered the pan with grated cheese.
I popped the pan under the grill for a couple of minutes to melt the cheese, then piled the filling into a sweet-potato-lubricated tortilla and rolled it up.
Karl's Chicken Taco Filling:
I oiled and spiced a chicken breast then roast it with a couple of chunks of Spanish chorizo for about 30 minutes. Then I sliced them both up, mixed them with sliced spring onions, corn kernels, and dressed the mixture with grated cheese in a small frying pan. I then grilled the pan lightly to melt the cheese, and rolled the filling into a taco burrito along with a few slices of avocado and a squeeze of lime juice.
Karl's Crab Taco Filling.
Fish Tacos are a speciality of the Baja region of Mexico. Though they are traditionally made from battered fish, pickled cabbage, and a spicy cream sauce.
Crab tacos; not so much. But then how are they going to stop you making them?
De-seed and finely mince the red chilli.
Cut a section of a cucumber. Peel lengthways in strips to remove some or all of the skin, to taste.
Quarter the section lengthways and remove the center seedy portion which is mostly just water. Finely chop the remaining flesh.
Mix the chilli, cucumber and flaked crab meat with a squirt of lime juice.
Season to taste and add a little sour cream to lightly lubricate the mixture.
Dress with chopped coriander leaves, and serve on avocado slices.
Bake the vegetables.
When the corn cob is tender, peel away the leaves and silk strands, stand it up and slice vertically down all sides with a sharp knife to free the kernels from the husk.
Coat one side of the tortilla with this paste before filling and rolling.
Unless you're using the crab!
Karl's Beef Taco Filling:
I got a frying pan good and hot, added a glug of oil then fried the beef over high heat, stirring, until it coloured up nicely.
Salting meat protein denatures and uncoils its molecules which has the effect of making them very sticky.
For this reason adding salt too early to minced or ground meat will result in it clumping up while frying.
This might be good when you're making meatballs, but isn't so great when you're aiming for separately browned grains.
Then I seasoned and added fat onion slices, sliced red pepper, sliced chillies and continued frying until the vegetables softened a little.For this reason adding salt too early to minced or ground meat will result in it clumping up while frying.
This might be good when you're making meatballs, but isn't so great when you're aiming for separately browned grains.
I stirred through a little sour cream to moisten it up, sprinkled with a generous quantity of chopped coriander, and covered the pan with grated cheese.
I popped the pan under the grill for a couple of minutes to melt the cheese, then piled the filling into a sweet-potato-lubricated tortilla and rolled it up.
Karl's Chicken Taco Filling:
I oiled and spiced a chicken breast then roast it with a couple of chunks of Spanish chorizo for about 30 minutes. Then I sliced them both up, mixed them with sliced spring onions, corn kernels, and dressed the mixture with grated cheese in a small frying pan. I then grilled the pan lightly to melt the cheese, and rolled the filling into a taco burrito along with a few slices of avocado and a squeeze of lime juice.
Karl's Crab Taco Filling.
Fish Tacos are a speciality of the Baja region of Mexico. Though they are traditionally made from battered fish, pickled cabbage, and a spicy cream sauce.
Crab tacos; not so much. But then how are they going to stop you making them?
De-seed and finely mince the red chilli.
Cut a section of a cucumber. Peel lengthways in strips to remove some or all of the skin, to taste.
Quarter the section lengthways and remove the center seedy portion which is mostly just water. Finely chop the remaining flesh.
Mix the chilli, cucumber and flaked crab meat with a squirt of lime juice.
Season to taste and add a little sour cream to lightly lubricate the mixture.
Dress with chopped coriander leaves, and serve on avocado slices.
This filling is not good, if I'm honest.
I think a lot of the blame might fall on the canned crab meat, which is a long way from the taste and texture of fresh crab, and weeps ugly juices when seasoned and flavoured with the lime.
The cucumber, avocado and a light touch of sour cream are a good match for the crab. Or would be.
The cucumber, avocado and a light touch of sour cream are a good match for the crab. Or would be.
Karl's Salsa:
Mexican salsa is usually cooked, or contains cooked elements whether tomatoes or chillies. Or more exotic ingredients like tomatillo. Pico do Gallo literally the rooster's beak on the other hand, is a salsa fresca - a raw or fresh sauce, and is usually made from chopped, raw, chillies, tomatoes and onion tossed in lime juice.
Tacos ASSEMBLE!:
Or rather, burritos.
Just fill a tortilla with whatever you fancy - meat/chicken/veg/salad/salsa/sauces, and roll it up. What could go wrong?
Well, my first attempts fell apart like cheap pancake suits, but YouTube came to my rescue and I learned how to pile fillings in the centre not too much or it won't all stay in, fold the sides over, then roll them up fairly tightly from the bottom, tucking everything in as you go and squeezing firmly around the stuffing.
If you have a sauce or a paste like guacamole, chilli sauce, refried beans, sour cream or in my case, mashed sweet potato to smear all over the tortilla first it can help to hold the edges together.
You can also lightly fry the rolled cylinder seam-side down to toast it closed if you like.
A great way to use any leftover burritos you may end up with is to smother them in chilli sauce. That way no-one can tell how badly wrapped they were 😂
Mexican salsa is usually cooked, or contains cooked elements whether tomatoes or chillies. Or more exotic ingredients like tomatillo. Pico do Gallo literally the rooster's beak on the other hand, is a salsa fresca - a raw or fresh sauce, and is usually made from chopped, raw, chillies, tomatoes and onion tossed in lime juice.
Tacos ASSEMBLE!:
Or rather, burritos.
Just fill a tortilla with whatever you fancy - meat/chicken/veg/salad/salsa/sauces, and roll it up. What could go wrong?
Well, my first attempts fell apart like cheap pancake suits, but YouTube came to my rescue and I learned how to pile fillings in the centre not too much or it won't all stay in, fold the sides over, then roll them up fairly tightly from the bottom, tucking everything in as you go and squeezing firmly around the stuffing.
If you have a sauce or a paste like guacamole, chilli sauce, refried beans, sour cream or in my case, mashed sweet potato to smear all over the tortilla first it can help to hold the edges together.
You can also lightly fry the rolled cylinder seam-side down to toast it closed if you like.
A great way to use any leftover burritos you may end up with is to smother them in chilli sauce. That way no-one can tell how badly wrapped they were 😂
Enchiladas Rojas or Wet Burritos
mexican main
Enchiladas consist of corn tortillas covered in a chilli sauce.
Originally sold as a simple street food where the tortilla was dipped in sauce, they have now expanded to include tortillas which are fried, stuffed, rolled and baked in the sauce, though as to what fillings and tortillas are considered acceptable; opinions vary. Certainly cheese, but what about meat? Chicken? Salad?
Are wheat-flour tortillas acceptable? Or do these now become wet burritos?
I would say that the dish here are is a cross between wet (or smothered) chimichangas and Enchiladas con Chile Rojo.
A chimichanga is a fried burrito - usually deep-fried. I just pan-fried my burritos in butter to crisp them up a little: It's almost the same thing!
Originally sold as a simple street food where the tortilla was dipped in sauce, they have now expanded to include tortillas which are fried, stuffed, rolled and baked in the sauce, though as to what fillings and tortillas are considered acceptable; opinions vary. Certainly cheese, but what about meat? Chicken? Salad?
Are wheat-flour tortillas acceptable? Or do these now become wet burritos?
I would say that the dish here are is a cross between wet (or smothered) chimichangas and Enchiladas con Chile Rojo.
A chimichanga is a fried burrito - usually deep-fried. I just pan-fried my burritos in butter to crisp them up a little: It's almost the same thing!
Serves 8
Ingredients
- 8 flour tortillas
- filling for 8 tortillas
- half a chorizo, about 4oz/115g
- 1-2 red onion, chopped
- half a dozen garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 oz dried Ancho chillies
- 1 oz dried Guajillo chillies
- 2 dried Habanero or Arbol chillies
- 1 red pepper, deseeded, skinned
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 cup chicken stock optional
- 2 tblsps flour
- 2 tblsps butter
- salt & pepper
- 300ml/11 fl oz crème frâche or queso crema
- cheese, lots of cheese, grated
- 1 mozzarella ball
Remove the stalks from the dried chillies, slice them in half and remove the seeds.
You can retain the stalks and seeds for a second round of water flavouring if you like.
Dry-fry them over moderate heat, pressing them down into the frying pan with a spatula for 10 seconds so they get nicely scorched but without burning them.
Put them all in a bowl and pour over boiling water to just cover. Weigh them down with a plate to keep them submerged and leave them for 20 minutes to soften.
Meanwhile, halve or quarter the red bell pepper, remove the core and seeds and sit under a grill until the skin chars all over. Leave to cool in a sealed plastic bag and then pull away the charred skin.
Remove the chorizo skin, mince up the meat and fry it until it colours up a little.
Scoop it out into a blender, and in the oil left in the pan fry the chopped onion until it begins to caramelize at the edges, then stir through the garlic, cumin, oregano and black pepper for a few more minutes and add to the blender.
I also added a couple of chopped mushrooms I needed to be rid of after the onion.
Add enough of either chicken stock or the strained chilli-soaking water to the blender to whizz up a smooth paste.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of flour with the same volume of butter in the frying pan and cook it until it turns golden and smells biscuity, then gradually stir in the chilli paste.
Cook for 20 minutes until you have a dark red gravy, adjusting the consistency with extra stock or chilli water so you have a good covering sauce.
Season to taste.
Fill and roll the burritos.
You could use any fillings. I had a chicken, corn and chorizo mixture for one type, and a minced beef and red pepper mix for another.
To both I added a smear of sweet potato purée, avocado slices, grated cheese and rocket those being the things I had.
Heat a generous knob of butter with some oil in the frying pan and fry the burritos all over to nicely colour them, starting with the seam-side.
Smear some of the chilli sauce over the bottom of an oven dish, then arrange a single layer of chimichangas on it which pack the dish.
Pour the rest of the sauce over the chimichangas, then spread everything with a layer of the queso crema or crème fraîche, if you don't live in Mexico.
Grate over a generous amount of melty cheese like queso Oaxaca or cheddar if you don't live in Mexico.
Bake at Gas Mark 4 for 30-40 minutes until the top is melted and bubbling and the dish is heated through.
You can retain the stalks and seeds for a second round of water flavouring if you like.
Dry-fry them over moderate heat, pressing them down into the frying pan with a spatula for 10 seconds so they get nicely scorched but without burning them.
Put them all in a bowl and pour over boiling water to just cover. Weigh them down with a plate to keep them submerged and leave them for 20 minutes to soften.
If, like me, you are allergic to waste, you can keep the stalks and seeds, dry-fry those too afterwards,
and soak them too in the reheated chilli water for extra flavour.
Strain the water before using.
Strain the water before using.
Meanwhile, halve or quarter the red bell pepper, remove the core and seeds and sit under a grill until the skin chars all over. Leave to cool in a sealed plastic bag and then pull away the charred skin.
Though I suppose you could try just leaving it on, after all the chillies still have their skin on.
Or peeling the pepper in the chilli water so as not to lose any of that lovely smokey flavour.
Or peeling the pepper in the chilli water so as not to lose any of that lovely smokey flavour.
Remove the chorizo skin, mince up the meat and fry it until it colours up a little.
Scoop it out into a blender, and in the oil left in the pan fry the chopped onion until it begins to caramelize at the edges, then stir through the garlic, cumin, oregano and black pepper for a few more minutes and add to the blender.
I also added a couple of chopped mushrooms I needed to be rid of after the onion.
Add enough of either chicken stock or the strained chilli-soaking water to the blender to whizz up a smooth paste.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of flour with the same volume of butter in the frying pan and cook it until it turns golden and smells biscuity, then gradually stir in the chilli paste.
Cook for 20 minutes until you have a dark red gravy, adjusting the consistency with extra stock or chilli water so you have a good covering sauce.
Season to taste.
In fact, I used only chilli water since I didn't have any stock, but a little stock will give a less harsh sauce with better depth of flavour.
Fill and roll the burritos.
You could use any fillings. I had a chicken, corn and chorizo mixture for one type, and a minced beef and red pepper mix for another.
To both I added a smear of sweet potato purée, avocado slices, grated cheese and rocket those being the things I had.
Heat a generous knob of butter with some oil in the frying pan and fry the burritos all over to nicely colour them, starting with the seam-side.
Smear some of the chilli sauce over the bottom of an oven dish, then arrange a single layer of chimichangas on it which pack the dish.
Pour the rest of the sauce over the chimichangas, then spread everything with a layer of the queso crema or crème fraîche, if you don't live in Mexico.
Grate over a generous amount of melty cheese like queso Oaxaca or cheddar if you don't live in Mexico.
I laid slices of mozzarella on top, because I had some that needed eating, but you could also use queso fresca, if you live in Mexico!
Bake at Gas Mark 4 for 30-40 minutes until the top is melted and bubbling and the dish is heated through.
Terrific!
I beg to differ - the cheese doesn't stick to the corn at all, and simply flows off into the husky fibrous leaves to which it aggressively adheres itself, making it impossible to eat without getting mouthfuls of hay or facefuls of scalding hot cheese either on the street or at home.
If you want cheesy corn, you'd be best advised to cut the kernels off the cob first and just mix them with cheese.