Authentic Mexican Street Tacos Recipe

If you browse on the internet, you are sure to get millions of different types of recipes on how to prepare street tacos, but don’t let that give you mixed feelings as there are authentic ones among the millions. You will get the opportunity to explore some unique, flavorful combinations. We have seen the likes of BBQ Shrimp Tacos, Korean Chicken Tacos, street tacos (Carne Asada), which is always a hit when introduced into any family – the beef is so tender that it just falls apart. No doubt, these Mexican tacos are replete with so many flavors that no one can resist.

Talking about the authentic Mexican tacos recipe, you can make them with either chicken or beef, but this is largely dependent on personal choice. There are people whose health conditions make it impossible for them to consume beef; thus, they can go for the street taco recipe that involves chicken or white meat. All in all, the ingredients for making your yummy traditional Mexican tacos are quite a few and easy to gather, which makes the making of a delicious taco very easy and achievable in no time at all. You will enjoy your tacos more when the fresh version of the veggies are in season, but in the absence of fresh ones, the canned version will work out just fine. With that said, street tacos are much simpler than what we see on social media. To get started, continue reading.

What Are Street Tacos?

In a simple explanation, street tacos are steak, which is either sliced or chopped up, and served with flavorful cilantro and onions. As typical street food, Mexican tacos are often prepared on plancha and placed in warmers with all the accompanying juices and spices. This aids in keeping either the beef or chicken flavorful and supple until you are ready to dig in.

We just love the tacos, and this Mexican street tacos recipe has never disappointed. Just have a taste, and you will always remember the yummy tenderness of the beef, and when you think about the lime that makes it even more flavorful, you will simply want to have another taste. Once you have gathered the right combination of ingredients, your delicious tacos will be ready in little or no time at all.

Related Post: Best Taco Holders

Steps Involved in Making Your Mexican Street Tacos

It is a whole lot simpler and easier than you may be thinking. Just four easy steps are involved, they come thus;

• Finely chop the meat and veggies
• Marinate in a large bag
• Cook over heat
• Serve!

Seriously, it is as straightforward as that, quite uncomplicated, and since you will only be making use of a single skillet, clean up is going to be a breeze as well. The tortillas can be prepared by toasting them with the aid of a comal, but better still, people that have access to a gas stove can do so over an open flame. But then, you can just decide to throw your own tortillas into the microwave after wrapping them up with a damp towel. You can even do a whole lot more with your tortillas; there are still those who just prefer to char them.

Related Post: Best Microwave Ovens

The Secret Ingredient

Though many recipes for Mexican tacos chose to leave out this secret ingredient, perhaps due to personal preferences, there is a secret ingredient that is thrown into the makings of your favorite street tacos. But, what is this undisclosed ingredient? It is the Mexican beer! Now you have got it right, but what does the beer do for the tacos?

The Mexican beer in tacos functions to tenderize the meat, which is quite great, especially when your choice of meat is cut like flank or skirt steak. These are not expensive, but they are quite tougher than the rest. One thing about the beer is that the alcohol content is bound to dissipate as it cooks down. At the end of the cooking, it will only leave you with the flavoring components, which are known to impart an earthy rich flavor. However, citric acid can still accomplish the same task

Ingredients

You just need a few ingredients for making your authentic street tacos. They include the following;

• Meat – For the beef, you will need about 3 lbs ( this can come in the form of beef or chicken)
• Orange juice – enough quantity
• Onions – One large onion (preferably the white ones)
• Cilantro This is the leaf and has to be chopped.
• Lime juice
• Cumin – This is the seed and has to be grounded
• Garlic better to be fresh, but you can still make use of the one that comes in a jar
• Salt
• Pepper
• White corn tortillas

Now for the Marinade

The marinade is exactly what makes the tacos, giving them that genuine ‘street’ taco savors without any additional taste.

Mix:

• Get three to four cups of orange juice (the quantity you will need should be big enough to cover the entire meat inside a freezer bag)
• One tbsp of lime
• One tbsp of cumin seed grounded
• One tbsp of minced garlic – the grounded one and needs to be very fresh
• One tbsp of cilantro which has been previously chopped
• One tsp of salt
• One tsp of pepper

Related Post: Best Pepper Mills

Directions

Place the marinade into a big freezer bag alongside the beef, and then proceed to let all the excess air out of the bag to completely submerge the meat in the marinade. For people who want their tacos ready without wasting much time, marinating can be accomplished within a few hours. But there are people who prefer to let the meat sit in the marinade inside the fridge for a couple of days. According to the experts on tacos, the citric acid in the juice acts on the meat, breaking it down as it continues to stay in the marinade. This only means that the longer it stays, the more tender it will become.

Toppings

For this recipe, the best toppings to enjoy your street tacos with are onions and cilantro. Get a full bulb of onions and dice it up nicely in addition to a quarter cup of cilantro leaves also nicely chopped as well.

Cooking the Meat

You cannot just cook your taco meat any other way but BBQ. Just get the fire raging and set the meat on hot coals turning it from side to side regularly. You will know when it is done from the brownish color, and of course, the aroma.

Related Post: Best BBQ Tool Sets

As for skirt steak, they should be sliced quite thin, which reduces the cooking time to a great extent. What we mean in essence is that the tiny slices of the steak will make it cook faster than when it is cooked in lumpy sizes. It is recommended that you allow the meat to cook until it is about medium done.

There are still some people who would love to have their meat cooked a bit longer than medium done. This is still very ok since after the meat is ready, it may still take a while to have it chopped up into the preferred fingernail-sized pieces, and you have to allow the meat time to cool down.

Besides, after you have the meat all chopped up, you should proceed to have it reheated in the microwave, and this will still cook it a tad more. It is well understood that no one would want to eat their tacos with the cold meat, you just won’t be able to enjoy it, and the flavorful aroma will be greatly reduced.

Tortillas

Many people prefer the white corn tortillas as the best tortilla that you can use for your tacos, and heating them up can be done in several ways. Everyone has their individual ways of accomplishing this, but for this recipe, this is how we are going to do it.

• Tear off a couple of paper towels and have them folded. The towels should just be wet, and not dripping with water, hence the need to make sure that you rinse them thoroughly.
• The paper towels are, in turn, used in wrapping four tortillas, and you need to place them inside the microwave to heat them up in high heat for up to one minute.
• Monitor the tortillas in the microwave, and once they are ready, they will come out very moist, hot, as well as very flexible.
• You can use a couple of tortillas for a single taco, which means you will only be able to realize two tacos from this. As you move on, just remember to re-wet the towels as you deal with the tortillas one after the other.
• Now, your tortillas are all good and ready. All you need to do at this stage is to add the meat (beef or chicken), slam the toppings on top and get yourself ready for the yummiest experience of your life eating one of the most delicious dishes of Mexican origin. Just dig in and enjoy.

Related Post: Best Mexican Cookbooks