The finished taco. Magically delicious.
My mechanic, Victor Haro, is the best. He's a local Mexican-American who is a "car whisperer." He can fix and diagnose just about anything by tilting his head, listening and checking under the hood.
He knows I am a taco supafreak. I always try to take him for tacos but he prefers "ini" foods; linguini, fettucini, spaghetini and of course pizza and lasagna!
1-2 Tbl. of raw meat per taco.
Heated, stuffed, but still raw tacos ready to fry!
That day finally came. That day was Tuesday. I stopped off to give him some money I owed him, just in time to watch his brother David execute the family recipe.
Sizzle. Sizzle. Golden brown.
THEY WERE SO DAMN GOOD!!!!!
Here are some more pix and the recipe!
Victor's brother, David
Victor's Salsa: Jitomate, Jalapeno, Lechuga
FEEDS 4-6
Take 1 lb. of ground beef (or ground turkey if you really want.) Dice 1/2 a white onion and 1-2 jalapenos and 1 tbl. of cilantro. Mix well throughout the raw meat using a spoon.
Grab your corn tortillas, dry heat them for about 1 min on each side. You want them to heat enough to avoid cracking when you fold them but keep the heat low and don't add any oil. You are really just softening them a bit.
Put 1 heaping tbl of RAW meat inside the tortilla and fold it over. You can add a pizca of salt here - a pinch. Do this 12x or so.
Get a good frying pan nice and hot with about 1/4-1/2 inch of vegetable oil (not olive) in there.
Place your "raw" taco in the oil and fry on both sides over medium heat for about 12-15 min. (6 min. per side)
Drain into some paper towels.
Have your shredded cheese, shredded lettuce and chopped tomato ready to go!
GENTLY GENTLY GENTLY crack open your slightly cooled fried taco just enough to stuff some greenery inside. Shove it down carefully to avoid total crackage.
Garnish with your favorite salsa and CRUNCH AWAY.
Victor made his own salsa that was 3 large Roma Tomatoes, 3 weak Jalapenos and a big chunk of iceberg lettuce (for body) into the blender. Add salt and 2 Tbl. of chili powder.
CUIDADO! ESTOS TACOS SON PELIGROSAMENTE ADICTIVOS!!!!!!!
Hey! Anyone who tries this recipe, please leave a comment and any pointers you have for future taco makers! Thanks!
ReplyDeletebest way to make tacos!! thanks for posting
ReplyDeleteDe nada!!!! :o)))))
ReplyDeleteThese meatballs are so good. My family loves them…kids included. They’ve become my “go to” turkey meatball recipe. I’ve made them quite a few times and finally decided I should say thank you for a good recipe. Thank you �� Techlazy.com Crazyask.com Howmate.com
ReplyDeleteIs this for the Abondigas recipe or did you make meatballs out of the beef taco filling? So awesome! Thank you for sharing.
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ReplyDeleteSorry I removed your comment by accident. I don't know how to unremove it. I was trying to remove some advertisement spam comments!
DeleteExcited to give this a try! Does it really take
ReplyDelete15 mins to fry? It due to cold raw meat? I make San Diego style shredded beef tacos, where I stuff the cooked meat inside then fry. But they fry really fast & messy, but Oh So Good. Just wanted to make sure before I get going. Can't wait ��
Hi Tiffany. Yes if you use a good amount of meat, it's raw and all and if it's too hot your shell will burn but your meat won't cook. It will vary by pan of course - but if you use cast iron - that is the safe time 12-15 minutes we can say. Also it's the home version of a deep fryer which would take maybe 5 minutes or something. Enjoy!!!!!
DeleteWe always bake for a bit after frying to make sure the meat is cooked wellm
DeleteI learned how to make "beef patty" tacos from a very nice lady back in 1963. Her recipe is to make a hamburger patty about half the size of the tortilla shell. Then put in a frying pan with Corn Oil. Cook on each side for just a few minutes. The meat always comes out medium. Never had a problem with the patty being under-cooked. 15 minutes just seems like way too long.
DeleteIt depends on your pan and the heat and how much oil etc. it could be 6 min per side... I still prefer to make a seasoned mixture and fry the shells separately but it was fun learning this method.
DeleteI still cook them this way. Learned it back I early 50’s. Spice hamburger with cumin oregano cilantro salt and pepper and fry them
ReplyDeleteAwesome Pat! Thanks for sharing!
DeleteI grew up in the Midwest, but I had an Aunt who married to a man from California (not Latino, but part Potuguese, which led to the myth that these were "Portuguese-style tacos"😂). He taught the family to make THESE exact tacos, and for the last fifty years, it is the only way I have known how to make tacos, but I have never seen them anywhere else! They are truly one of the easiest and most delicious foods ever. FYI my little hack is to keep white corn tortillas in my freezer. Slide a butter knife between layers to separate as many tortillas as you need while they are still frozen, then let them thaw on the counter. I have never bothered to soften them---if they crack, they crack, the meat keeps everything together! Thanks for posting this :)
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting! I guess the moisture from the freezer is doing some kind of magic. As long as they are completely thawed so no water/oil spatters, sounds like a great idea. Thanks for sharing your family history! :)
DeleteThanks for sharing
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This is the only way I make tacos after being taught by s fellow Tucsonian many years ago. About the corn tortillas ~ I freeze mine too! I'll stock up at my favorite local carniceria, throw them in a big freezer Ziploc bag and use them the same way person above mentioned. Just have to let them thaw completely so it doesn't cause a bunch of splatter! I sometimes add chopped NM Hatch green chili and raw chopped onion to my raw hamburger meat yummmmm and when I take the tacos out of the frying pan I turn them upside down and drain on a paper towel to get the most amount of the oil to drip out gotta love gravity lol. I'm making tacos today!!!
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ReplyDeleteI have made these for years ,only difference is I use have beef and half chorizo.. amazing,
ReplyDeleteYum. I made these for years. So good.
ReplyDeleteThis so AMAZING! This is a dish that I would totally make for myself and probably keep for myself. My grandmother used to make something similar when I was a little girl.
ReplyDeleteJoseph Donahue
Our family has been eating tacos this way since the sixties. They have become known as "Waterville Tacos" for the name of the town in Ohio where the five of us siblings grew up. We try to have them once a year at our family get-together. I don't ever remember making less than 40, but this year we will be making 170 which gives us enough so we all can take some home. There are the five original and with marriage grew to eight, ten off spring which includes marriages, and with ten starting the fourth generation. We have moved everything to the outside, (less mess to clean up and more room, plus a bottle of mint essence to keep the flies away) and we now use electric skillets. Yes, they have always gone in the oven, to melt the cheese and so everyone can eat at the same time. They are served with shredded lettuce, thinly sliced radishes, and lots of diced onions mixed with a can of tomato sauce, oh, and a bottled hot sauce for those that need it. The actual origin of the recipe has been debated, but it may have come from relatives that had taken a trip to some place in South America in the late 50s or early 60s.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing this! 170 crispy tacos. Oh. My. Gosh. Love radishes, though I confess the shredded yellow cheddar is my favorite ingredient in my version though cotija cheese works perfectly well!
DeleteI too love soups, so filling healthy and what the whole family needs on a cold winters day. Great post I will defiantly be trying some.
ReplyDeletePaul Brown
I can't wait to try these tonight!!!
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