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How Do You Make The Perfect Taco? (1 Viewer)

ChiefD

ChiefD

Footballguy
Start with this.

How do you layer your taco. From the bottom up. Me:

1. Hard shells only

2. Cheese at bottom. Soaks up any potential moisture or grease from the meat

3. Beef tacos only

4. Onions

5. Tomato

6. Salsa. Fills the gaps between the onion and tomato and seeps down to the meat

7. Cilantro. Oh yes.

8. Lettuce. Creates the perfect topping for aesthetics, flavor, and functionality. Plus, nothing rolls off onto your plate.

 
no one perfect taco for me.

soft breakfast tacos with red or green chilies - taco truck tacos, etc.

if at home and is hard shell? 

- we still do the double layer thing - spread a soft flour tortilla with good refried beans and wrap around the hard shell

- meat then onions, then some good hot sauce

- followed by some queso then lettuce, shredded cheese, chopped tomato and dollops of sour cream

 
Heat up a can of refried bean with a small handful of shredded cheddar and a little salsa stirred in

Using a butter knife spread a thin layer of the bean mixture in each side of your hard shells before adding any filling. Delicious and keeps the shell from breaking while eating

 
I’ve been making burritos lately, got it down to a science:

Make a cilantro lime rice, throw chicken on the flame in a BBQ, 2 minutes, flip, 2 minutes, toss on foil in the grill for another 5 minutes. Dice tomatoes really small or buy a tomato salsa in advance. Cut up avocado. Take a tortilla in a pan for 40 seconds on each side.

Dice chicken, layer tortilla with rice, then chicken, then avocado, salsa, shredded cheese, sour cream, hot sauce, and a taco sauce (if you’d like).

 
Binky The Doormat said:
no one perfect taco for me.

soft breakfast tacos with red or green chilies - taco truck tacos, etc.

if at home and is hard shell? 

- we still do the double layer thing - spread a soft flour tortilla with good refried beans and wrap around the hard shell

- meat then onions, then some good hot sauce

- followed by some queso then lettuce, shredded cheese, chopped tomato and dollops of sour cream
Click to expand...
Double layer was a good movement 10 years ago. Feels like triple is the standard now. 
 

slather on those refried on a soft shell, key is to find the type made w lard. Then do it a second time (ie a second soft shell slathered). 
 

take a hard shell (suggest old el P stand and stuff) and drop it into fryolator for 20 seconds - no more. Pull it out hot and get those soft shells snug up against it, one being the big spoon, one being the small spoon. As it cools that should form a new superstructure. 
 

now feed this beast a healthy regiment of nutrition in this order:

-shredded cheddar

-cooked ground 80% beef with the fat undrained

-Chopped Vidalia onions uncooked

-light chopped iceberg

-finely chopped chives

-ground pepper 

-sprinkling of cilantro

-liberal shots of good hot sauce (not salsa - this is the stuff that takes off wood varnish)

grab two handfuls of paper towels as you’ll need it. In fact grab two handfuls of toilet paper while you’re at it. 
 

chase it with a Negra Modelo or two, the perfect antidote. 

 
wikkidpissah said:
if you cook a taco after it's filled, it's still a taco. if you cook a corn tortilla before its filled, it's a tostada
Click to expand...
Agreed - I'm saying it can be a hard shell if it starts as a fresh corn tortilla, is filled, is folded, and fried.

I guess I didn't think I needed to spell all that out...

 
personally just go with a pico de gallo to cut out the hassle of cutting tomatoes, onions and cilantro.   costco has a really nice one.  man, i need to make tacos soon.  its been awhile.  i love those dorito taco shells.  they must sell them in the store.

 
kutta said:
Agreed - I'm saying it can be a hard shell if it starts as a fresh corn tortilla, is filled, is folded, and fried.

I guess I didn't think I needed to spell all that out...
Click to expand...
i too am guilty. i just wanted to point out that what Chief and most Americans consider tacos arent tacos

 
Every layer, every ingredient is an opportunity to add more flavor. Store bought shells taste like cardboard, ground turkey is healthier but doesn't taste as good as beef, iceberg lettuce tastes like tap water, pre shredded cheese has lost at least half it's flavor. GTFO with those. I know so many people who go on  and on about their hot sauce and it's probably because it's the only thing with any flavor in the entire taco. I used to simply "like" tacos until my wife (Mexican) opened up my eyes and taste buds to the true glory of a home made taco.

Put some oil in a cast iron skillet and heat it to around "deadly". Carefully put your tortillas in with tongs and turn them once they puff up and clearly cooked. Remove to a paper towel to drain and cool a bit. This is a pain at first but worth it. We rotate between ground beef, shrimp, fish, and steak. Chopped up leafy green lettuce mixed with cilantro. Diced roma tomatoes. Finely chopped yellow onions. Fresh grated cheese. All prepped in advance. I usually get 3, one straight up, one with sour cream, and one with some Chillupa(sp) sauce.

The ground beef or steak get taco seasonings. The fish (Tilapia) and shrimp (popcorn) get a lot of cayenne and are cooked in clarified butter (again , a bit of a pain but worth it). Sometimes I'll do the fish with only cole slaw as a topping. Taco night is a big deal and usually the first meal when her family visits. The leftovers go into all kinds of tostadas and taco salads and such so we go overboard.

 
Perfect tacos are very regional. I celebrate them in all forms. From the street, to the puffy, the borunda, and even the ojo. The fillings are relatively unimportant, as long as they are fresh.  And I espouse that fresh is probably the underlying theme of the perfect taco. Rather than argue flour vs. corn, or beef vs. pork, I would argue that it is more important that the ingredients be fresh and reflective of the locale.  For example, if one lives in an area where fresh tortillas are readily available then those are fine.  But if one lives in an area where they aren't available, say a tortilla wasteland, then the perfect taco starts with making tortillas. The same holds true for pico, salsa, other veggies, and cheese.  God help you if you must use a cheese other than fresco or chihuahua, but please at least don't use pre-shredded.  Most other sins can be chalked up to minor infractions if these basics are followed.

 
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Ron Swanson said:
And I espouse that fresh is probably the underlying theme of the perfect taco.
Click to expand...
Oh, yeah.  Those perfectly prepared fresh shrimp with slivers of onion and carrots, fresh cabbage, and amazing sauce make me have lust in my heart.

And now I'm really hungry.

 
ChiefD said:
Start with this.

How do you layer your taco. From the bottom up. Me:

1. Hard shells only

2. Cheese at bottom. Soaks up any potential moisture or grease from the meat

3. Beef tacos only

4. Onions

5. Tomato

6. Salsa. Fills the gaps between the onion and tomato and seeps down to the meat

7. Cilantro. Oh yes.

8. Lettuce. Creates the perfect topping for aesthetics, flavor, and functionality. Plus, nothing rolls off onto your plate.
Click to expand...
This list failed at #1.  No point in reading #2.

 
wikkidpissah said:
i too am guilty. i just wanted to point out that what Chief and most Americans consider tacos arent tacos
Click to expand...
I shall defer to your experience. 

Alas, we are not you. I consider myself a fortunate man. My younger years were spent serving many touring acts of various persuasions and skill and styles and music as they traversed the fly over country in the early 80’s through the mid 90’s. I was a younger fella then, but we served food and drink and took care of road crews and musical acts and developed quite the reputation as a welcome respite on a daily grind of basic food and sundries.

We cared. We took a tour rider and turned it into an experience. We made people feel at home for a brief 24 hour period. My formative years were spent watching rock stars backstage peacock themselves for their muse and their loins. But that’s a whole ‘nother story.

I imagine you in your life you have made your way to a part of the world where the taco was a religion. And I stand aside and hope that one day in my life I can get “there.”

But when I was but a wee boy, a single mom served a simple taco in a hard shell because that was all she knew. Meat was a luxury in those days, and salsa was a dream that the Mexican boys on my soccer team talked about but never gave me the recipe.

So “my” taco is my taco, just like others here enjoy the tacos of their lifespan.

I hope one day to enjoy an authentic taco, but until then.....my taco must suffice. If you may, please lead me to “your” taco.

I am your disciple.

 
ChiefD said:
I hope one day to enjoy an authentic taco, but until then.....my taco must suffice. If you may, please lead me to “your” taco.
Click to expand...
Tacos are like fingerprints.  There are so many types and flavors to be explored.  I love a classic Tex/Mex taco, but there is so much more to be savored.  If you ever come to Houston, we can give you a list of things to try.  (Assuming we ever get out of quarantine.  Although we have food trucks, so we have options.)

 
Use many different proteins and make many different salsas.... lately pico with a little adobo.

prefer flour to corn tortillas (unless freshly made)

just don’t like refried beans or jalapeños (use seranos)

 
Ron Swanson said:
Perfect tacos are very regional. I celebrate them in all forms. From the street, to the puffy, the borunda, and even the ojo. The fillings are relatively unimportant, as long as they are fresh.  And I espouse that fresh is probably the underlying theme of the perfect taco. Rather than argue flour vs. corn, or beef vs. pork, I would argue that it is more important that the ingredients be fresh and reflective of the locale.  For example, if one lives in an area where fresh tortillas are readily available then those are fine.  But if one lives in an area where they aren't available, say a tortilla wasteland, then the perfect taco starts with making tortillas. The same holds true for pico, salsa, other veggies, and cheese.  God help you if you must use a cheese other than fresco or chihuahua, but please at least don't use pre-shredded.  Most other sins can be chalked up to minor infractions if these basics are followed.
Click to expand...
Yeah, taco snobbery is the worst. I agree. Celebrate your taco as flour or corn or a blend or masa. Soft, fried or hard. With chicken or beef or pork or tongue or picadillo or carnitas or cabrito. With or without cheese. And with onions and peppers or not. Along with whatever veggies inspire you. How can such a beautiful food divide us?

 
Corn Tortilla Shell freshly warmed

Fresh Mahi grill/sear 

Fresh Salsa

Fresh Gauc

Fresh Lime Juice 

Close up and devour, continue process until full, pairs nicely with Modelo Especial.

 
Ground beef? Pass. Any other protein is acceptable. Im also prefer flour tortillas, but I'll use corn if I'm in a street taco mood.

My go to fillings: onion, cilantro, fresh jalapeño, avocado/guac, crumbly Mexican cheese, squeeze of lime. Sometimes I'll add a little shredded cabbage/slaw and or maybe some diced tomato and/or black olives.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
One of my favorite tacos is a soft flour tortilla with black beans, fajita beef, a touch of sour cream, and some sweet plantain.  Just wonderful.

 
I tend to be a lazy taco maker (just simple tacos with basically just cheese, lettuce and taco sauce on it), but this thread has me thinking about new kinds of tacos.  I also never put the cheese on the bottom, but I like that idea and will give it a try.  

 
I'm a hard shell guy - and 100% cheese on the bottom.  If you have small kids, it's cheese on the bottom AND the top.  Holds the whole thing together.

Also, I make them, then bake them for a few minutes after they're stuffed with meat and cheese.  Crisps the shells up.

Take them out, and then top with veggies and sour cream.

 
My wife always gets a kick out of me asking her to make some authentic Puerto Rican food for dinner and I ask for tacos* 

*She's Puerto Rican and when I say "gets a kick out of it" I mean might stab me one day

 
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