street tacos

[CNS]

Love them.  Want to be able to make them. 

Seem pretty simple.  Tortilla, onion, cilantro, and meat.   Meat is obviously where the whole thing is tied together.  What is the best way to prep meat for something like this.  I am all for carnitas, steak, chick, etc. 

TIA

[Cire]

Tortilla is what makes it imo

[CNS]

i am talking about seasoning and cooking the meat. 

I agree that a good tortilla is important, but you can't just brown some ribeye in the skillet with a packet of taco seasoning, and put it on a "good" tortilla.

[Dr Rick Daris]

chings made the best that i've ever had.

[gokatgo]

made carnitas once. Boiled pork butt in seasoned water and coke, then shredded the meat and crisped it under broiler.  It was good

[CNS]

what seasonings?  What cut of meat, and how long?

[sys]

tortillas are not important to a street taco.  street tacos are made with the worst, nastiest tortillas the vendor can find.  meat is not all that different.  the taste is all in the salsa.

i'm not sure why you'd intentionally try to replicate that effort.  personally, i'd try to make a good taco.

[sys]

made carnitas once. Boiled pork butt in seasoned water and coke, then shredded the meat and crisped it under broiler.  It was good

no reason that wouldn't taste good.  it isn't carnitas though.

[steve dave]

chings made the best that i've ever had.

yes

[CNS]

tortillas are not important to a street taco.  street tacos are made with the worst, nastiest tortillas the vendor can find.  meat is not all that different.  the taste is all in the salsa.

i'm not sure why you'd intentionally try to replicate that effort.  personally, i'd try to make a good taco.

Maybe a miss wording on my, non-Hispanic, part.  I am never eating these/buy these from a street vendor.  Simply what I have always called this type of, what I assume to be authentic, taco vs the "taco Tuesday" version of tacos.

[CNS]

This close to what I am talking about.

[sys]

just call them tacos.

decide what meat you want and i can perhaps advise.  of the first three you mentioned, carnitas would probably be hard/time intensive to do all the time, but if you get off on entertaining, it's be a pretty badass thing to have the equip/skill to do.  "steak" i assume bistec = just get a really thin cut of cheap steak (find a mexican butcher and just buy bistec), cook for a short time on a hot griddle or pan w oil and salt.  cut the crap out of it up and put on a taco.  chicken breast would be the same, except beat the crap out of it till flat before cooking.

good tortillas really make a taco much better.  i don't know if you can find any though.  if you're kind of do it yourselfy you might find it interesting to make your own (from corn).

[CNS]

There is a local joint near my office that makes these with a dryish (what they call) chilli sauce.  It isn't sauce at all, more like a light coating on the meat.  It is fantastic.  Also, they do a chorizo with is great.

I really like pretty much all four types of meat, I have had in these before, the same (steak, chick, carnitas, chorizo).

I want something I can make on a week night for just the fam, rather than something that is a pain in the ass to do.

Can't believe that the bisteak with only salt and oil is it.  It seems like they usually have something else to it.  I will try it though.

Also, I am pretty sure that the local joint sells dough they use to make their tortillas.  May try to buy that and make them at home   

[gokatgo]

This close to what I am talking about.

mine looke more like this

[CNS]

chings made the best that i've ever had.

yes

Would be great for Chings to chime in....
 

[CHONGS]

sys's advice is pretty much what I would say.

I like to use skirt or flank steak.

[CNS]

what do you guys put into your salsa?

[sys]

Also, I am pretty sure that the local joint sells dough they use to make their tortillas.  May try to buy that and make them at home   

if they are grinding their own masa, definitely do that.  or just buy tortillas from them to reheat (just as good, easier).  if they are just making them from maseca, i certainly wouldn't buy dough.  maybe would buy already made from maseca tortillas if they were about the same in price as grocery store tortillas.

[sys]

what do you guys put into your salsa?

i think there is a salsa thread with recipes.  with bistec, i'd like a raw green salsa with chunks of avocado.  that'd be even better with cecina.  man oh man, you should make cecina tacos with a raw green salsa with chunks of avocado and eat them w. cebollitas along side.

[CNS]

what do you guys put into your salsa?

i think there is a salsa thread with recipes.  with bistec, i'd like a raw green salsa with chunks of avocado.  that'd be even better with cecina.  man oh man, you should make cecina tacos with a raw green salsa with chunks of avocado and eat them w. cebollitas along side.

Lots of Google work for me tonight.

thanks for the info.

[yoga-like_abana]

need to learn how to make carne asada fries. nom nom nommm

[jtksu]

Sys-  why do you say that's not carnitas?  Guess the coke is kinda weird but boiled pork butt that's crisped in the oven is the standard carnitas recipe.  Some people just sautee them, but that's not really much different than finished them in the oven with some oil.  (That's how I've always seen it done.)

[sys]

Sys-  why do you say that's not carnitas?  Guess the coke is kinda weird but boiled pork butt that's crisped in the oven is the standard carnitas recipe.  Some people just sautee them, but that's not really much different than finished them in the oven with some oil.  (That's how I've always seen it done.)

maybe that's american carnitas, no idea.  in mexico, carnitas are a whole range of pork parts cooked in lard (usually + spices, citrus juices, etc) in giant metal bowl/wok looking things.

[jmlynch1]

I have heard that the tortillas they make in house at the Sunfresh on 18th St just north of I-70 are really good.

[gokatgo]

Sys-  why do you say that's not carnitas?  Guess the coke is kinda weird but boiled pork butt that's crisped in the oven is the standard carnitas recipe.  Some people just sautee them, but that's not really much different than finished them in the oven with some oil.  (That's how I've always seen it done.)

maybe that's american carnitas, no idea.  in mexico, carnitas are a whole range of pork parts cooked in lard (usually + spices, citrus juices, etc) in giant metal bowl/wok looking things.

Mexican pigs live in peoples yards and eat garbage.

I don't consume anything in mexico that doesn't come from the ocean or the agave plant

and limes