The phrase “Tasty Tongue Tacos” rolls off the tongue quite nicely (pun intended). More importantly, beef tongue tacos taste MUCH better than a tongue looks before you have cooked and shredded it.
While hunkering down for the Coronavirus, I did an inventory of our freezer to see how much and what types of meat we have available. As I was searching through the roasts, the burger, the lamb and other various and sundry pieces of meat, I came across a beef tongue. I had completely forgotten it was there. I immediately knew what was in our near-term future for dinner.
About a year ago, I mentioned to my sister, Roberta, I had a beef tongue in the freezer from half a steer we bought, but I didn’t know what I was going to do with it. I suppose I was hoping to shock her a bit, but she just laughed and said, “I have the perfect recipe for you – Tongue Tacos.” What? How do you even know a Tongue recipe? It turns out she’d made the recipe a couple of times, and she and her husband Jack both love it. The first time she made it, the tongue came from a steer they raised. She added, “You just have to get past how ugly the tongue looks when you start cooking it”.
Yesterday, we had all of the ingredients, so I decided it was time to try the tongue. Later that morning, everything went into the crock pot, and I turned it to high. It would be a slow cook with garlic, onions, salt, and water.
About six hours later, I removed the tongue from the broth, and looked at it. The skin had turned off-white. You know the white your feet or fingers turn if they’ve been in the water too long? Then you know this white. It was not the most pleasant sight.
After allowing the tongue to cool just a bit, I used a knife to slit the skin of the tongue from the tip, all the way to the other end. Amazingly, the skin peeled off easily, and I’m happy to say I was glad this part of the recipe was complete.
From there, things were pretty straight forward. Shred the tongue, and then make the salsa. This recipe calls for a cooked salsa, and then you add the shredded meat to it. As I was doing this, Cathy set the table, and readied the accompaniments. For us, that meant chopped onions, slices of avocado, shredded cheese, hot sauce, and just because we happened to have it in the fridge, some sour cream.
And the verdict? I think the tacos were damned tasty. More importantly, Cathy, the in-house skeptic on the whole concept of tongue tacos, was impressed. She said if I hadn’t shown her the tongue ahead of time, she would have scored it a 10. ;-). (The recipe is at the bottom of the blog).
Addendum:
Coronavirus Thanks – This is the second thing I have to thank the Coronavirus for. The first was giving us spare time and no where to go. Using that time, I cleaned the garage AND the attic, hauling three pickup truck loads of junk to the dump.
Special thanks to my sister Roberta for sharing the recipe, and clarifying a couple of points for me.
Lengua – I need to mention that a couple of friends I was discussing this dish with mentioned lengua or “tacos de lengua“, a classic Mexican beef tongue taco dish. The recipes I found online were fairly similar to the one I used, except that after boiling/braising, they chopped up the meat rather than shredding it, and then seared it in a frying pan. It’s also evidently a regular dish in Costa Rica, although I don’t recall seeing it when we visited.
Taquerias – Another person told me the way you know you are at an authentic taqueria is when “tacos de lengua” are on the menu. If you find yourself at such a taqueria, definitely try them. I’ve always thought the same thing in the past about places serving Menudo, a Mexican stew made with cow tripe (stomach). It’s said to be a sure fire cure for a hangover.
Recipe for Beef Tongue Tacos with Homemade Salsa
Ingredients:
For the Tongue:
- 1 Beef Tongue
- 1 onion chopped in half
- 4 garlic cloves smashed
- 1 Tsp sea salt
- Filtered water (consider using part beer as well?)
For the Salsa:
- 1/2 LB tomatoes (2-3 large) roughly chopped
- 1/2 Onion chopped or minced
- 1/2 – 1 Jalapeño minced or chopped (I would up this next time)
- 2 Cloves Garlic chopped or minced
- Sea salt
- Juice of 1/2 lime (I would up to whole lime next time)
(Alternately, 1 1/2 C of your favorite Salsa)
Instructions:
1. Place whole tongue in slow cooker. Add onion, garlic, bay leaves and sea salt. Cover with filtered water (I used tap water)
2. Cook tongue for 6 hours on high, or overnight on low.
3. Remove tongue from cooker. While still hot (or very warm), peel off and discard skin.
4. Place tongue in bowl. Using two forks, shred/pull apart the tongue
5. In a skillet, heat some olive oil and sauté the onion until translucent.
6. Add the tomatoes, jalapeño and garlic. Cook for about 10 minutes until it reduces.
7. Add the meat and lime juice. Cook until sticky and delicious.
8. Check seasoning. Add salt if needed.
- Note: if using store bought salsa, add to pan, heat it, cook down some and proceed to step 7.
Serve with raw or pickled onions, additional lime juice, cilantro, or other typical taco accompaniments. We used soft wraps, but you can use taco shells, soft wraps, or large lettuce leaves.
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