Lengua Tacos Recipes

Steps:

• Fill a large (12-quart if you have one) stock pot two-thirds full with water. Add the tongue, onions, crushed garlic cloves, bay leaves, peppercorns, and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 3 hours, until the tongue is soft to the touch and tender.
• Remove tongue from water and let cool for a couple of minutes. Notice the light colored skin-like covering over most of the tongue. Using your fingers, and/or a sharp small knife, remove this covering and discard. Notice the rough patch of meat where the tongue would attach to the bottom of the mouth. Arturo removes this patch (as does his mother when she prepares tongue) because it is a little rough. It's perfectly edible though, so keep it attached if you want.
• Slice the tongue in 1/4-inch slices. (If you are not preparing the whole tongue for tacos, you can return whatever tongue you do not slice to the cooking water to soak.) Heat a little oil in a frying pan on medium high and sauté the slices on both sides until they are lightly browned. Remove from pan and slice first into strips, then crosswise again so that you end up with small cubes.
• Soften tortillas either by cooking on the stove-top until pockets of air appear in them, or in the microwave (about 10 seconds per tortilla). Place a large spoonful of meat in the center of a tortilla. Add a spoonful of salsa verde and some chopped avocado, chopped fresh cilantro.

Steps:

• Add the tongue, garlic, onion, beef broth, chipotles in adobo and salt to a stovetop pressure cooker. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for locking on the pressure cooker lid set over high heat. Pressure cook at high pressure for 30 minutes. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for quick-releasing the pressure, then unlock the lid and use tongs to remove the tongue, reserving the cooking liquid. Allow the tongue to cool to the touch, running under cool water in a colander. Use your fingers or a paring knife to trim away the skin. Cube the meat and season with kosher salt. Put a 12-inch cast-iron pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. Heat until hot, then add the seasoned tongue and sear until evenly browned, about 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, blend the cooking liquid with the xanthan gum, creating your "queseaux."
• Build your tacos: tortillas, seared tongue, diced onion and cilantro. Serve alongside the lime wedges, "queseaux" and salsa.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325°F. In a large, heavy, ovenproof braising pan, heat the oil on medium heat. Sauté the onions, carrots, and celery until the onions are just translucent, about 7 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients except tortillas and garnish, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and place in the oven. Braise the tongue until the meat is very tender and forms cracks in the surface, about 3 hours.
• Remove the tongue from the pan, discarding the other ingredients, and allow to cool. Using a paring knife, carefully peel off the skin (which should remove easily); try to leave the tongue intact. Cut the meat into 1/2-inch-thick slices and cut again into 1/3-inch-thick matchsticks (fine julienne) and place in a bowl. Serve right away or keep warm until ready to serve.
• To serve, lay the tortillas side by side, open face and overlapping on a platter. Divide the filling equally between the tortillas and top with garnish and salsa. Grab, fold, and eat right away. Or build your own taco: lay a tortilla, open face, in one hand. Spoon on some filling, top with garnish and salsa, fold, and eat right away.

Steps:

• Place the tongue, half of the chopped onion, garlic cloves, 3 tablespoons salt, and 1 jalapeno pepper into a large pot. Fill with water to cover the tongue by several inches, then bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer until very tender, 3 to 4 hours. Remove the tongue from the water and allow to cool. Reserve the liquid. Once the tongue has cooled, peel off the tough outer skin, then shred the meat using two forks.
• Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add the whole tomatoes and 2 jalapeno peppers; boil until the vegetables are tender. Place the vegetables into a blender, and puree until smooth. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and cook until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Once the onion has softened, stir in the shredded beef tongue and tomato salsa. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, then pour in 2 cups of the reserved cooking liquid. Cook and stir until the liquid has evaporated, leaving moist, flavorful meat, about 20 minutes.