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Instant Pot Tengua Carnitas Taco Pictorial

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Instant Pot Tengua Carnitas Taco Pictorial

The first step I don't have a picture of and if I did I wouldn't put it here because I know you have all chopped up a large onion.  Red onion goes in guacamole and pico and some salsas but it is always white onion for everything else Mexican - no yellow onions allowed:-)  Put some bacon fat in the bottom of the IP and turn it on saute for 20 minutes at 390 F

Then get your Mis en Place arranged in the order that it goes in the pot.  Next in  is the left side of green stuff, a chopped up large tonatillo, half of large jalapeno with seeds and half of a Poblano pepper without the seeds.  These go in after 5 minute of onion sweating but hold back the frozen 4 roasted skinned and seeded Hatch green chilis, and the 3 dried chilis: Guahillo, Ancho,and chipotle for the 3rd addition.

Next goes in the chopped frozen Hatch green chilies  and one whole head of chopped fresh garlic some whole cumin and coriander at the 10 minute mark

At the 5 minute mark, next goes in the 3 dried chilies, bay leaves, some ground coriander and cumin, peppercorns and dried Mexican oregano along with 1 cup each of beef broth and chicken stock and 2 cups of water.  I used Better the Bullion Low Sodium so no salt is needed.  Here is what the pot looked like with the tongue in there and the beautiful portrait of the tongue itself.

Slap the lid on when the 20 minute mark runs out on the saute and set the pressure cooking for 45 minute of high and then let then let it sit for 15 minutes before letting out the steam.  Take the tongue out with the 3 whole cried chilies so that they can cool for 5 minutes before de-seeding the chilies and putting them back in the sauce in the pot and turning it back onto saute  for 20 minutes at 250 F.  See how much the tongue has shrunk in length and how much fatter its.  If yours isn't done, then it back into the pot for another 15 minutes of pressure.

Chop up 2 corn tortillas and put them in the pot to thicken the sauce.

Now the really fun part - skin the tongue getting off that hard outer part.  Do this when it is still warm or it won't come of very easy and you will kick yourself for not listening to Lucy!

Now you have a choice if you want t kinds of Tengua tacos - nplain and Carnitas.  I usually make both.  Slice the tongue into 1/2" thick pieces across the length.  Take half the slices to use later Carnitas and set them aside and then chop the rest into 1/2" cubes and the cubes back in the sauce til it is done thickening up when the 20 minutes is up.  It will look like this before the cubes go back in the port.

And look like this when it comes put to go on a flour taco shell that has Muenster cheese melted on it.  This is the 2nd best taco in the world.

The best taco requires a bit more work and love.  First you want to caramelize some white onion in a saute pan with some bacon fat in the bottom and half way through you want to brown the slices of reserves tongue to get some crispy edges

When it is browned it will look like this

Now you chop the slices into 1.2" cubes and put i back in the pan with the caramelized onions

No you are not done quite yet.  Now you get out some of the reserved sauce and add it to the pan and get everything lovey dovey warm and cozy.

Then you melt some Muenster on some flour taco shells in the Microwave for 30 seconds on high and then pile on the Tengue Carnitas .  Put some cilanto on top with a squeeze of lime if you must and open up a good Mexican Lager which were all brewed by German immigrants to Mexico just like the German Immigrants who made most all the lager beers in the USA.  Now you know why Muenster cheese is preferred by purists on Tengue Carmitas Tacos!  Enjoy!

 

Comments

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

and a snack of bread and jam, and now I am hungry again! Looks amazing! I want some!

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

pickle version of tengua too!  I can see it over a nice bowl of linguine!

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

It's been many decades since I cooked tongue . I used to fix it in a pressure cooker just like my Mom did. Not a beef tongue always calf. So tender. Your pics are mouthwatering dab. You rock. c

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

but I can imagine how good that would be:-)  I have a hard time finding anything calf in the stores now a days.  Pressure cookers have made a huge comeback for sure and they are the best way to cook so many things efficiently!  y mom use to use her slow cooker all the time but I use the IP instead:-)

Glad you liked the tongue tacos - the carnitas tengua was outstanding for sure .  Happy Pressurizing Trailrunner

Justanoldguy's picture
Justanoldguy

When I opened this post I could hear applause even though my computer speakers were muted. Then I realized it was my tongue slapping the roof of my mouth 'cause it wanted to get some of that! Looks great.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

not realizing it is the best taco ever!  Leaves mire for me though!  Glad you liked the post and happy baking JAOG!

Filomatic's picture
Filomatic

Looks amazing!  There were no Jewish or other delis that served tongue, and consequently I never tasted it until recently, having resisted lengua tacos the entire time I lived in San Francisco.  A guy on my softball team would always order order lengua after games at the Mexican restaurant next door to our sponsored bar.  I use to rib him about this incessantly until I finally gave into curiosity and tried it.  I couldn't believe how good it was, tender with a gentle, delicious beef flavor.  Now it's in my regular rotation for tacos and burritos.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

with a long neck for $3 some 30 odd years ago, I would not ever had had one either.  They are hard enough to find even in AZ:-)  These are pretty exceptional ones if I do say so myself though  but don't tell Lucy.  Tonight it''e grilled chicken tacos and the already look pretty nice too:-)

  Glad you like the post Filo and happy baking.

Elsie_iu's picture
Elsie_iu

Bay leaves, coriander, cumin, peppercorns, cilantro, garlic and corn tortillas: yup!  Tomatillo, Mexican oregano and WHITE onion: nope! Jalapeno, Poblano pepper, Hatch green chilis, Guahillo, Ancho,and chipotle: nope! Finally, beef tongue, the star of the dish: nope...

Thanks for sharing the recipe! Both Tengua tacos look absolutely scrumptious. Ahem...How am I supposed to collect all these ingredients? See what you've led me into... 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

4 hour mole that that has twice as many ingredients but one more of them likely on hand if you live in Puebla Mexico:-)  Lots of nuts and seeds....and moire of and acquired taste.  Lasts night we made tortilla soup that has many of the same ingredients this one less the tomatillo and swapping put the tongue for chicken thighs, no beef stock, all chicken stock, no water and adding in tomatoes, some smoked paprika, smoked chipotle powder and ground ancho chili.  The girls loved it for Valentines day but they wouldn't touch the tengua:-)  We like it about as much as Chicken Chili Verde  I counted it up one time and found 1 different dried chilies at one local Hispanic market?

I think you wold like tongua Carnitas better than thenon carnitas ones!  

Happy tongue tacoing Elsie!