I got a craving for them around Christmas and went looking around in vain for a cow tongue. Thankfully a friend of mine had gotten a couple of cows slaughtered and had the tongues in the freezer to go unused.
So without further ado here is Tacos De Lengua.
1 or more Beef Tongue
1 1/2 Onions (White or Yellow are fine)
5-7 Cloves of Garlic
1 Bunch of Cilantro
Salt and Black Pepper to taste
Optional but highly recommended
Fresh or Dried Chiles (I happened to have some dried Anaheim peppers)
5-7 Whole Cloves, cracked
A couple of dashes of your favorite Hot Sauce
Fresh Corn Tortillas
Fresh Salsa or Pico de Gallo
Lime
Here is the main players
As you can see I have 2 tongues that I am going to make. Why? Because this takes forever to make and I want some leftovers.
Let’s look inside the package why don’t we?
As you can see mine are already cut in half. You will most likely have to do this yourself if you buy a fresh one to fit in your pot.
Quarter/Rough chop one of your onions and skin your cloves of garlic. Fill up your largest pot up about 3/4th of the way full with water or beef stock (I suggest water). Put in your onion, garlic, a good handful of cilantro and whatever optional ingredients you decide to include into the pot. Bring this to a boil, then add your tongue. Lower the temperature to a simmer and cover slightly.
You should see something like this.
Now you wait. For quite a while. The official time is 50 minutes per pound. I tend to cook mine a bit longer just to be sure. You don’t want to under cook this since the tongue will be tough and the outer skin will be hard to take off. Mine all together took 8 1/2 hours to cook. Make sure you stir it every 45 minutes or so. Add more water if it looks like it is getting a bit low. I had to add about 3 cups of extra water to mine over the cooking time.
By the time it is done your pot should look something like this.
Take out your tongue and let it cool for a bit until it is safe to handle.
You need to take off the outer skin while it is still hot/warm. If you cooked it long enough it will come right off.
The tongue will look and feel like really good pot roast at this point. You have a couple of options. You can shread the tongue like pulled pork, put it into the refrigerator to let it firm up and slice it thin or do what I do and most Mexicans…chop it up fine and fry it a bit so the edges are crispy!
I just put a little bit of oil in my skillet, put a little chili powder, cumin and garlic powder on the tongue. Dump it in and basically stirfry it for a couple of minutes.
While that is happening get out a frying pan and put it onto high heat. You want to toast your corn tortilla slightly. Put it into the middle of the pan and slowly move it around with the tips of your fingers or another utensil if your not as adventurous. Once you see a little bit of a charmark on the side, flip it over and do it again on the other. The entire process takes about 2 minutes. If you want heat up two plates under hot water and put them face to face with a dishtowel inside. Place your tortillas once warm into the towel and it will stay warm long enough for your meal.
Once your tortillas is ready place some tongue inside along with some diced onion, chopped cilantro and a bit of fresh pico/salsa. Eat and enjoy!
