Handy Guide to Popular Taco Fillings

 (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)

Everyone loves Mexican Tacos because they are magically juicy and available with a plethora of fillings. It doesn’t matter if you are a vegetarian or a non-vegetarian, there is a taco for everyone. That’s the exquisiteness of taco!

This handheld street food is deceptively simple, but with the fillings option available, you can get lost easily. You will come across some popular tacos, which have great histories. 

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A Handy Guide to Popular Taco Fillings

Al pastor

  • Marinate the meat with a mixture of spices and chilies.

  • Cook it slowly, on an open flame.

  • The pork is usually topped with caramelized pineapple and garnished with cilantro and raw onions.

Tacos Arabes

  • Marinated pork stuffed with pita-like flour tortilla is slowly-cooked on trompo or spit.

  • To prepare the taco Arabes these flavorful and pillowy pork slices get used.

Barbacoa

  • Barbacoa refers to the meat cooking style by Caribbean-Taino people.

  • It means slow-cooking of the beef head or goat on an open flame or a pit dug in the ground. 

Birria

  • Spicy meat stew prepared with the goat.

  • Marinate the goat in spicy guajillo chili broth.

  • Birria is a special occasion dish served during weddings or festivities.

Buche

  • It means the pig’s stomach.

  • The meat is stewed for some hours along with chilies and spices to get a chewy texture.

  • You can order for little crunchy ends.

Cabeza

  • Meat got from a cow is flavorful and needs only salt

  • Taquerias may serve it tender or steamed. 

Campechanos

  • It got its name from the two states Campeche and Tabasco.

  • The leftover meat is combined to cook campechanos.

  • Usually, the medley includes thinly sliced beef, spicy pork sausage, and chicharron. You get a balanced blend of spicy, salty, and crunchy dish.

Carne asada

  • It refers to cow’s short loin section. 

  • Marinate the meat in a mixture of spices, cumin, and citrus juices then grill it. 

  • In taquerias, the thin slice of meats gets chopped in tiny bits.

Carnitas

  • Shredded pork is simmered or braised for some hours in its fat.

  • The meat becomes extremely tender and comes apart.

  • The simple shredded meat is savory and a little crispy on its end. 

Cecina

  • The pork or beef portions are sliced thinly, then salted and partially dried in the sun, smoke, or air. 

  • The beef is coated with pepper and rolled.

  • The smoky meat slice gets folded easily in a tortilla without any need for chopping into tiny bits.

Chapulines

  • Chapulines mean grasshopper. It is eaten in several parts of Mexico.

  • The grasshoppers are dried.

  • They get flavored with garlic, chili, and lime juice before toasting.

  • These crunchy chapulines are sprinkled on the tacos or pizzas or tostadas.

Chicharron

  • Tacos de chicharron or fried pork skins are simmered in spicy salsa verde.

  • They are soft, chewy. And not crispy.

Chorizo

  • A mixture of minced meat gets seasoned with chili peppers.

  • It is slowly cooked until the meat becomes tender.

Cochinita pibil

  • A suckling pig gets marinated with vinegar, limes, lemons, and bitter oranges.

  • It is seasoned usually with annatto seed that offers the burnt orange hue.

  • Before slow roasting, it is wrapped in banana leaf. 

Cueritos

  • Thin pig skin strips are pickled in vinegar.

  • They are seasoned with peppers, oregano, chilies, and other spices. 

De canasta/al vapor or taco sudados

  • The name refers to the basket the tacos sit in and not the filling.

  • A fried tortilla is filled with ingredients like cochinita pibil or tinga or fried beans or potato.

  • They are steamed and sold in basket form by street vendors.

Huitlacoche

  • Huitlacoche is a healthy fungus that grows on the corn.

  • Huitlacoche accompanies corn and sold under different names like corn smut, corn mushroom, or Mexican truffle.

  • Its flavor is earthy.

Lengua

  • Beef tongue, if prepared correctly does not give the chewy taste.

  • It is cooled for some hours and then chopped into uniform chunks.

  • The texture is smooth and buttery than other beef cuts. 

Pescado

  • Grilled or fried white fish filling is topped with lettuce or cabbage, salsa, and creamy sauce [citrucy mayo or sour cream]. 

  • The fish is from the Baja area in California.

Pollo

  • Pollo refers to chicken.

  • It is pickled, grilled, and chopped into chunks or shredded for making tinga.

  • At Taco Bell, you will find pollo served as a deep-fried shell.

Res

  • It refers to livestock or beef or cow-related.

Sesos

  • Sesos refer to the cow brain.

  • The meat texture is silky and soft.

  • The head is boiled until the meat falls apart from the bone.

  • It is then seasoned or grilled or braised. 

Suadero de res

  • It is the beef meat section between the leg and belly.

  • Meat gets stewed for several hours in lard.

  • Then it is fried until it gets a little crisp and caramelized in color.

Tinga

  • Chicken thighs get stewed in the tomato-chipotle gravy before shredding.

  • Folks who desire to stay away from shredded beef, goat, pork, lamb, or other meaty fillings can choose chicken tinga. 

Tripas

  • It refers to cow intestines or stomach.

  • Tripa is cleaned first and then boiled and cooked in ‘disco’, to avoid the chewy texture.

  • 2 tiling discs stacked on top of one another are used to make a disco. A pole gets welded in between the two discs. It looks like a wok. 

Awesome reasons why tacos are popular

  • Tacos make a delicious breakfast.

  • Tacos offer delectable fillings, which pair well with rice and beans or salsa and chips for dinner.

  • The wide variations of tacos are available, which makes it challenging to determine the combination to choose.

  • Quantity is essential when you are hungry. With tacos, you usually get delivered more.

  • You get great sauce options for toppings to complement your taco like drizzling spicy salsa or avocado-based cream.

  • You can enjoy tacos without carbs. It means you can choose wraps made from vegetables or lettuce to avoid the carbs. 

Americans eat billions of tacos. Taco Bells is also visited a lot. On October 4th, people celebrate National Taco day. Taco means ‘light lunch’ but people cannot resist keeping tacos light!