I am sure you have heard the quote “Love is the universal language”. Well, I was able to live that first hand. When I was about 8 years old a family moved into our neighborhood from Mexico. Now, growing up in a predominately white community I was absolutely enchanted with this family. I did not know Spanish, and they did not know English, but our gestures, charades, smiles, laughs, and overall kindness was the language we spoke for a while. My mom quickly became one of this single mother’s best friends, and I with her daughter. I was exposed to a new culture, new food, new ways of doing things, new ways of thinking, and I loved it! It was so incredible to me that I could feel so much love from people that did not even speak my native tongue, and yet I knew they really did care about me, they were so genuine.
This family introduced me to it all. I had my first “jalapeño challenge”, ate green salsa and eggs, made home made tortillas, had fruit for “dessert”, and ate my first “Street Tacos”. I became a lover of steak and especially Carne Asada very quickly! This is something that has stuck with me ever since – it is such a treat when I get to eat Carne Asada. Its one of my favorites!
I love street tacos so much, and I don’t think I ever eat them the same way twice. I feel like there HAS to be a few ingredients – red onion, cilantro, and lime is a MUST! I also love them with pico de gallo, radish, avocado, queso fresco, lettuce, but really you can put pretty much anything you like on them!
We love to eat them with my Mexican Re-Fried Beans you can see here and my mother-in-laws Cilantro Rice recipe found here. The meal as a whole is so delicious!
Any way you have them they are sure to get compliments all around!
So go ahead and try a street taco today, better yet, make your own!
See the Happy!
-Kirsten
- 1 lb Ranchera Meat or "flap meat" I buy mine at my local Latino market
- 4 medium oranges 3 juiced 1 sliced
- 2 limes juiced
- 1/2 bunch cilantro
- 1/4 cup olive oil I love to use aceite de achiote but it is not a requirement, I also brush some over the meat when grilling.
- 3 tbs red winde vinegar
- 8-10 green onions diced
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp Sea Salt
- 1/2 tbsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 12 white corn tortillas
- 1/2 red onion diced
- 1/2 bunch cilantro minced
- 2 radish diced
- 2 limes cut, to squeeze juice over taco
- 1 avocado sliced
- pico de gallo
- Put the meat in a large ziplock bag. For the marinade you will add the juice of the 3 oranges, the juice of the limes, olive oil, red wine vinegar, cilantro, the cumin, sea salt, and black pepper, into a blender or food processor and blend well. Pour it over the meat. Pour the minced garlic, the diced green onions, and sliced orange over the top. Seal the bag, trying not to have much air inside. I spend a minute or two rubbing the marinade into the meat the best I can, make sure it is all covered well. Put the marinade in the refrigerator for a minimum 2 hours, maximum 4 hours.
- * 30 minutes before you are ready to grill, take out the meat to allow it to sit at room temp. I usually grill my meat on med/high. On my griddle at about 300* for about 7 minutes. Every grill is different so just make sure to flip the meat a few times so it cooks evenly.
- Cut the meat into smaller pieces. Put a small amount on a warmed tortilla along with your favorite fixins - we love diced red onion, radish, cilantro, pico de gallo, avocado, guacamole, lettuce, queso freso, or whatever you fancy. Make sure to squeeze some lime juice over the top before enjoying!
My husband always talks about street tacos and how the tacos we make just aren’t the same as the ones he had in Mexico. I’ll have to try these and see what he thinks! 🙂
You will have to let me know what you guys think, we love them at our house!
These sound delicious. I can’t wait to try them.