TACOS DE LENGUA 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:

• Fill a large stock pot (around 12 quarts) 2/3 full with water. Add tongue, onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns, and salt. Alternative: use your Instant Pot (about 45 minutes in pressure setting) or slow cooker (5-6 hours)
• Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook covered for around 1-2 hours, or until tongue is tender to the touch and you can easily insert a fork.
• Remove tongue from water and let cool until you can handle it easily. There is a skin-like layer that covers most of the tongue. Remove this outer layer by peeling it off with your fingers and a sharp knife if needed. Discard membrane. If there is excess fatty tissue, you can discard this as well (but we recommend keeping it and just chopped it up fine. It will add even more flavor and texture!)
• Cut the beef tongue into very small pieces (1/2-1/4 inch cubes). If you underestimated the cook time and the beef tongue needs to cook longer to become tender, add some of the water you boiled it in and simmer in the pan. When it is fully tender, drain water and proceed.
• Heat oil in a frying pan on medium high heat. Saute beef tongue until lightly browned (2-3 minutes). If your frying pan is small, cook in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan (which would prevent browning and caramelization).
• Soften your tortillas by cooking on the stovetop, over the stovetop flame (if you have a gas stove), or in the microwave (about 10 seconds each). Keep tortillas warm for serving by wrapping in foil or cloth and storing in oven or container.
• Add a spoonful of tongue to the center of each tortilla, and garnish with your preferred toppings. Classics include chopped red onion, chopped cilantro, lime, salt, and salsa verde, but you can experiment with avocado, radish slices, and any other topping you find in your fridge!