Charred salsa, real corn tortillas, and one really good filling. Here is the playbook.
Taco night usually goes wrong the same way: too many fillings, too little time, and a stack of cardboard tortillas. The cure is in cutting back. Pick one filling and make it the best version of itself. A taco of charred carne asada with raw onion, cilantro, and lime is more satisfying than four mediocre tacos with eight toppings each.
The salsa is your second mission. Char a tomato, half an onion, two garlic cloves, and a serrano under the broiler until they are blistered black in places. Blend with salt, lime, and cilantro -- nothing else. This salsa will outshine anything from a jar and takes ten minutes including cleanup. Make a double batch; it disappears.
Corn tortillas matter more than people admit. If your store carries fresh ones, buy them. If not, the boxed mass-market tortillas will get you halfway home if you toast them on a dry comal until they char in spots. The smell that comes off a hot comal is the smell of a real taco night. Pile the chopped meat, the onion, a spoon of salsa, a splash of lime. Repeat.
Sofia Reyes writes for Simply Gourmet. Reach our editors at info@simplygourmetlakeplacid.com.
