The method I described is a nice short-cut for frying with a small amount of oil on the tortillas essentially used to "fry" them in the hot oven. Saves the trouble of bringing a large amount of oil to frying temperature or of owning a deep-fryer.
I agree that they SHOULD be a hands-on job. However, most tostada shells crumble on the first bite, so what's the point?
Got a chuckle when I saw this thread because I just made myself a fabu-licious quesadilla for lunch.
The preformed taco shells in the kits are crap. If you want a hard taco, buy flat corn tortillas. Get a deep sauce pan or deep fat fryer ready with hot veggie oil. Using two pairs of tongs (one in each hand) grasp both upper edges of the tortilla shell, lower the now U-shaped bottom of the tortilla into the oil all the way to until it is covered up to your tongs. It only takes about 3 minutes to fry up a tortilla that is perfectly shaped and won't break. Once it is fried hard into shape but not burnt, lift it out of the oil, shake off excess oil and drain on a paper towel. Repeat as many times as you have taco eaters.
What cheese are you using for quesadillas?
I'd like to know as some mexican cheeses are here nonexistent.(translation: I'm too lazy to look for replacements and rather ahve someone from the forum to tell me.)
Grated sharp cheddar from Aligro. Comes in a 1 kg bag for 15.80 CHF. They also have the big, big flour tortillas in an 18-pack for 11.90.
As my Wife is the "Taco Queen of Zurich" I must say you are doing something wrong if they "crumble into mush on your plate." You can get decent CORN tortillas at El Maiz on Josefstrasse (near Zuri Hbf) and if you fry them a bit, they crisp a bit (not too much) and are plenty sturdy to hold meat/pico de gallo/cheese and Tapatio.
Maybe look for a recipe on the internet and try again. The restaurants here do NOT do good ones.
fduvall
Don call it a taco, it is a tostada.
You can eat it by splitting it by the middle and eating from the sharp border of each half.
I agree, the kit ones are not the best, they'll do in a pinch if you're in a hurry (or lazy ) though.
I think part of the issue is if you're making too many at a time. Keep the meat warm in a pan or on some sort of pan that retains warmth for a while and build a fresh taco only as you're ready to eat it instead of ahead of time... this will help keep the juices from softening your shell too much.
Also, I too have made the "taco casserole" version, baking the taco meat and some refried beans in layers, sprinkle crushed corn tortilla chips over everything then topped with shredded cheese and baked until the cheese is bubbly. Not as "fun" as messy ol tacos but just as tasty (esp if served with some nice pico, sour cream and guacamole).
Oh! And!
Hold the plate under your chin if you're afraid the shell is going to break. Messy lap "FTL" (as the gamers say ).
You bite at one end, and carefully work your way to the other end.
Whatever you do, don't start biting in the middle.
Hope that helps.
Mmmm . . . this has got me thinking about some fantastic tacos I had in Austin . . . mainly for breakfast. There are some really good tacquerias, but the bestest were from a Mexican supermarket, the only other customers were a load of Mexican road construction workers on their lunch break. Amazingly vibrant flavours.
Here in Zürich I get reasonable results using El Maiz ingredients. They sometimes have fresh ingredients, their soft tortillas (both wheat and maize and in different sizes) are good, and stuff like chipotle Cholula can improve even a mundane home effort.
As to eating them? Easy with soft tortillas, haven't tried hard shells in years.
Eating Barbacoa Tacos today....
I never thought I'd hear of Barbacoa in CH! Homemade? Or is there a restaurant that serves it?
( indeed!)
Homemade.... I ...... can't.... move....
too....much... food.... agghhhh........
so worth it.
Hee hee...how did my post get 4 stars? Does that mean its special?
Just to clarify - we made each taco just before we ate it (meat and all other ingredients in bowls ready to scoop in) so it was not the softness of the shell, but rather the hardness (and awkward eating shape) that was the problem.
However, I am now educated in the way of the taco. From now on I will make my own from corn tortillas......or just stick to fajitas
fajitas? that's not REALLY mexican.. but hey, whatever works for you.
Any chance you'd be willing to share your recipe? (I've only had whatever the local taquerias offer, and — as ironic as it seems — I suspect you're stuffed with something at least as authentic, if not more so.)
Just because they're soft and fit in my mouth easier.....
Oh dear....probably should have thought about that before I posted
I know there is a "that's what she said" joke in there.....
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