South Texas Sunday Barbacoa Tacos
Barbacoa Especial·(bar-bah-KOH-ah eh-speh-see-AHL)
Chapter 2 — The Meats: The Slow and Marinated Proteins
Sunday morning, the foil crackles back from a heavy braising pan, the kitchen smells exactly like a roadside joint off I-35 in San Antonio, and you simply trust the meat. We aren't boiling this in tomatoes or drowning it in cumin. Barbacoa is the physical process of breaking down collagen using steam and time. By swaddling violently fatty beef cheek and deeply savory tongue in banana leaves and letting them steam until tender in the vaporera, you make a sticky, rich taco. Shred the beef, lay out a sweating stack of flour tortillas, and get out of the way.
Before you start
Season the meat ahead of time.
Dry brine the beef cheeks and tongue the night before cooking to deeply flavor the dense cuts of meat.
Build the taqueria components.
Prepare the Salsa Borracha and Salsa de Chile de Árbol up to two days in advance, keeping them refrigerated until you are ready to set up your counter.
Ingredients
- beef cheeks3 lb
- beef tongue2 lb
- kosher salt2 tbsp
- coarse black pepper1 tbsp
- smoked paprika1/2 tbsp
- banana leaves4 large
- heavy-duty aluminum foil1 large sheet
- white onion1 large
- head of garlic1 large
- dried bay leaves5 med
- dried Mexican oregano1 tsp
- water1 gal
- fresh corn tortillas20 med
- pork lard1 tbsp
- white onion1 cup
- fresh cilantro1 cup
- limes2 med
- Salsa Borracha1 cup
- Salsa de Chile de Árbol1 cup
- Big Red soda4 med
Method
- 01
Dry brine the meat overnight.
Rub the beef cheeks and tongue entirely with the kosher salt, black pepper, and smoked paprika. Refrigerate uncovered overnight to ensure the seasoning penetrates the dense cuts without introducing any acid.
- 02
Prepare the vaporera aromatics.
Place a steamer rack into a large tamale steamer or stockpot, filling the bottom with water so it sits about an inch below the rack. Drop the quartered onion, halved garlic head, bay leaves, and Mexican oregano directly into the water and bring to a steady simmer.
- 03
Swaddle the beef in banana leaves and foil.
Lay out a large cross of heavy-duty aluminum foil and layer the banana leaves over it. Place the seasoned meat in the center, fold the leaves tightly over the beef, and seal the foil shut to trap the steam and juices.
- 04
Steam the barbacoa low and slow.
Place the sealed packet onto the steamer rack, cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid, and steam over medium-low heat for 4 to 6 hours. Check the water level every hour, replenishing with boiling water from a kettle as needed so the pot never boils dry.
- 05
Peel the tongue and shred the meat.
Carefully open the foil packet, watching for the intense escaping steam. Remove the tongue, peel away and discard its thick rubbery outer skin with a paring knife, and transfer all the meat into a large prep bowl.
- 06
Harvest the liquid gold.
Pour the deeply rich, rendered beef tallow and juices pooled at the bottom of the foil into a heat-safe bowl, skimming a few tablespoons of the clear fat from the top to reserve for your tortillas. Pour the remaining juices back over the meat and shred it all together until slick and sticky.
- 07
Double-warm the tortillas and assemble the tacos.
Wipe a hot carbon-steel comal with a dab of pork lard or the reserved beef fat, and drop your fresh corn tortillas onto the hot metal to blister and steam for fifteen seconds per side. Lay down two tortillas per taco, load them heavily with the sticky barbacoa, and top aggressively with raw white onion, cilantro, a squeeze of lime, and a spoonful of Salsa Borracha.
Notes
Trust the molcajete for your salsas.
A blender homogenizes your ingredients, but a volcanic stone mortar crushes them. Grinding your aromatics in a molcajete releases essential oils and creates a rustic, uneven viscosity that clings perfectly to the fatty beef.
Do not skip the animal fat on the comal.
The distinct flavor and structural integrity of a proper taqueria tortilla rely entirely on the micro-fry effect of rendered beef tallow or pork lard. Canola oil will not yield the same charred, steamy result.
Source the authentic cuts.
Chuck roast cannot replicate the dense network of collagen and intramuscular fat found in beef cheeks. Seek out true cachete at a local carniceria to achieve the necessary sticky, gelatinous texture.