Campechano tacos with street-style salsa

Corn tortillas are wrapped around luscious meat and crisp longaniza, with crunchy pieces of chicharron, and served with a rich salsa.

Credit: Pati's Mexican Table

• makes

  8

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  1:40 hour

• difficulty

  Mid

Mexican taco stands often sell tacos combinados - tacos that combine different kinds of meat with different textures, all together. The campechano is often made up of beef, longaniza and chiccharon. 

Ingredients

• 900 g (2 lbs) flank steak, cut into 2-2.5 cm (~1 in) pieces
• 2 garlic cloves
• ½ white onion
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 tsp kosher or sea salt
• 3 tsp (15 ml) vegetable oil
• 225 g (½ lb) longaniza, casings removed, chopped (see Note)
• 225 g (½ lb) pork chicharron (see Note), crumbled or chopped into small pieces
• 8 corn tortillas, store-bought or homemade (get Pati’s recipe here)
• 1 cup finely chopped white onion, for garnish
• 1 cup chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves, for garnish
• Salsa callejera, to serve (get Pati’s recipe here)

Instructions

1. Place the steak, garlic, onion, bay leaves, peppercorns and a teaspoon of salt in a large casserole or pot. Cover generously with water and place over high heat. Once it comes to a simmer, reduce heat to medium low, remove any foam that may have risen to the top, cover, and cook for an hour and a half until the meat is completely tender and falling apart. Turn off heat and set aside.

2. Once cool enough to handle, remove the meat with a slotted spoon and chop into small pieces. Set aside.

3. Set a large saute pan over medium-high heat. When it is hot, add the oil. Add the longaniza or chorizo and brown, crumbling into smaller pieces with two wooden spoons or spatulas as it cooks, for about 5 minutes, until crisp and brown. Add the chopped meat, stir, and cook for a couple of minutes until it starts to brown as well. Incorporate the chicharrón, mix it all up and turn off the heat.

4. Preheat a comal or skillet over medium-low heat. Heat the tortillas for about a minute per side until completely hot with brown specks on both sides. Assemble the tacos, or let people assemble their own, by adding some of the meat mix and topping with chopped onion, cilantro and salsa callejera.

Note

• Longaniza is a spiced Mexican / Spanish sausage; you could use chorizo instead.

• Chicharron is crunchy pork crackling; buy it from specialist retailers.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Mexican taco stands often sell tacos combinados - tacos that combine different kinds of meat with different textures, all together. The campechano is often made up of beef, longaniza and chiccharon.