Author Notes: I was born & raised in McAllen on the Texas/Mexico border. When I was in high school, the thing to do on Saturday night was to go to Reynosa to have drinks at Trevino’s then dancing at Eddie’s. They played Rock & Roll and never carded ANYBODY. Late night we would stumble out of the club where there was a strategically parked taqueria selling varios types of tacos. The most popular was “tacos de lengua” but in my youth there wasn’t a chance in hell that I would eat that (though my father cooked tongue and I would often find one in the fridge just lying on a plate). I have expanded my horizons since then, but have never cooked tongue until now (thanks to the encouragement of a friend at work who’s from Brownsville and the food52 recipe contests). I served this with a cilantro sour cream which is not at all what you’d get on the street in Reynosa. They might have offered grilled onions and some salsa-definitely no frills. —nannydeb
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
Lengua
-
1 1-2
pounds beef tongue
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1/2
yellow onion, corsely chopped
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1
fresh jalapeno, cut in half
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3
cloves garlic, whole
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1
stalk celery, coarsely chopped
-
1
teaspoon cumin seed, slightly crushed
-
1
teaspoon salt
-
1
bottle Negra Modelo
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sliced bell pepper and onions, optional
-
corn and/or flour tortillas, warmed
-
2
tablespoons olive oil
Cilantro Sour Cream
-
3
tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced
-
1
clove garlic, minced
-
1
fresh jalapeno, minced
-
1
tablespoon fresh lime juice
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3/4-1
cups sour cream (depending on how potent you want it)
-
salt to taste
Directions
Lengua
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Place the tongue in a cast iron dutch oven with the rest of the ingredients. Add enough water to about the halfway point on the tongue. Bring it to a boil.
- Cover the pot and bake in the oven for about 3-3 1/2 hours or until fork tender. I flipped mine half way through. Set aside to cool a bit.
- Once cool enough to handle, remove the outer layer of skin and slice thinly.
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Cook the sliced tongue with the peppers and onions until browned, about 3-5 minutes.
- Serve on hot tortillas with cilantro sour cream, salsa and the rest of the Negra Modelo.
Cilantro Sour Cream
- Toss all ingredients in the food processor and blend.