Chef shares how to build the perfect taco for Cinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo is here and Executive Chef Kevin Marquardt of Tall Boy Taco in Chicago is sharing some tips for building the perfect taco.
Whether it's a birria, steak, ground beef or fish tacos, Marquardt said it starts with the perfect tortilla - select good quality whether corn or flour. Also, use high quality meats and top with fresh vegetables and sauces, like onion, cilantro and red or green salsa. At the end, squeeze some lime on the top. He said the acid is an important ingredient.
Some other key basics shared by the chef:
- Now if you're reheating tortillas at home, it's really important to warm them up really quickly on a skillet and then stack them up, wrap them in a warm towel. It helps steam them throughout, and then you can kind of bring back that freshness as if they were made that day again.
- So one of the most popular proteins is skirt steak, carne asada. We like to marinate in a nice adobo marinade with some roasted dried chilies, citrus, to really help bring out the flavor of the meat. It makes for a nice carne asada.
- And then we don't really want to complicate the flavor too much, so all of our tacos start with the simple topping of onion and cilantro. We like to use a fresh cut sweet onion, and then the fresh pops of cilantro just really add a lot of flavor to every bite.
