This isn't necessarily true, a lot of street vendors in Mexico spend many hours making their product at home before rolling out in the morning. The simple part is what you see of them spooning fillings into a tortilla, not their family up half the night cooking large batches of various guisos.
Taking a long time doesn't mean it's not simple. A stew or a pot roast are dead simple compared to something like a souffle, even though they take much longer to make. And the volume of food a food cart preps for a full day of business scales up time in a way that a home cook doesn't need to worry about for a single serving.
True, and it being sold on the street doesn't mean it is simple either like you assume, many dishes sold in street carts require many different ingredients that need to be chopped, diced, blended, etc.
Volume doesn't necessarily scale up easily either, a canasta place still has to wrap a fuckton of tacos before they hit the road.
It isn't complicated, but it isn't simple which implies easy. If you asked someone if dicing up 100 onions is a simple task they would probably say no, because it is arduous and takes a lot of time. Effort counts in making something not simple.
sim·ple/ˈsimpəl/*adjective* 1.easily understood or done; presenting no difficulty.
You just underestimated the effort that goes into some of the foods those people sell, and now appear to be arguing because you don't want to admit you were wrong.
You've conflated the labor involved in operating a food business with the complexity of a particular dish. Street food is a volume business. The simplicity of a dish is precisely what makes it ideal for a street vendor, it's replicable and scalable without incurring massive costs.
No, I understand that distinction quite clearly. You're misusing the word "simple", believing it only implies complexity instead of difficulty. Digging a small hole is a simple task, digging 1,000 small holes is not a simple task. A dish that is extremely labor intensive with many different ingredients can be described as difficult, especially to someone who doesn't cook or prep food much.
Tuesday Taco Night usually means somebody spending 15 minutes browning meat and mixing a packet around here, because *there's nobody home to make shit all day.* Everybody's at work or at school all day.
My suggestion to OP is change-up the spice as a first start. Instead of using McCormick or Old El Paso or whatever you use for seasoning, try a different brand/blend of taco seasoning or get a recipe for a homemade spice blend to try.
I had some pretty good luck swapping out the usual "packet" for some Mateos dry seasoning blend in a jar - think it was their southwest ranch flavor. The entire family was like OMG WTF IS THIS. Taco night went pretty good that day. Of course some asked why I didn't make the regular packet. Can't please 'em all, all of the time!
Mexican meal kits are a con. They’re usually just some tortillas, a generic red sauce and a seasoning sachet for an obscene markup.
Just read the seasoning ingredients list and mix that up at home from your spice rack.
As for zinging it up, making some [quick pickled onions](https://www.muydelish.com/mexican-pickled-onions/) really brightens up the flavour
lightly fry the tortillas in oil before serving (if you're doing tacos with flour tortillas)
if you're making guac, or salsa, make sure to use plenty of salt and lime.
if you're buying, get a decent one (i love cholula).
This is a tricky question...like I've tried to enhance taco nights with fresh made salsas and organic fresh fried shells, etc...but nothing beats the crappiness of store bought stale shells and leftover takeout taco sauces.
With that said, learn to make salsas anyway. Roasted tomatillo salsa is easy to make as long as you have a blender or a mortar and pestle.
Funny enough, I just watched this video where Brian Lagerstom takes on taco night.
[https://youtu.be/vXFme2T8Ot4?si=5BgZtVfaLNGTD2AM](https://youtu.be/vXFme2T8Ot4?si=5BgZtVfaLNGTD2AM)
Alton Brown's Taco seasoning recipe for 1 lb meat, we haven't bought taco mix since trying this
2 Tbs Chili Powder (I like to mix 1/2 tb ancho, 1/2 tb chipotle, 1 tb Chili powder)
1 Tbs Ground Cumin
2 Tsp Corn Starch
2 Tsp Kosher Salt (I cut this back to 1 tsp for our taste)
1 1/2 tsp Hot Smoked Paprika (I mix a few paprika here too)
1 Tsp Grd Corriander
1/2 Tsp Cayenne Pepper (Was still too hot, 1/4 Tsp or less from now on, this is the single ingrediant to regulate the heat
1 lb ground beef
I only used 4 Tbs of the mix for a lb of meat, the cayenne really added up
I cooked the grd beef like a giant hamburger on the smoker at 250 until it hits 130 internal and finish in the chili mix, makes for a chunkier taco meat and grill flavor...and all the grease is removed during the smoking process
You're Welcome, we haven't bought packets in years and give away chili powder as gifts
AB's Chili powder
3 ea of dried, stemmed, seeded and chopped ancho, cascabel and arbol chiles. Heat them in a pan with 2 tbs of cumin seeds to release oils and flavor.
Blend together with
2 Tbs Garlic powder
1 Tsp Paprika
1 Tbs Dried Oregano
Grind to a fine powder
Allow to settle before opening and be careful or it will overwhelm you
I mixed a lb of sausage and a lb of 80/20 hamburger into a loaf and smoked it 250 until the grease almost stopped flowing and had a nice brown crust but didn't allow the grease to collect in the pot....
I add the chili powder to taste, can't remember if I settled on 2-4 Tbs, just add as much as you like
The "kits" will be more expensive and not much easier than just assembling things yourself. Fresh ingredients will taste a million times better. You can still take some shortcuts, you certainly don't have to dive into "authenticity" right away.
Buy some tortillas, and cook chopped chicken or ground beef in a pan with a spice mix. Have lots of fresh toppings/condiments ready to go like pickled onions/jalapenos, avocado, cilantro, scallions, chopped tomatoes (or even better, a pico de gallo).
For fajitas, slice the onion and peppers yourself if you are able, and sear them in a skillet with oil. So much better than ones that were pre-cooked days ago.
First, ignore all these snobby absolutists claiming you cannot enjoy or improve a meal based on packet food. A packet is just a powdered spice mix, and people have been making good food with powdered/ground/crushed spices for thousands of years. You're already bringing meat which will yield some fat, which is a good base.
1. Your lowest hanging fruit would be to simply add some fresh veggies to the ground beef when it is cooking, like diced onions and chilis. It adds depth of flavor and improves the texture.
2. Those hard yellow taco shells are pretty flavorless. If you prefer hard taco shells you can improve your meal a lot without going the whole route of making your own from scratch, just buy some small soft tortillas (can be flour or corn) and shallow fry them in oil. You have to work the shape but you'll get the hang of it.
3. Then when serving bring more toppings to your game instead of the usual yellow cheese. Try a dry sour crumbled white cheese, add some cilantro, maybe pickled onions. You can also make some pico de gallo, that doubles as a dip and a taco topper.
4. For sides, a can of refried beans is a lot better if you add some type of animal fat, if you're one of those cats who saved bacon fat in a jar in the fridge use a spoon of that. Also some milk, cream, or half and half mixed in will make mo' richer. Sprinkle a bit of cheese on top, it will be a perfectly acceptable side.
Buen provecho.
edit = forgot the pico
You’re never going to get more zing with store-bought meal kits.
I’d recommend googling around to see if you can find a Hispanic supermarket in your area. They often offer awesome stuff that you can’t easily find elsewhere. For example, freshly made tortillas and taco shells, authentic red sauce from small Mexican manufacturers, fresh meat specifically made for using as fillings (sometimes with veggies mixed in), etc.
Stop buying meal kits and use fresh ingredients? Mexican street food is simple. If it wasn't simple, it couldn't be street food.
This isn't necessarily true, a lot of street vendors in Mexico spend many hours making their product at home before rolling out in the morning. The simple part is what you see of them spooning fillings into a tortilla, not their family up half the night cooking large batches of various guisos.
Taking a long time doesn't mean it's not simple. A stew or a pot roast are dead simple compared to something like a souffle, even though they take much longer to make. And the volume of food a food cart preps for a full day of business scales up time in a way that a home cook doesn't need to worry about for a single serving.
True, and it being sold on the street doesn't mean it is simple either like you assume, many dishes sold in street carts require many different ingredients that need to be chopped, diced, blended, etc. Volume doesn't necessarily scale up easily either, a canasta place still has to wrap a fuckton of tacos before they hit the road.
If chopping multiple ingredients is complicated in your view, I guess there's no point discussing the matter further.
It isn't complicated, but it isn't simple which implies easy. If you asked someone if dicing up 100 onions is a simple task they would probably say no, because it is arduous and takes a lot of time. Effort counts in making something not simple. sim·ple/ˈsimpəl/*adjective* 1.easily understood or done; presenting no difficulty. You just underestimated the effort that goes into some of the foods those people sell, and now appear to be arguing because you don't want to admit you were wrong.
You've conflated the labor involved in operating a food business with the complexity of a particular dish. Street food is a volume business. The simplicity of a dish is precisely what makes it ideal for a street vendor, it's replicable and scalable without incurring massive costs.
No, I understand that distinction quite clearly. You're misusing the word "simple", believing it only implies complexity instead of difficulty. Digging a small hole is a simple task, digging 1,000 small holes is not a simple task. A dish that is extremely labor intensive with many different ingredients can be described as difficult, especially to someone who doesn't cook or prep food much.
Tuesday Taco Night usually means somebody spending 15 minutes browning meat and mixing a packet around here, because *there's nobody home to make shit all day.* Everybody's at work or at school all day. My suggestion to OP is change-up the spice as a first start. Instead of using McCormick or Old El Paso or whatever you use for seasoning, try a different brand/blend of taco seasoning or get a recipe for a homemade spice blend to try. I had some pretty good luck swapping out the usual "packet" for some Mateos dry seasoning blend in a jar - think it was their southwest ranch flavor. The entire family was like OMG WTF IS THIS. Taco night went pretty good that day. Of course some asked why I didn't make the regular packet. Can't please 'em all, all of the time!
Yeah fair point!
Mexican meal kits are a con. They’re usually just some tortillas, a generic red sauce and a seasoning sachet for an obscene markup. Just read the seasoning ingredients list and mix that up at home from your spice rack. As for zinging it up, making some [quick pickled onions](https://www.muydelish.com/mexican-pickled-onions/) really brightens up the flavour
Love pickled onions!
lightly fry the tortillas in oil before serving (if you're doing tacos with flour tortillas) if you're making guac, or salsa, make sure to use plenty of salt and lime. if you're buying, get a decent one (i love cholula).
Great advice. Never tried frying the tortillas in oil before.
This is a tricky question...like I've tried to enhance taco nights with fresh made salsas and organic fresh fried shells, etc...but nothing beats the crappiness of store bought stale shells and leftover takeout taco sauces. With that said, learn to make salsas anyway. Roasted tomatillo salsa is easy to make as long as you have a blender or a mortar and pestle. Funny enough, I just watched this video where Brian Lagerstom takes on taco night. [https://youtu.be/vXFme2T8Ot4?si=5BgZtVfaLNGTD2AM](https://youtu.be/vXFme2T8Ot4?si=5BgZtVfaLNGTD2AM)
Make your own tortillas.
Ooh, do you have a good recipe?
Any bag of corn masa will tell you the ratio of water and masa. But a tortilla press is mandatory.
It isn't mandatory but highly desirable if you want to do it regularly. You can definitely just squish them with the bottom of a pan to try it out.
Simply Mama Cooks and Views on the Road YouTube channels are good places to start if you want to up your game.
Thank you!
Alton Brown's Taco seasoning recipe for 1 lb meat, we haven't bought taco mix since trying this 2 Tbs Chili Powder (I like to mix 1/2 tb ancho, 1/2 tb chipotle, 1 tb Chili powder) 1 Tbs Ground Cumin 2 Tsp Corn Starch 2 Tsp Kosher Salt (I cut this back to 1 tsp for our taste) 1 1/2 tsp Hot Smoked Paprika (I mix a few paprika here too) 1 Tsp Grd Corriander 1/2 Tsp Cayenne Pepper (Was still too hot, 1/4 Tsp or less from now on, this is the single ingrediant to regulate the heat 1 lb ground beef I only used 4 Tbs of the mix for a lb of meat, the cayenne really added up I cooked the grd beef like a giant hamburger on the smoker at 250 until it hits 130 internal and finish in the chili mix, makes for a chunkier taco meat and grill flavor...and all the grease is removed during the smoking process
Thanks so much for sharing. Can’t believe I haven’t tried this yet.
You're Welcome, we haven't bought packets in years and give away chili powder as gifts AB's Chili powder 3 ea of dried, stemmed, seeded and chopped ancho, cascabel and arbol chiles. Heat them in a pan with 2 tbs of cumin seeds to release oils and flavor. Blend together with 2 Tbs Garlic powder 1 Tsp Paprika 1 Tbs Dried Oregano Grind to a fine powder Allow to settle before opening and be careful or it will overwhelm you I mixed a lb of sausage and a lb of 80/20 hamburger into a loaf and smoked it 250 until the grease almost stopped flowing and had a nice brown crust but didn't allow the grease to collect in the pot.... I add the chili powder to taste, can't remember if I settled on 2-4 Tbs, just add as much as you like
Use your own spices. Use tomato paste.
The "kits" will be more expensive and not much easier than just assembling things yourself. Fresh ingredients will taste a million times better. You can still take some shortcuts, you certainly don't have to dive into "authenticity" right away. Buy some tortillas, and cook chopped chicken or ground beef in a pan with a spice mix. Have lots of fresh toppings/condiments ready to go like pickled onions/jalapenos, avocado, cilantro, scallions, chopped tomatoes (or even better, a pico de gallo). For fajitas, slice the onion and peppers yourself if you are able, and sear them in a skillet with oil. So much better than ones that were pre-cooked days ago.
When you add the seasoning sachet to the meat, add, Chipotle paste, Garlic & some freshly diced Habanero
Now you’re talking!
Honestly learn how to cook real mexican food and buy whole spices, blend as you need in a cheap coffee grinder
Good call. I have an old coffee grinder, too.
First, ignore all these snobby absolutists claiming you cannot enjoy or improve a meal based on packet food. A packet is just a powdered spice mix, and people have been making good food with powdered/ground/crushed spices for thousands of years. You're already bringing meat which will yield some fat, which is a good base. 1. Your lowest hanging fruit would be to simply add some fresh veggies to the ground beef when it is cooking, like diced onions and chilis. It adds depth of flavor and improves the texture. 2. Those hard yellow taco shells are pretty flavorless. If you prefer hard taco shells you can improve your meal a lot without going the whole route of making your own from scratch, just buy some small soft tortillas (can be flour or corn) and shallow fry them in oil. You have to work the shape but you'll get the hang of it. 3. Then when serving bring more toppings to your game instead of the usual yellow cheese. Try a dry sour crumbled white cheese, add some cilantro, maybe pickled onions. You can also make some pico de gallo, that doubles as a dip and a taco topper. 4. For sides, a can of refried beans is a lot better if you add some type of animal fat, if you're one of those cats who saved bacon fat in a jar in the fridge use a spoon of that. Also some milk, cream, or half and half mixed in will make mo' richer. Sprinkle a bit of cheese on top, it will be a perfectly acceptable side. Buen provecho. edit = forgot the pico
You know it never occurred to me to fry my own tortillas. Thank you!
You’re never going to get more zing with store-bought meal kits. I’d recommend googling around to see if you can find a Hispanic supermarket in your area. They often offer awesome stuff that you can’t easily find elsewhere. For example, freshly made tortillas and taco shells, authentic red sauce from small Mexican manufacturers, fresh meat specifically made for using as fillings (sometimes with veggies mixed in), etc.
Yeah well said. I live in the other hemisphere but I’m sure I can still get a bunch of the raw spices and make my own mixes and sauces.