First of all, disclaimer! While these are more like Ixtlan tacos than anything I've had outside of Ixtlan, they are still very different than the real deal. If you want Tacos de Ixtlan you'll find them in Ixtlan. However, I will say that when I took a bite I could definitely tell what I was trying to mimic. And since most of you probably haven't had the real deal I bet these will be some of the best tacos you make! Also, my version is a little lighter using chicken instead of pork which is the biggest difference between these and the real deal. If you want to substitute the chicken with pork, go for it! I hope to do the same sometime!
The salsa verde recipe is close to one that Hannah learned from a woman in church and the recipe a gal from our favorite taqueria wrote for her. Salsa is kind of a signature item for each taqueria and our favorite happened to be just a few doors down which was all too convenient.
Here's a step-by-step with pictures. Mom, now you know why I took a picture of chicken in a skillet ;) The whole recipe is written below.
What you'll need: tortillas, chiles in adobo sauce, onion, tomatillos, jalapenos, garlic, cilantro, limes, and chicken breast (not pictured).
To begin, make the salsa verde. Husk 1.5 pounds of tomatillos and rinse.
Put them in a pot with some water and two medium jalapenos, stems cut off but core not exposed.
Bring to a boil for about 7-10 minutes until tomatillos and peppers are soft but not mushy. You don't want to cook them as much as just soften them.
While salsa ingredients are on the stove, prepare the marinade for the meat. Open one can of chiles in adobo sauce (found in the Mexican section of the supermarket) and pour into a blender with ~1/3 cup of water. Pulse until smooth.
If you have thick chicken breast (or pork), slice it in half the long ways so it will cook faster. Then put it in a container and sprinkle salt on meat. Rub in and pour adobo sauce over chicken. Coat and refrigerate for several hours.
By now your tomatillos should be getting done. When they're soft, strain them and put them in a *clean* blender. Add a large clove of garlic, a handful of cilantro, and the jalapenos. Blend until very smooth. Add about 1.5-2 tsp salt. Warning: it has some heat. It may be best to add just one pepper first if you're sensitive to spice but you may find that you want more than two peppers in which case you'll want to boil more than two with the tomatillos. Put the salsa in the fridge to cool or leave at room temperature until dinner.
I recommend cutting up the onion, cilantro, and lime garnishes after making the salsa and marinating the meat to have them ready to go. Once I started preparing the tacos there was no time to dice onion or trim cilantro.
About thirty minutes before you're ready to eat it's time to start preparing the tacos.
To prepare the tacos, heat an iron skillet over medium high heat with a liberal drizzle of oil. Once the pan is hot, add half the chicken breast and drizzle oil over the top of the chicken breast. You definitely want some extra oil swimming in the pan. Not super healthy but better than deep frying the meat like they do in Ixtlan.
Cook the chicken about five minutes on each side. It's okay for it to get dark spots and be well done. You'll be pouring salsa on top so if it's a smidge dry it won't hurt anything.
Remove chicken breast to cutting board and dice into small pieces, almost like it's been chewed. Sounds gross but that's how they do it. I cut mine into strips first, then cubes, and then just went at it until it was in pieces.
You can start warming tortillas after the first batch of chicken is chopped if you're feeling like superwoman. Or you can wait til all the meat is done. If you choose to multitask, heat a nonstick skillet over medium/low with some oil while you're cooking the other half of the chicken,. Now, here's where pork would definitely make a better taco because they dip the tortillas in the oil that the meat is cooking in before placing them on the griddle. I dipped a few in the meat fat but since there wasn't much fat from the chicken, I ended up using mostly oil. Either way, make sure there's enough oil that the tortillas get soft. Also, make sure that the pan isn't too hot and your tortillas don't overcook to crunchy. They should cook long enough that they get nice and soft, almost soggy but not quite. I started in a cast iron skillet but switched to a bigger nonstick which worked better. The bigger the skillet or griddle the faster your tortillas will cook and the sooner you'll get to dive into these scrumptious tacos!
Important note: small tortillas are what we're looking for here! Mine were 4 1/8 inches in diameter, and yes, I literally got out my ruler and measured them right now because it's important that you have something very small like that! Also, since two are better than one you're going to use two tortillas per taco. That's how it's done down there. Taco Bell, you have much to learn.
As you warm tortillas and chop meat, you can assemble the tacos and put them in a warm oven. It took me a little while to have enough ready. These guys are really small so they're easy to put away.
Assembling is simple. Just layer two tortillas, top with some meat, fold, and put in a dish to keep it warm.
And when you're done, you should have something like this:
I kinda cringe to call them Tacos de Ixtlan because they really aren't. But they are still very good and relatively healthy.
The nice part is that you can leave the shredded cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, and olives in the fridge. The simple toppings they use are chopped cilantro, finely chopped onion, a pinch of salt (coarse of course!) and lime. Unfortunately I forgot to pull the lime out of the fridge. Not sure how that happened because besides the cilantro, tortilla, and salsa verde it's my favorite part! Ha, so I pretty much like everything about these!
Some great things to serve the tacos with are poppers, Spanish rice, refried beans, and your favorite Mexican pop.
The process may look intimidating but really it's pretty simple and I hope you give it a try!
Now for the real recipe...
Makes about 16 small tacos
Salsa Verde:
1.5 pounds tomatillos, husked and washed
2 medium jalapenos
1 large clove garlic
Good handful of cilantro (optional but delicious!)
1.5-2 tsp salt, or to taste
Cook tomatillos and jalapenos until soft. Strain and put in blender with garlic, cilantro and salt. Serve cool or at room temperature.
Tacos:
32 4-inch corn tortillas
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast or pork
1 can chiles in adobo sauce
1/3 cup water
oil
cilantro
lime
onion
salt
Blend childes and adobo sauce with water until smooth. Cut meat into thinner pieces lengthwise if thick. Rub with salt and pour adobo sauce over meat. Refrigerate several hours.
Prepare garnishes: cut limes into squeezable chunks, snip cilantro into small pieces, and mince onion.
About thirty minutes before you'd like dinner, begin preparing tacos. Heat oil in a pan. Cook half the chicken, about five minutes on each side or longer if needed. Add oil as needed. When chicken is done cooking, remove from pan and place on cutting board. Add other half of chicken and oil. Meanwhile, cut chicken into strips, then cubes, and dice into small pieces. Begin preparing tortillas by dipping in meat fat and/or oiling pan. Warm over low/med heat until soft and tender.
To assemble taco, layer two tortillas and add meat. Fold and place in dish in warm oven. Repeat until all tacos are assembled. Serve with garnishes and salsa verde. Don't forget the lime! :)
