"Real Tacos"?

As of late Im finding myself making any excuse to head on to Preston to the La Tapitia for some tacos. Id like to try to whip up a few at home and have a couple questions. I know I can go to google and get a link there,mainly just looking for personal ideas/recommendations. Question number 1, Ive read all kinds of ways Pastor is made, any thoughts/recipes for a home preparation? Question 2, Whats the deal with the tortillas? Ive tried in the past and they always end up a bit on the rubbery side. Is it my methods,dropping them in a hot pan with a little oil for a few on each side, or is it the brand I have bought in the past? Corn right? Also,why are two used, I have no problem with this practice just wondering why? Im guessing its a structural thing.Im not big on anything other than lime,onion and cilantro for the top, so theres not too many places to go wrong,but it still never turns out as good at home. Any recommendations for seasoning the Asada meat would be great as well. Thanks

The best way I have found to make my tortillas come out right is to throw them right on the gas stove grate above the burner on low. At the end of cooking my meat I play a game of sorts working usually around 8 tortillas on the stove, flipping them, moving them in and out, and raising and lowering the flame. They really take on another flavor when heated right and just a hair crispy but still soft and delicious.
I lived in Mexico for awhile and cook tacos about two times a week. I have also been known to dip the tortillas in the juices of my chicken or chorizo then cook them off. That seemed to be the way I saw a majority of taco carts doing it.
I used to use a little oil on them but found them to get too chewy every time I did. buen provecho!

john, i don't have any suggestions from personal experience. however, i am a big fan of a show on KET called "america's test kitchen." i recently watched them prepare steak tacos on that show. i found the recipe. you just have to join the website. the tacos were very simple with few toppings. seemed pretty authentic (not that i claim to be an expert).

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/reci ... &iSeason=9

Thanks Brian,
I using an electric stove at the moment so while I like your method Im not sure it works for me. Just another reason to go gas I guess. I try to pop them in my cast iron skillet dry next time and lose the oil. I am using corn tortillas as I like the flavor,think regular flour works any better?
And Jessie, I happened upon that show about month ago. It was a pretty good recipe from what I remember, thanks for the link. I check it out. That show is one of the highlights of the KETs food themed shows.

no problem, john. i'm always glad to catch a food show on KET. i love cooking shows and i feel like there are very few worth watching anymore on the food network.

I was watching some show on cable, who knows what or when or where, but the lady reheating tortillas in a skillet wet them down with her fingers, both sides of the tortilla, before she slapped them into the skillet to heat. I tried this with flour tortillas and they puffed and were soft and really really nice. Now I do this every morning with my breakfast quesadilla...

John, i have been looking at your post for a few days.... and quite stumped because i have the same problem also.

I am Latina and have tried as well to get that real "authentic" tortilla flavor at home, and i just cannot. They come out pretty good though. I use a brand of corn tortillas from Kroger, they keep longer, and work a little better in migas actually. You can also get some really nice, with a more robust corn flavor of tortillas at the little Latino shops. I frequent La Rosita in Clarksville. They even carry some extra small ones, which some taquerias make the little double tacos with.

I get a pan really, really hot. I have a little bit of oil in a bowl next to my pan with a small teaspoon. I drop three tortillas in the pan, as they are getting hot on one side i drop a bit of oil on each one, then flip it rather quickly. As it is "cooking" on the already oiled side, i oil the other side, then flip it to that side as well. I dont think i really explained this very well, and probably sounds more drawn out then what it is. But i bust out 30+ of these rather quickly.

As for the seasoning, i really just use Morton Season-All. And i think that is what i saw them using at La Rosita today. Which leads me to my next point.......

I thought about this so much that my husband and i went and did some very important "RESEARCH" for you....no, no you do not have to thank me. I wanted to do it, actually, i felt i needed to do it, to help a fellow forumite.

I was really checking them out as they made the food, especially the tortillas. And i think, for the most part i am pretty sure it has to do with the grill. As with all of those little places people love that serve food fixed on a grill, (burgers, etc.), i think it comes from the seasoning that is on that grill.

The cook had some carne asada on there, a few pieces of lomo, a huge whole cooked chicken he was reheating, all on the grill. All of this was seasoned, with oil/juices running out underneath them. When all of that was done he threw it to the side, "cleaned" the grill with a huge spatula then threw a bunch of tortillas on there. The tortillas are heating up on all this GOODNESS. I looked at that and said to myself, there is John's answer, it HAS to be that.

Just wanted to share my thoughts on this.........

Wow Becky,
What a great reply. I think your right about cooking the tortilla on top of all that meat dripping goodness. After I read another post in this thread by Brian who said he dips the tortilla in the meat juices prior to cooking them I took a similar approach. I cooked off my meat(chopped up hanger steak from Barr farms) in one pan,adding a little onion and garlic near the end of cooking, and set aside leaving the juice in that pan. Next I heated up my cast iron skillet till nearly smoking and using a pastry brush I painted the corn tortillas with the pan drippings and popped them in one by one in the cast iron. After just a couple seconds on each side I moved them to a covered dish I heated in the oven to keep them warm. While I suppose that they steam a bit in this holding area,they didnt result in the rubber like texture Ive had in the past. While this is still not as good as Im going to get in a taqueria,example being the well seasoned flat top you mentioned, it was a vast improvement over our earlier attempts.
While we normally dont buy premade seasoning mixes Ill take a look at that Morton Season-All you mentioned. I am a fan of Morton ,we used to visit the Morton arboretum they built outside of Chicago.
We normally just wing it with the seasoning. For this last batch of tacos we went with a bit of chili powder,cumin,paprika,mexiregano ,bit of coriander and salt. We often add this to the meat in the morning and let it do its thing during the day.After making them at home, it really makes you appreciate how good they are at the taquerias for only a buck fifty.
Again thanks to everybody for their input. More suggestions always welcome.

John, GMTA. I had been thinking about how to mimic the grill at the taquerias. The pastry brush and same pan is just what i was thinking. I am going to have to try that with tacos next week.

and.... even if your tacos "steamed" a bit, they sort of do at the taqueria as well. After they made about 20 tortillas or so, they sat stacked for a couple of minutes before he threw everything together. Might help get the flavors in there as well.....

I respect not using prepared salts. For authentic flavoring, you really cannot go wrong with cumin. To me, it is all about the comino, i love it and use it heavily. When i want a different flavor for tacos, i season with salt, pepper, paprika, comino, and FRESH cilantro.....so simple and just can't go wrong with it.

man... all this talk of tacos has me jonesing...

i am going to have to throw some together for the family next weeek for sure.