Mexican food is world-famous, especially when we talk about Mexican tacos. Theyโve gained immense popularity because theyโre just too excellent.
Among all other Mexican dishes, tacos have evolved to become a staple street food of Mexico. You can never miss out on these small corn tortillas stuffed with beautifully seasoned sliced meat and a variety of veggies topped with savory sauces and salsas.
Different flavors of different regions
Every place offers its version of tacos, and for a long time, different types of tacos have kept adding up across the world, inspired by the traditional recipe. Originally tacos were known as tacos de mineral as the term came up from silver mines.
Ever since its popularity bloomed, various twists and innovations were added to the recipe and thus evolved different types of tacos that came to be known with other names everywhere.
Within Mexico itself, each city and town, or even every street, offers tacos in their own style and version. They range from crispy fish tacos in Baja California to Al Pastor Tacos and the classic tacos de canasta in Mexico City.
This article lists the ten different types of tacos you must try if you havenโt yet.
Must try 10 different types of Tacos from Mexico
The fantastic recipes of different tacos everywhere around Mexico are a total delight for taco lovers. Most importantly, they do not affect your pockets a great deal. So, hereโs your guide to authentic Mexican tacos. You can add your variations to the recipe any day, but here are a few classic ones!
Elements of Tacos: Flour Tortilla & Fillings
The primary component of the tacos is the tortilla. Usually, small and soft corn tortillas are used and preferred over a regular flour tortilla in different tacos. Itโs not a debate about which is better but selected and changed according to other regions. Flour tortillas are mostly considered a better option for quesadillas or burritos.
The next important thing is the taco filling. Different types of taco stuffings are preferred in different regions of Mexico. The art of stuffing a taco is knowing how to alter it for different tacos and getting the flavor just as impressive.
Each taco is famous for the kind of meat used and how it is used. Roasted or grilled meat, minced meat, or steamed meat, and the combination of seasoning and spices that go along with it. And thatโs precisely what this article sheds light on, the different types of tacos that are famous because of their articulation.
1. Al Pastor Tacos
The Al Pastor Tacos are a Mexican-Lebanese fusion as the recipe is a take on the Middle Eastern shawarma recipe. These flavourful tacos are filled in small corn tortillas with thin slices of pork meat marinated with several seasonings and spicy chili peppers for the flavor and are slow-cooked on a rotisserie spit (trompo).
They are very famous in Mexico City. They are well-known by different names in different regions like the tacos al Pastor is also commonly known as tacos de trompo in certain places and as Tacos De Arabes in Pueblo.
Tacos De Arabes is usually cooked with different meat, usually lamb meat or beef in other regions, and hence a different name arises.
These tacos al pastor are extraordinarily delicious, and you should try this shawarma-like flavor of taco stuffed with pork meat.
2. Tacos De Pescado (Fish Tacos)
These fish tacos receive immense love from across the world, especially in beach towns in Mexico. Perfect for street food around the beaches, itโs more famous in the Baja California Coast and Puerto Vallarta, Cabo, and Ensenada.
The white shards of the fish meat are battered and fried and topped with veggies like cabbage, lettuce, pico de gallo (chopped onion, tomato, and other veggies), or sour salsa cream poured over it, in these incredibly tasty Tacos de Pescado.
These prominently famous fish tacos are found in every street, with almost every taco stand selling them along the beachside. Shrimp tacos (tacos de camaron) and octopus tacos (tacos de pulpo) are famous street tacos in demand around coastlines and beach towns.
3. Tacos De Canasta
Tacos De Canasta, more famously called basket tacos, are the talk of the town in Mexico City. Its unique cooking style makes it loved by all, as the longer it is kept before it is consumed, the taste is enhanced.
These tacos are some of the most delicious tacos in Mexico stuffed with plain fillings like potatoes, tinga, chicharron, and refried beans. The ingredients are wrapped in fried tortillas, steamed for a while, and covered in plastic in a basket until consumed.
They are usually cooked in advance and are kept because it is believed that the taste gets better the longer it is let to sit. Also, wrapping the basket keeps the tacos warm for a long while. The canasta tacos are highly delectable and are found mostly in Mexico City.
4. Tacos de Cabeza
Cabeza Tacos is also one of the most enjoyed street food in Mexico. This traditional taco is super flavorful and is famous mainly because of the meat used in it. They usually use the parts of the head of an animal, a cow, thus being known as head tacos.
The meat is seasoned with various spices and steamed or grilled and wrapped in a soft corn tortilla with vegetables of choice. These tacos are generally loved because they are super tender, juicy, and chewable.
5. Barbacoa Tacos
If weโre talking about the different types of tacos in Mexico and barbacoa taco is not mentioned, then weโre not quite right on the topic. These tacos are loved across Mexico and are famous for being cooked mainly on occasions. The name of this taco arises primarily because of its cooking technique.
The beef cuts are seasoned and marinated with Mexican spices and various chilies. The meat is then slow-roasted in barbeque style into a pit dug into the ground until perfectly tendered and cooked.
The meat is then nicely chopped up into small bite-sized pieces and placed in the tacos served with different garnishings.
They are cooked with varied options everywhere. Sheep or goat meat is the primary option, but beef is more prominently used. Also, these tacos are traditionally famous for big celebrations and occasions, and they arenโt cooked regularly.
6. Tacos de cazo
Mexican Cazo tacos have quite a unique cooking style. These are not mainly a taco name but are a cooking method, so the tacks are generally called bucket tacos. The meat is slow-cooked in a large, metallic kettle or bucket called cazo, hung over a fire until itโs nice and tendered along with its fat.
Tacos De Suadero uses the good tender beef meat slow-cooked in a cazo. However, traditionally the leftover parts are cooked in a cazo. Tripas tacos take up tripe and other inner parts, while Buche tacos use a pigโs stomach to make a cazo-style taco.
These cazo-style tacos are very deliciously cooked and are one of the highly famous street foods here. The meat preference in these tacos takes credit for the delicious delicacy.
7. Tacos dorados
These fried tacos are also called golden tacos. They follow two wrapping methods, both including the taco wraps being fried in the end. The taco rolls are initially filled with meat fillings such as seasoned meat, chicken, or potatoes.
In one way, the ends of the tacos are closed with a toothpick, and then it is fried and served. The other method is somewhat like a flauta, as the taco is wrapped like a flute and then fried. Dorados are served on a plate topped with cheese or various sauces.
While most tacos are eaten with the hands, this dish can be consumed using a knife and fork because of its crunchiness.
8. Birria
Taco Birria comes from Jalisco city, the Birria capital of Mexico. Itโs one heavenly taco type and thus also very famous. Itโs generally made from spicy goat meat stew. However, lamb or beef is sometimes used.
The stew is made with slow-roasted meat cooked into a spicy guajillo chili broth or in the consomme, which is a rich broth made from the juices of the meat.
Veggies like tomatoes and onions and flavorful spices are also incorporated into the stew to enrich the flavor of Birria. The savory consumption can also be served in a cup alongside the tacos. These have an addictive taste with a combination of sweet and spicy flavors.
9. Tacos de Tinga
Tinga tacos are said to have come from Puebla, famous for Mexican foodie culture, but they are everywhere. This one is for all the chicken lovers who arenโt very fond of pork, beef, and lamb.
This classic delicious taco consists of shredded chicken, which is slowly cooked in a very spicy sauce made from tomato, garlic, peppers, and onions or chipotle tomato sauce. The tinga tacos are best served with lime juice and serve well with salsa guacamole.
10. Tacos de Carnitas
Carnitas taco deciphers into little meats, and theyโre just everywhere in the Michoacan state. The carnitas is very famously made from shredded pork shoulder but can also be made using pork rinds or other pig parts.
The meat is simmered and braised within its fat for a very long until it cooks and quickly becomes tender.
The slow cooking of the pork brings out a good flavor, and the crispy ends of the shredded meat add to the taste. The melting-in-the-mouth seasoned meat is then wrapped into a warm corn tortilla. This is a total delight for pork lovers and is very famous in Mexico.
The Tacos Treasury
The list of famous Mexican tacos goes on. There are just too many different types of tacos that canโt be mentioned at once. More than two to three versions exist of the same taco in Mexico with a slight change in the ingredients.
Apart from the ones mentioned above, there are taco carne asada made from grilled pork meat, Mexican chorizo made from fresh ground pork, shrimp tacos, tacos de Lengua made of beef tongue, tacos de chicharron made from pork meat, and tacos de marlin.
These are also some of the famous tacos found in Mexico that are enjoyed worldwide. There are many other specialties of every taco stand in every city, and they mostly have their serving styles with different salsa sauces, salads, and vegetables.
So, keep exploring this taco treasury and find some of the best gems among the different types of tacos.
Worth Trying
You can easily twist and turn the recipes of these tacos at your convenience and enjoy a taco Tuesday at home. But if youโre ever in Mexico, you must try a few gems of the taco treasury available throughout the country.
Also, the best part is that among all the Mexican dishes, tacos are the absolute pocket-friendly street food, and you will be more than satisfied as the taste is above your expectations.
National Taco Day
The demand for tacos has been so in vogue that an entire day has been dedicated to fast food. Initially, the day was designated by a taco supplier chain on 4th October, where they handed out freebies and some super-saving deals for taco lovers.
Since then, every year, this tradition has been followed by other restaurants too, and 4th October officially became National Taco Day.
Tacos arenโt any other of your street food, and there are just so many different types of tacos that are more than impressive that an entire day is dedicated to them. And, so it is pretty reasonable that the tacos are celebrated.
Well, now you know that the next time youโre craving fast-food tacos is your go. The local vendors have different types of tacos as unique as restaurants. So, do not miss out on tasting these great tortilla wraps.
Also, if you like reading about the different cuisine cultures, keep reading on Icy Tales!
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