A taco is a traditional Mexican dish composed of a corn or wheat tortilla folded or rolled around a filling. A taco can be made with a variety of fillings, including beef, pork, chicken, seafood, vegetables and cheese, allowing for great versatility and variety. A taco is generally eaten without utensils and is often accompanied by garnishes such as salsa, avocado or guacamole, cilantro (coriander), tomatoes, minced meat, onions and lettuce. These little morsels are in contention to be a part of our next pop up dinner experience being held at Wickedfood Cooking School Johannesburg.

mini-tacos2

For the Filling:

  • 500g Ground Pork
  • 1 Onion (finely minced)
  • 1 tablespoon Chilli Powder
  • 2 teaspoon Cumin
  • 2 teaspoon Coriander
  • 1 cup Tomato Sauce
  • 1 Jalapeno (seeded and chopped finely)
  • 2 tablespoon cooking oil
  • 2T white vinegar
  • 2T brown sugar
  1. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sweat until softened, about 4-5 minutes.
  2. Add the ground pork and cook, breaking up as it browns, until browned completely, about 5-10 minutes.
  3. Add the spices to the meat. Mix well and then add the tomato sauce, vinegar, brown sugar and Jalapeno. Simmer and allow to reduce slightly, about 10-15 minutes. Check and adjust seasoning.

For the Shells:

  • Canola Oil (for frying)
  • 1 dozen Corn Tortillas

  1. Pre heat oil and allow oil to reach a temperature of 190ºC. Use a candy thermometer to check the temperature

  2. Using a cookie cutter with a diameter of roughly 8cm, cut the round shapes out of the large tortillas

  3. Once the oil is at the right temperature, drop the round tortilla cut-outs into the oil. Fry for roughly 30 seconds.

  4. Have a wooden spoon hanging over a bowl or pot and drape the fried rounds over the handle so that they shape around the handle to form a taco shape. Leave them as is for 5-10 mins so that they create taco shapes and hold.

  5. Drain on paper towel. Store in a airtight container if not using straight away.

To Serve:

  • 1 cup Tomatoes (finely minced)
  • 1 cup Iceberg Lettuce (finely shredded)
  • Taco Sauce (for garnish)
  • Sour Cream (for garnish)

Spoon meat into taco shell and top with lettuce, tomato, salsa and sour cream.