Destination
Puerto Vallarta
The story
Tacos de canasta — literally "basket tacos" — are the tacos you buy from a man on a bicycle at 8 in the morning outside a Mexico City metro station. The bike carries a wide flat basket, wrapped in a blue-and-white checked cloth, packed with hundreds of small stuffed tortillas that have been drenched in warm chile-infused oil, folded, stacked and sealed with the cloth. The residual heat keeps the tacos warm and steams them into a distinctive soft, faintly greasy, deeply savoury bite. Three fillings are canonical: papa con chorizo (potato and chorizo), frijol (refried beans) and chicharrón prensado (pressed pork rind in salsa). A serving is 4 or 5 tacos on a plastic plate, served with a squeeze of lime and a spoon of salsa verde.
Method
Warm the oil in a heavy pan. Cook the onion 4 minutes; add garlic. Add the chorizo and break up; brown 6 minutes. Add the potato cubes and salt. Cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender and mashed slightly by the chorizo. Cool.
Warm the lard in a pan. Cook the onion 4 minutes; add garlic, epazote and salt. Tip in the beans with 150ml of their liquid. Mash to a smooth paste, cooking 6 minutes until thick. Cool.
Toast the guajillos on a dry pan 30 seconds a side until fragrant. Snap into pieces. Warm the oil in a small pan over low heat. Add the guajillos, garlic, oregano and salt. Steep 10 minutes at very low heat (do not fry to burnt). Strain through a sieve; discard the solids. The oil should be deep red.
Line a wide deep dish (a Dutch oven or a heavy casserole with a lid) with the tea towel — you want overhanging edges so you can wrap the tacos.
On a hot dry pan, warm 4 or 5 tortillas at a time for 15 seconds a side. Keep the rest stacked in a towel.
Working one at a time: dip a warm tortilla into the guajillo oil for 2 seconds, letting excess drip off. Spoon 1 tbsp of filling down the middle. Fold the tortilla in half over the filling. Place in the lined dish. Repeat, alternating fillings and packing the tacos snug against each other in rows.
When the dish is full, fold the tea towel over the top of the tacos, tucking the edges in. Cover with the lid or a heavy plate.
Leave undisturbed 30 minutes at room temperature — the residual heat and oil steam the tacos into their signature soft texture. Serve with salsa verde, pickled onion, coriander, lime and (if using) avocado. Eat with your hands, 4 tacos per plate.
Tips
- The oil is the whole trick. The guajillo-infused oil is what defines a taco de canasta — no oil and you have plain steamed tacos. Don't skimp on the dip.
- Don't fry the tortillas hard. Two seconds in the oil is enough. This isn't a fried taco; it's a soft steamed one that's been oiled.
- Make fillings the day before. Both the papa-chorizo and the refried beans hold well in the fridge and are actually better on day two.
- Rest is not optional. The 30-minute rest under the cloth is what steams the tacos into their soft, characteristic texture. Serving immediately gives you crunchier, drier tacos.
- Chicharrón prensado is the third classic filling. If you can find pressed pork rind at a Latino grocer, chop it fine and simmer 10 minutes in salsa verde with a splash of stock — that's the third filling every canasta cart carries.
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