Destination
Puerto Vallarta
The story
Suadero is the meat that CDMX taqueros put on the outer ring of their choricera — the big domed steel disc, shaped like an inverted wok, that sits over a gas ring at every Mexico City taco stand. Cuts of beef brisket and rose meat cook slowly in their own fat around the outside of the dome while chorizo, longaniza and pastor renders on the hotter inner ring. The suadero simmers-fries for hours, going from pale grey to deep mahogany, then the taquero pulls it off with a big spoon, chops it fine on the dome edge, mounds it onto two overlapped tortillas and slides it across the counter with a lime wedge. It's the taco of the CDMX late-night eater, the after-cantina taco, the taco you queue for at 1am on Álvaro Obregón.
Method
Combine brisket, halved onion, garlic head, bay leaves, oregano, salt, orange peel and water in a large pot. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered 90 minutes until the meat is tender when pierced. Lift out and drain; reserve 300ml of the poaching broth. Discard the aromatics.
Let the drained brisket cool 15 minutes on a board. Cut into 2cm cubes.
Warm the lard in a wide heavy pan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the cubed brisket and salt. It should sizzle gently, not fry hard. Cook 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until the outside is deep mahogany and the fat has infiltrated the meat. If the pan runs dry, add a splash of the reserved broth.
While the meat confits, char the tomatoes, onion, garlic and chiles on a hot dry pan 6 to 8 minutes total, turning, until blackened in patches. Deseed the chiles if using dried moritas.
Blend the charred vegetables to a rough sauce. Warm the oil in a small pan; tip in the sauce, salt and sugar. Simmer 8 to 10 minutes until glossy and thickened.
Lift the confited meat onto a chopping board. Chop hard with a heavy knife into 5mm dice. Return to the pan with a spoon of the lard and toss over medium heat 2 minutes to crisp the edges.
On a hot dry pan, warm the tortillas in pairs 20 seconds a side. Stack in a tea towel.
Lay two overlapped tortillas on each plate. Top with a heaped spoon of chopped suadero. Add a small mound of diced onion, chopped coriander, a spoon of salsa taquera and a lime wedge on the side. Serve immediately.
Tips
- Brisket, not sirloin. Suadero is a fatty cut. Lean beef gives you dry taco meat. Ask your butcher for fatty brisket or flank; if he offers you skirt, take a slightly bigger portion and add a spoon of extra lard.
- Poach first, then confit. Skip the poach and the outside chars before the inside is tender. The two-stage cook is what makes suadero suadero.
- Save the poaching broth. That water is essentially beef consommé — freeze it in ice-cube trays and use in rice, beans or a next batch of tacos.
- The dome is a choricera. If you have access to a large domed cast-iron plancha (an outdoor cook's tool), the dish comes out closer to authentic. In a home kitchen, a heavy wide Dutch oven works.
- Two tortillas per taco. Non-negotiable. Suadero drips fat and juice, and one tortilla can't hold it.
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