Loco about Taco
By Deneb R. Batucan
Images: Allan Defensor
AT FIRST, you have the crunch. Then in comes the rest of the ingredients filling your palate — the spiced ground taco beef topped with melted cheese, salsa and shredded lettuce. It comes in little by little and then all at once, providing a mouthwatering and savory meal that only this worldwide favorite can supply.
Tacos are one of the most popular Mexican dishes in the world, and it’s easy to see why. With not-so-hard-to-find ingredients and easy recipes, it’s a simple dish that’s packed with flavor and satisfaction.
Mexican food made fresh and fast with using only topnotch ingredients to curb your craving — Red Lizard Taqueria gives nothing short of that order. With their recently opened branch at the 4th level of Ayala Center Cebu, patrons now have the perfect place for a tasty pre-movie lunch or dinner or even for drinking its refreshing mojitos or margaritas at the al-fresco dining area at the outdoor terrace.
Red Lizard has so many Mexican standards on its menu —burritos, taquitos, nachos, quesadillas and more — but SunStar Weekend highlights one of its bestsellers, Los Tacos Originales, which is more of a Tex-Mex taco, which means it’s a lot more familiar to the Filipino palate. See what it entails to have an end product so delicious that one wouldn’t ever be enough.
Corn tortilla
You can’t have a taco without this u-shaped ingredient. The corn tortilla is made from masa harina or corn flour. This Mexican resto makes its own corn tortilla from scratch from their commissary. At every order, these tortillas are put inside a special taco fryer and are deep fried for 30 to 40 seconds and let cool for a few minutes before that taco is assembled.
Taco meat (beef)
This is the restaurant’s homemade beef taco filling that’s spice-filled but it still has that extra meaty taste that you need in your taco. This is the first ingredient that goes into the taco shell.
Salsa Roja
One of the most common salsas in Mexico, salsa roja is a red salsa prepared with tomatoes and salsa verde, a green salsa made with tomatillos. It’s made fresh every day with only the finest ingredients.
Iceberg lettuce
The taco is then topped with a handful of shredded iceberg lettuce, which is the perfect leafy, bland taste that cuts the savory and spice-filled goodness of the rest of the ingredients. Add a little of any of the joint’s special sauces and you’re taco dreams will become a reality.
Queso fundido
This is hot, melted cheese with a kick of jalapenos — a perfect combination.
