Taco night delights: Five recipes to spice up your dinner

The basis of the Mexican snack is a tortilla, a corn flour flatbread usually with a smaller diameter for tacos. You can also use corn shells available in stores, which are challenging, folded in half, and have space for stuffing (especially popular in our country). Before adding the filling, the tortilla should be toasted in a pan, and the shell should be heated in a microwave or oven.

Mexicans especially like pork tacos, but not ground pork. Instead, they use chopped or thinly sliced pork. For example, you can use pork neck (1 lb), which you then coat in adobo paste made from ground chili peppers (2 tablespoons) and sprinkle with cumin (1 teaspoon), salt, and pepper. Set it aside for half an hour in a cool place, then fry until browned. Prepare salsa from diced pineapple, finely chopped red onion, and fresh cilantro leaves. Place the meat and a portion of pineapple salsa on the heated tortillas. Serve immediately.

Cut the chicken breast (1 lb) into thin strips, season with smoked paprika, salt, and freshly ground pepper, and then fry in hot olive oil until the meat turns golden. Meanwhile, prepare the salsa: dice ripe mangoes (2 pieces) and mix with finely chopped red onion and jalapeño pepper. Season with lime juice and a few cilantro leaves. Place pieces of chicken and a portion of mango salsa on the heated tortillas. Serve immediately.

Delicious taco fillings can include seafood, such as shrimp. Half a kilogram (1 lb) of these crustaceans, peeled and cleaned, should be seasoned with lime juice (1 tablespoon), olive oil (1 tablespoon), chili powder (1 teaspoon), salt, and pepper, then fried in a pan. Prepare guacamole by mashing the flesh of two avocados with a fork, adding finely chopped tomato and red onion, pressed garlic (1 clove), lime juice (1 tablespoon), salt, and pepper, and mixing thoroughly. Place the shrimp and a large spoonful of guacamole on each tortilla. Serve immediately.

A delicious taco filling can also be made with ground beef (1 lb). First, sauté finely chopped red onion, add the ground beef and pressed garlic (2 cloves). Add canned diced tomatoes when the meat is browned, and season with cumin and chili powder (1 teaspoon each), salt, and pepper. Simmer on low heat for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the salsa by combining finely chopped habanero pepper with fresh cilantro and a small amount of salt. Place the meat and a spoonful of salsa on the tortilla and serve the dish hot.

If you don't eat meat, fish, or seafood, you can make a tasty taco filling with tofu, a soy milk curd that has been a dietary staple for Asians for centuries. Cut the tofu (14 oz) into cubes and marinate for fifteen minutes in soy sauce (1 tablespoon) with the addition of smoked paprika (1 teaspoon). Then sauté until golden. In a separate pan, sauté vegetables cut into strips: red and yellow bell peppers and zucchini. Season with salt and pepper. Place a portion of tofu and vegetables on the heated tortillas and serve immediately.