National Crunchy Taco Day

The Internet tells me today, March 21, is National Crunchy or Hard Taco Day. We all know the Internet is a liar, but I’m flexible in deciding which lies I’ll believe. And when it comes to tacos, I’ll consider many things.

As per Wikipedia:

A taco ( is a traditional Mexican dish consisting of a small hand-sized corn- or wheat-based tortilla topped with a filling. The tortilla is then folded around the filling and eaten by hand. A taco can be made with a variety of fillings, including beef, pork, chicken, seafood, beans, vegetables, and cheese, and garnished with various condiments, such as salsa, guacamole, or sour cream, and vegetables, such as lettuce, coriander, onion, tomatoes, and chiles. Tacos are a common form of antojitos, or Mexican street food, which have spread around the world.

Alas, it seems that my taco seasoning has lost its kick, and the salsa is more of a sour tomato salad. OUT WITH IT ALL, it’s time to do some cultural misappropriation. Searching through the cabinets, fridge, and freezer, I find a few “substitutions.”

To deal with the lack of taco seasoning, I’ll ignore it and create a bulgogi beef filling. As for the salsa, I have kimchi (the poor Koreans have their culture pummeled in this fashion), and as a taco sauce, why not a Gochujang Sauce and maybe a Gochujang Crema as well?

The real beauty of this is once the beef is marinated and cooked, we have many options for presentation. The classic open-face street taco on warmed tortillas, the American abomination called the taco shell, using larger tortillas, adding refried beans, and wrapping like a burrito, or lastly, wrapping a small amount of the filling into tortillas, bedding into a baking pan with an enchilada sauce, covering with cheese and baking until bubbly. But as this is National Crunchy Taco Day, we’ll go with crisp fried taco shells, and perhaps we will wrap those in a soft tortilla slathered with refried beans (to complete the insult and injury.)

And just to make sure I offend evenly, perhaps a Guacamole with finely minced kimchi, and Thai chilies.

Taco Fusion

Korean style tacos, juicy, tender beef and a spicy gochujang sauce; perfect for a quick dinner or a taco party

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Ingredient, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine American, Asian, Fusion, Mex-tex

Servings 2

Calories 692 kcal

Ingredients

  

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Bulgogi

• 1/2 lb Minced Beef See https://www.roguechef.com/?p=3888
• 2 tbsp Soy Sauce Low Sodium
• 1 tbsp Sesame Oil
• 1 tbsp Gochujang Sauce
• 1/3 cup Brown Sugar Sugar in the raw please
• 1 tbsp Minced Garlic 3-4 cloves, peeled and minced
• 1 small Onion Peeled and Minced
• 2 ea Green Onion Washed, Chopped
• 2 tbsp Corn Starch
• 1 tbsp neutral oil

Sauce

• 2 tbsp Mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp Gochujang
• 1 tsp Rice Vinegar
• 2 tsp Sesame Oil

Assembly

• 6 ea Corn Tortillas Shells Optional
• 1 cup Kimchi Mild or Wild, Drained

Instructions

 

Bulgogi

• In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, low-sodium soy sauce, sesame oil, gochujang, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, onion, cornstarch, and green onions and mix well.
• Let marinate and sit in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, or up to 4 hours.
• Heat oil on a frying pan over medium high heat. Add in the marinated beef and stir-fry for 3 minutes or until cooked thoroughly while breaking the beef into smaller pieces using a spatula.
• Remove from heat and set aside.

Gochujang Sauce

• In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, gochujang, vinegar, and sesame oil and mix well. Set aside.

Assembly

• If using Corn Tortillas, heat a flat-bottomed pan over medium high heat. Toast the corn tortilla for 1-2 minutes on each side or until slightly golden.
• To assemble the tacos, lay the corn tortillas flat and add the kimchi. Place the cooked beef on top of the bed of cabbage and top with the spicy mayonnaise and green onions.

Notes

A quick little meal, with all kinds of variations, once can use standard crispy taco shells.  Alternately, one can create burritos or even enchiladas.  The beef filling will remain the same, just how they are wrapped and possibly an additional cooking step.

And just to complete the fusion thing, guacamole, made with sesame oil, a touch of fish sauce and a touch of the kimchi juice in place of the usual lime.  (One should not forget the Thai chili’s)

One can add an additional kick using a Gochujang Crema of sour cream, gochujang and lime juice.  I’d use 3 TBSP of Gochujang to 1/4 cup of Sour Cream with a tsp of fresh lime juice mixed in.

 

Nutrition

Calories: 692kcalCarbohydrates: 58gProtein: 27gFat: 40gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 13gMonounsaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 80mgSodium: 1474mgPotassium: 690mgFiber: 2gSugar: 40gVitamin A: 106IUVitamin C: 8mgCalcium: 96mgIron: 5mg

Keyword Gochujang, Kimchi, Taco

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