When I first moved to Austin, one of my new friends was literally shocked that we didn’t have breakfast tacos on the east coast. “What did you eat for breakfast?” she asked with concern on her face. Bagels, duh. But now that I have lived here a few years, I get it. I love tacos! Brisket, migas, tongue. Gimme, gimme, gimme. Um, did that just say tongue?!?! You betcha! I had never made tongue myself before, but Bubbe did quite a bit when I was growing up! Here is a little peak of her recipe I based mine on:
Sounds like a winner, right?! Warning: Tongue looks like, well, a freaking huge cow tongue. It’s pretty nasty. I may or may not have gagged twice while preparing this dish. But if you can fight through it, you will end up with some of the tastiest meat this side of the Mississippi. And isn’t that what it’s all about?
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Anyhoo, here is all you need for your very own tongue.
First, wash your tongue thoroughly (hehe). Then put it in a large pot and cover the tongue 3/4 of the way up with warm water. Bring the water to a boil and lower to a simmer and simmer it covered for an hour and a half. WARNING: Tongue photo ahead!
Shudder. Cool the tongue, skin, trim off any gristle and gross looking pieces and cut into pieces. Season tongue with salt and pepper.
In a large dutch over, heat grapeseed or any high heat oil over medium high heat. Then brown tongue on all sides, about 8 minutes total. Remove the tongue, then add in sliced onion and carrots and brown those until well colored, about 7 minutes. Lower heat to medium and add in minced garlic and saute for an additional minute. Then add in tomato paste, increase heat to medium high and brown for an additional 7 minutes until the paste is a rich brownish red color. Deglaze with red wine, making sure to scrape up all the good bits stuck to the pan. Simmer until wine is reduced by half. Then add in salt, pepper, smoked paprika and sugar and put meat back in the pan. Add chicken broth until tongue is a little more than halfway covered.
Bring everything to a boil, lower to a simmer and cover. Braise tongue for about 3 hours until very tender but not falling apart. Let cool at least 30 minutes or overnight.
Cut into pieces, and make tacos! Or eat as is.
I served mine with avocado…
And then some red sauerkraut, cilantro and green onions as garnish!
Tada!
Yum! This tongue is tender and super flavorful. Serve it to guests and don’t tell them it’s tongue until they finish eating. Fun times!
Even dog approved!
Red Wine Braised Beef Tongue Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 beef tongue 3-4 pounds
- Kosher salt & black pepper
- 3 Tablespoons grapeseed oil or another high-heat oil
- 1 large white onion cut into thin slices
- 3 large carrots cut into rounds
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 12 ounces tomato paste
- 2 cups dry red wine
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- Chicken broth
- Optional: corn tortilla red sauerkraut, avocado, cilantro, green onions
Instructions
- First, wash your tongue thoroughly (hehe). Then put it in a large pot and cover the tongue 3/4 of the way up with warm water. Bring the water to a boil and lower to a simmer and simmer it covered for an hour and a half.
- Cool the tongue, skin, trim off any gristle and gross looking pieces and cut into pieces. Season tongue liberally with salt and pepper.
- In a large dutch over, heat grapeseed or any high heat oil over medium high heat. Then brown tongue on all sides, about 8 minutes total.
- Remove the tongue, then add in sliced onion and carrots and brown those until well colored, about 7 minutes. Lower heat to medium and add in minced garlic and saute for an additional minute.
- Then add in tomato paste, increase heat to medium high and brown for an additional 7 minutes until the paste is a rich brownish red color. Deglaze with red wine, making sure to scrape up all the good bits stuck to the pan. Simmer until wine is reduced by half.
- Then add in 1 Tablespoon salt, 2 teaspoons black pepper, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika and sugar and put meat back in the pan. Add chicken broth until tongue is a little more than halfway covered.
- Bring everything to a boil, lower to a simmer and cover. Braise tongue for about 3 hours until very tender but not falling apart. Let cool at least 30 minutes or overnight.
- Cut into pieces, and make tacos! Or eat as is.
- I served mine with avocado, red sauerkraut, cilantro and green onions as garnish!
Ah man the final result looks tasty! So nice to see a Mexican-influenced Jewish recipe! My husband’s Jewish roots go back to northern Mexico where there’s nary a knish or bagel in sight. For this we also might add a bit of salsa verde on top.
Thanks! I’d love to cook more global Jewish dishes. What else did your husband eat growing up?
His family had a cattle ranch, so lots of beef guisados (hearty stews with chile, tomato and potatoes), beans, rice, egg dishes and pan de semita (a pastry that translates to Jewish or “semitic” bread)
Yum! I’ll have to try that pan de semita sometime!
Looks a-mahzing, Amy! I will have to try this over the summer. I’ll send it to my mom, too, as she does tongue every couple months and I know she hasn’t tried it this way!
Thanks KQ! How does your Mom cook tongue?
Hey Amy! I’ve requested the recipe, but here are the parts I’m sure about: it sits in pink salt of Maras (any coarse salt will do) for 2-3 days. Then it’s cooked a few hours in scratch-made beef broth with an herbal pouch (mystery ingredients, I’ll have to ask) in a cast iron pot. She serves with chianti, garlic mashed potatoes and veggies. I’ll pass it on when I get it. It will be the “southern” take on it for sure!
Awesome thanks!!
I’ve always been afraid of tongue, shudder indeed! But Amanda and I agree that this looks delicious and we should definitely make it.
You wrote “Tongue looks like, well, a freaking huge cow tongue. It’s pretty nasty. I may or may not have gagged twice while preparing this dish.” Well, I grew up eating tongue every once in a while. It’s a very versatile meat. I don’t think it’s nasty at all!
Your recipe looks very good. The way I like to prepare tongue nowadays is to poke a bunch of holes in it with a fork and brine it with spices overnight. (My brine is 1/2 cup kosher salt, 1 cup sugar, lots of spices including medicinal amountsof garlic 😉 ) Then I rinse a few times, and soak a few times, to remove as much salt as possible, then hot-smoke until it’s fully cooked. Cut thin slices and serve to my wonderful wife. 🙂
Thanks! Tongue is delicious, but I’m sticking with my original sentiment- it is gross looking raw! Yours sounds tasty too!!
The end result looks absolutely delicious — but I could never eat it if I knew. Especially now that I’ve seen a photo of a raw one!
Ha sorry about that! It’s really delicious but a little tough to eat. And I’ll try anything!
There were but three sandwiches that our family would order at a kosher deli in New York City . Hot Pastrami on rye with spicy mustard, Hot corned beef on rye with spicy mustard and Tongue (hot or cold) on rye with spicy mustard. This is the only way these sandwiches are permitted. No variations allowed. 😉
HAHA love it, Robert! Corned beef is my favorite out of the three, I think. But I would probably eat my own finger if it was on rye with spicy mustard!
Until Montreal-style smoked meat came to Brooklyn at Mile End Deli.
As it happens, I grew up in the Mile End neighborhood in Montreal. 🙂
It’s ok, no-one will complain if you say smoked meat is pastrami. 😉
Ha it’s good to be loyal! I still need to get to Mile End Deli! One day…