Our family wouldn’t go a week without having ‘taco night’, as my little ones just love to get their hands dirty with the freedom to build their own dinner (and make a riotous mess while they’re at it). My kids are little, but I’ve discovered a way to make our family taco night a teensy bit more refined by secretly adding spiced chorizo, chickpeas (bonus veg!) and, of course, the smoky char of a searingly hot wok.
This is just one of the unexpected yet delightful recipes to be found in my latest cookbook, The Essential Wok Companion.
WATCH THIS RECIPE
Beef and Chorizo Tacos
PREP TIME
-
COOK TIME
-
SERVES
4
Ingredients
Green pico de gallo
250g (9 oz, or about 2 large) green tomatoes, nely chopped
½ small onion, finely chopped
1 green jalapeño, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely grated
juice of 1 lime (about 2 tbsp)
1 tsp sea salt
3 tbsp finely chopped coriander (cilantro)
Sour cream ‘crema’
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup water
Taco filling
2 fresh chorizo sausages
1 tbsp vegetable oil
300g (10.5 oz) beef mince
½ can chickpeas, drained (about 125g or 4.5 oz drained weight)
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp sea salt
To serve
12 warm corn tortillas or hard taco shells, to serve
½ iceberg lettuce, trimmed, finely sliced
1 cup grated cheddar
your favourite hot sauce, to serve (optional)
roughly chopped coriander (cilantro), to serve (optional)
lime wedges, to serve
Steps
-
For the green pico de gallo, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined. Set aside for later.
-
Mix the ingredients for the sour cream ‘crema’ in a small bowl. Set aside.
-
For the taco filling, squeeze out the chorizo meat from the sausage casings into a bowl and discard the casings.
-
Place your wok over high heat and, when it starts to smoke, swirl in your oil. Add the chorizo and use a spatula to break it up. Stir-fry it for a minute or so until it’s just starting to colour. Then add the beef mince and spread it out. Leave it to sear for 4–5 minutes or until the meat juices evaporate and the beef is starting to char and caramelise. Once the whole lot is starting to smell like deliciously spiced hamburgers, give it all a toss, using your spatula to break up the beef into chunky bits.
-
Now add the chickpeas. At this point, grab a potato masher or use the back of a spatula to kind of smoosh the chickpeas a little so they make friends with the meat. Give everything a bit of a stir-fry and cook until the meat is cooked through and charred at the edges. Stir through the paprika, cumin, garlic powder and salt. Turn off the heat but leave the mix in your wok to keep warm.
-
To assemble, layer your warm tortillas or taco shells with lettuce, the beef mixture,
pico de gallo and cheese. Drizzle with the crema and hot sauce, if using. Scatter over the
coriander, if using, and serve with lime wedges for squeezing over.
-
Notes:
This recipe is featured in The Essential Wok Companion. In my latest book, I wanted to share a concise yet informative and practical yet inspiring guide to using a wok in your home kitchen. Rather than just recipes to follow, I would love this book to give you the technical tools and confidence to go your own way. I’m immensely proud of it and hope it will be of great value to you in your cooking endeavours.
Order your copy today at cookdinehost.com.
There are no reviews yet. Be the first one to write one.