Best Puerto Rican Tacos Recipes

PUERTO RICAN PAPAS RELLENAS (STUFFED POTATOES)

Steps:

• Peel potatoes and cut into uniformly sized chunks. Place in a pot and cover with water. Salt the water about (2 tablespoons). Boil until cooked through and easily pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes.
• Drain potatoes well and return to pot. Let any excess water evaporate. Mash with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, egg and butter.
• Flour your hands with cornstarch and flatten about 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes into a disk in the palm of your hand. Add a heaping tablespoon of picadillo to the center of the disk and bring the edges of the potato up and around the picadillo. Seal the edges and roll into a smooth ball. Repeat until all the potato has been used up, making sure to coat hands in cornstarch each time.
• Deep fry the balls in hot oil (about 350°F) about 5 minutes, turning as needed until they are golden brown all over. Serve plain or with mayoketchup or mojo de ajo for dipping, if desired.

PUERTO RICAN SHRIMP TACOS

Steps:

• Pat the shrimp dry, dice into pieces and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with the Sazon spice packet and a drizzle of olive oil. Toss to combine and set to the side while you continue to prep.
• In a medium deep skillet heat some olive oil. Once hot, add onion, salt, pepper and sauté until tender, about 5 min. Add garlic and sauté another minute. Drain tomatoes and add to the skillet and season with a little more salt and pepper. Cook on medium-low for about 10 minutes. After 10 mins of cooking add the diced shrimp and stir to combine. Remove from heat after 5 minutes. Shrimp cook very fast, be careful not to overcook it.
• Prep your toppings. Slice cabbage, and avocados if using.
• Warm the tortillas. You can wrap them in a damp paper towel and heat in the microwave for a few seconds or place in a hot, dry skillet until tortillas start to brown.
• Assemble the tacos, I like to put the lettuce, cabbage, etc. on the bottom and shrimp on the top.
• serve with extra limes on the side.
• Add all of the ingredients into a food processor or blender (or place in a deep bowl and use an emulsion blender) and mix until smooth. If it's a little too thick add a little more lime juice or olive oil until it reaches a pourable consistency.

CRISPY PORK CARNITAS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
• Remove fat from pork; cut pork meat into 2-inch cubes and roughly chop fat.
• Mix pork, garlic, olive oil, orange peel, orange juice, salt, bay leaves, black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, and 5-spice powder together in a bowl until pork is coated completely. Transfer mixture to a 9x13-inch baking dish. Place baking dish on a baking sheet and cover baking dish tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil.
• Bake in the preheated oven until pork is fork-tender, about 3 1/2 hours.
• Set oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler.
• Transfer meat to a colander set over a bowl. Remove garlic, bay leaves, and orange peels from baking dish and pour accumulated juices from the baking dish over meat in colander into the bowl. Return meat to the baking dish and drizzle accumulated juices over each piece of meat.
• Cook meat under the preheated broiler for 3 minutes. Drizzle more accumulated juices over meat and continue broiling until crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer pork to a serving plate and drizzle more accumulated juices over the top.

RICO RODRIGUEZ' MOM'S CHICKEN TACOS

Steps:

• Place chicken in a Dutch oven; add water to cover. Bring just to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10-12 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in chicken reads 170°. , Using tongs, remove chicken from pan; reserve 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Cool chicken slightly. Shred when cool enough to handle., In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth; cook and stir until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in reserved cooking liquid. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer., Stir in tomato sauce and seasonings; return to a boil. Stir in shredded chicken; heat through, stirring occasionally. Serve in tortillas with toppings, if desired.

PUERTO RICAN TACOS

Steps:

• Brown chuck steak cubes in small amount of olive oil Add diced potatoes Add Cumin, chili powder, garlic, salt & pepper, tomato sauce Simmer for 1 hour Put in corn tortillas and fry until crispy Add cut lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole,salt, pepper,and Tabasco Sauce. Add cheddar cheese cheese

PASTELóN

Steps:

• Prepare the plantains: Line a sheet pan with paper towels; set aside. Cut off the ends of each plantain. With the tip of a knife, score plantains lengthwise and peel off the skin. Using a serrated knife or chef's knife, cut each plantain in half lengthwise, and then halve again lengthwise so you end up with 24 long slices. (If some of the slices break or are unevenly shaped, that's OK! Carry on.)
• In a large cast-iron or heavy skillet, heat 1 cup oil over medium-high to between 350 and 375 degrees. Working with 4 to 6 slices at a time, depending on what fits, fry plantains until deep golden brown, turning halfway through, about 6 minutes total. Transfer fried plantains to the prepared sheet pan and cook remaining plantains; set aside. (Let oil cool, then strain and reserve for another use.)
• Prepare the sofrito: Put onion, bell pepper, ají dulce chiles (if using), garlic, cilantro and culantro (if using), in a food processor; blend until it becomes a rough, wet purée. (You should have about 1 cup sofrito).
• Prepare the picadillo: In a large, heavy skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium until it shimmers. Add the sofrito and cook, stirring often, until purée thickens and starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the beef and stir in the salt, pepper, cumin, paprika and oregano. Cook, stirring occasionally, until beef is evenly cooked and no longer pink, about 8 minutes. Turn off heat. Push meat mixture to one side, and carefully tilt skillet so that the fat from the meat collects at the bottom of the tilted pan; spoon off and discard as much of this excess fat as you can.
• Return the skillet to medium heat. Add the chopped tomatoes, wine and tomato paste and cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes fall apart and the liquid starts to reduce, about 10 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in olives and raisins, if using. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Picadillo can be made up to 2 days in advance. Rewarm it in a pan on the stove before proceeding with recipe.)
• Prepare the pastelón: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish with butter. Whisk the eggs with a pinch of salt and set aside.
• Lay half the fried plantain slices along the bottom of the baking dish crosswise, piecing any broken pieces together to form an even layer. (If there are small gaps in the plantain layer, this is OK.) Top with half the picadillo (about 2 cups), smoothing it into an even layer, then sprinkle half the cheese on top in an even layer. Repeat with another layer of plantains then the remaining picadillo. Pour the whisked eggs evenly over the picadillo layer and spread it so it settles down into the pastelón. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
• Bake the pastelón until the egg is cooked, the cheese is melted and the layers are set, 20 to 30 minutes. Cut into squares and serve hot.