At this point in our given history, love for tacos is pretty ubiquitous. Show me someone who doesn’t love tacos and I’ll show you someone who’s lying. Either that or they have no concept of what tacos are. In that case taco love wouldn’t be ubiquitous and thus render my initial declaration null and void. You ruin everything!

You know what can’t be debated though? My love for tacos. That’s on lock with Mary J. singing the hook.

I got to thinking recently about what I would consider to be my favorite taco ever. It’s difficult to say; coming at things with a longtime vegan perspective – I’m not even actually sure I remember what they taste like – Only what they should taste like. Does that make sense? (I know I’m rambling)

But, when I do conjure up images of tacos, I tend to lean towards the tacos of my youth. The “street” tacos. The late night taco stands of both Mexicali and Tijuana. Simple, inexpensive little vessels with simple toppings – never overly fussed.

It is with this firmly planted in my mind that I bring you today’s recipe. The basis: Street Tacos. The filling: Mushrooms. The toppings: chopped cilantro and onion, radishes and avocado salsa (a recipe I shared previously)

The recipe (and filling) itself is quite simple. Mushrooms sweated down in bit of oil and finished off with a simple citrus-based braising liquid (bringing forth the flavors of a traditional asada marinade); from there (as an homage) I served them on small-sized corn tortillas and topped off with the toppings above.

Tijuana Style Tacos (Mushroom Asada) 

2 lbs Baby Bella (Cremini) Mushrooms (cleaned, trimmed and quartered) – See Note Below
1 TBS Canola Oil

Asada Braise:

2 TBS Water
2 TBS Orange Juice
1 TBS Lime Juice
1 TBS Soy Sauce
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
A few dashes of liquid smoke (or a splash of vinegar)

Tortillas (Homemade – My Recipe Here – or storebought)
Avocado Salsa (My Recipe Here)
Chopped Cilantro & Onion (1/2 cup chopped cilantro + 1/4 cup finely diced onion)
Sliced Radishes

1. Heat oil over high heat in a large frying pan, wok or stock pot.
2. Add your mushrooms; stir and move around mushrooms to cover with oil (It’s a lot of mushrooms)
3. Cook for 5 minutes (they will release a lot of their water); Stir occasionally.
4. Lower heat to medium-high and cook until all of the liquid has been released (about 5 – 8 minutes)
5. When all the liquid has been released add your browsing liquid, stir well to incorporate and lower heat to medium.
6. Cook until the braising has essentially evaporated.
7. Salt to taste.

Quick Note: Ain’t gonna front – Mushrooms are mad expensive sometimes. Two pounds of them won’t be cheap. So feel free to sub one of the pounds of Mushrooms with 3 cups (cooked) chickpeas or beans. Just cook the mushrooms up to before step 5 above; add your beans and saute for a few minutes then move onto step 6.