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I\u2019m sorry biscuits. I\u2019ve been cheating on you. No longer am I stuffing you full of bacon, eggs, and cheese, or slathering you with sawmill gravy. I\u2019ve found a new love \u2014 something faster, easier, and dare I say, a wee bit healthier.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m talking about breakfast tacos.<\/p>\n
Truth be told, breakfast tacos are not a new phenomenon, especially for those from the Lone Star State. Such sustenance has served Texans for nearly a century. And though you can now find versions on menus from coast to coast, I still believe that Texans (and those near) make some of the best A.M. tacos you will ever have.<\/p>\n
In the same way that one should learn the craft of making great barbecue from a pitmaster<\/a>, I believe you should also call in an expert when it comes time to make breakfast tacos. I\u2019m not talking about a famous chef, or even a great cook for that matter. Allow me to introduce you to my friend, and life-long resident of Austin, TX \u2014 Mr. Colin Newberry \u2014 a man who eats his breakfast tacos daily, and sometimes nightly, scoring his repast from gas station haunts to haute restaurants. Here I’d like to share a bit of his wisdom and let him wax poetic on the beauty that is the breakfast taco:<\/p>\n If you have never heard of, or considered a taco for breakfast, there are two misconceptions to dispel first and foremost. First is that the breakfast taco is served on a crunchy corn tortilla shell \u2014 it is not. While regular tacos vary between soft and hard tortillas, breakfast tacos are uniformly soft. Second, a breakfast taco\u2019s soft tortilla is almost always flour, rarely corn, and never, despite Taco Bell\u2019s advertising to the contrary, a fried egg<\/a> or other abomination. The reason for this is simple: while a corn tortilla undoubtedly has more flavor, it comes at the expense of much needed durability. And if a breakfast taco must be anything, it must be a durable, portable foodstuff.<\/p>\n My first memories of truly spectacular breakfast tacos came on Sundays working at my dad\u2019s gas station while in high school. As a treat for giving up a weekend day, I was allowed up to $7 to buy lunch. This left me with a few options. One was to pick up an order of Pete\u2019s Tantalizing Tacos from Maudies \u2014 at that time a small one-stop taco shop tucked between a liquor store and laundromat that now is one of Austin\u2019s largest local restaurant brands. I still swear by Maudie\u2019s queso and enchiladas, but their breakfast tacos too often had potatoes in them, an unnecessary doubling of starch, throwing off the balance of egg, dairy, and meat wrapped in the tortilla.<\/p>\n The other option was Porfirio. Porfirio was the man who drove the roach coach aptly named Porfirio\u2019s Tacos. He would actually stop by the gas station, and he did this well before food trailers and mobile vending options took over Austin, and the rest of America. But I tell you this \u2014 Porfirio had the best darn carne guisada in town, and a great breakfast taco to boot. Though his breakfast taco selections weren\u2019t too varied, honestly, they didn’t have to be. Using minimal ingredients and expert preparation, Porfirio whipped up the best taco in town, becoming the lodestar by which I judge all other tacos.<\/p>\n So, what does the perfect breakfast taco entail?<\/p>\n In short, a breakfast taco is a flour tortilla, eggs, cheese, and a choice of meat, served with red or green salsa. That\u2019s it. Of course, you can church it up or dress it down by adding in black or refried beans, grilled onions, peppers, pico, guac, and sour cream. All of these things come of course, at your own discretion. Some people love potatoes in their breakfast tacos, but as aforementioned, I personally find them inconsistently cooked and too distracting from the eggs and cheese.<\/p>\n There is a split in authority on whether to use the term breakfast taco vs. breakfast burrito. To me, there is a difference between the two. A breakfast taco is filled, folded together at the top with open ends, and is generally smaller, meant to be eaten in multiples without extraneous additions. A breakfast burrito is filled, wrapped and closed on the ends, generally filled with more variables (beans, peppers, potatoes). Eating one burrito usually will suffice. Importantly, either one can be eaten while driving, unless of course, you end up with a smothered burrito.<\/p>\n Whether you\u2019re picking up a meal at a Stripes\u2019 Laredo Taco Company in West Texas to start your workday, finishing off a night out at a Taco Cabana while in college, or salivating seeing that aluminum-sided truck of Porfirio\u2019s pull in past the full service gas island, rejoice in knowing that one of life\u2019s simplest breakfast foods is also its best. Viva le breakfast taco, and I\u2019ll take a sausage, egg, and cheese with verde sauce, please. Thanks for the advice, Colin. Now I\u2019m hungry! Let\u2019s put one of these babies together.<\/p>\n 1) The Tortilla.<\/strong> I agree with Colin that a great breakfast taco starts with a warmed, flour tortilla \u2014 no larger than 6-8 inches in diameter. You can go “healthier” by sacrificing a little bit of pliability (and flavor) by choosing a whole grain or low-carb tortilla, should you choose.<\/p>\n
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\nHow to Cook and Assemble the Perfect Breakfast Taco<\/h3>\n
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