0 What is love alambre?
Here’s a small nugget of Mexican culture for you: It’s false that we cook tacos of everything; it’s more accurate to say that we make a taco out of everything that lends itself to being stuffed in a tortilla.
Let me rephrase that: it’s not that we “make tacos” every day; rather we tend to cook all sorts of dishes and many of them can be stuffed inside a tortilla. It’s a subtle difference. Take pretty much any casserole-style dish and it can be put in taco form, although it’s almost never sold or advertised as tacos.
However, there’s a few dishes that are so intertwined with tacos that it’s rare to eat them in any other form. The dish(es) known as Alambre1 is a good example of this: it’s thought to be cooked in batches and presented in a large dish for the commensals to prepare their own tacos. Sure, you can eat Alambre on its own, but where’s the fun in that?
1 Soft, generic recipe
As usual, I believe it’s better to explain the rationale or the generic recipe than to establish a single authoritative recipe; mostly because that’s how food happens, especially “street” food. Dishes like alambre are so widespread and so common that a monolithic recipe is a major misunderstanding of how food and culture is in general.
Generally speaking, alambre is cooked like so:
- Fire up your griddle;
- Start cooking your protein, cut to small cubes or thin strips;
- Before the protein finishes cooking, introduce vegetables (onion and bell peppers seem to be the most basic ones);
- Once everything is to your liking; retire and serve in a large bowl.
- Get thee some tortillas and let your stomach guide you. Add lime juice.2
2 Variations
2.1 The Basic
Approximate weighs below. The actual proportions can be better approximated by sight: ideally your alambre is colorful and not just a single blob of brownish color.
Ingredients
- Protein; 400 gr (~1 pound)
- Vegetables; 500 gr in total (~1.1 pound)
- Onion, thin strips; abundant
- Bell peppers (green at the very minimum; more for more color), also in strips
- Avocado to top
Procedure
- Season your beef with salt, pepper and garlic powder if desired; cut thin strips;
- Slice your veggies in strips as well;
- Add everything to the hot griddle. Depending on how thick the beef is, you may need to add it before to ensure proper cooking;
- The beef should be well done, the onions and peppers soft and starting to caramelize if desired;
- Serve with a few slices of fresh avocado on top.
2.2 The Basic at the Taquería
Ingredients
- Protein: same as the basic, but also add either chorizo, sliced ham and/or bacon;
- Veggies: same as the basic, but with a fresh jalapeño or two;
- Cheese: I go for Manchego, but you could also make do with Gouda. Exactly how much will depend on how cheesy you want it, but 250 gr (~1/2 pound) should be enough.
Procedure
- Same as with the basic, but also cut or grate the cheese.
- Just before everything is ready, add the cheese and mix thoroughly to get it all melty all around. Move it constantly (you’re using a proper spatula, right?)
2.3 Basic seafood alambre
Ingredients
- Protein:
- Small or medium shrimp; 400 gr (~1 pound)
- Fish fillets (Tilapia is fine, or anything else without a stronger flavor like salmon does); 200 gr (~1/2 pound)
- Vegetables:
- Same as the basic;
- Add a few carrots (I use 4 medium sized ones), cut in thin coins/rounds
2.4 Simple protein variations
- Chicken (cut in little cubes)
- Pastor-style meat
- Tofu (or other vegetarian/vegan protein)
- Medium shrimp (cut in half lengthwise is conducive to good tacos)
- Battered fish/shrimp (fry separately in oil), goes great with a simple coleslaw-like salad on top of the taco.3
- Vegetarians can also substitute the animal proteins with nopales. Just be sure to cook them a little beforehand (either in the griddle or a small pot) to take out the excess liquids.4
2.5 Marinating the protein
Some or most of these proteins’ flavor can be enhanced with a marinade. The simplest one can be made with just lime/lemon juice. Depending on taste, you can also add a bit of soy sauce, crushed garlic, salt and/or pepper. The exact marinating time will depend on the protein, but remember that cutting increases surface area, so chopped/sliced proteins will need less time than their whole counterparts to properly marinade.
2.6 Useful additions
- If you can find fresh chicharrón5 it makes for a nice crunchy addition on top;
- Avocado slices are great, but should never be cooked, only added to the taco just before eating;
- As discussed, lime juice;
- In this noder’s opinion, Oaxaca cheese is not the best addition, flavor-wise; but it melts nicely so use it if you have it. Same with mozarella and other creamy cheeses;
- Some recipes I’ve found—in English—advocate for the “common” topping of chopped onion and cilantro/coriander. This strikes me as odd, because that topping is more common in other types of tacos, but again you do you
🜞—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️—
⚔️
-
Literally, “wire.” I have yet to find conclusive evidence as to why the dish is called like this.
-
This of course is optional, but a few drops of lime juice in tacos like these is common almost to the point of being traditional.
-
This noder favors a mix of fresh cabbage and carrot julienne with some sort of acid brine.
-
Fresh nopal excretes a slimy, flavorless liquid whose consistency might be off-putting. Cooking the nopal for a bit can force it to evaporate and enhance the natural flavors a bit.
-
Fried, crispy pork belly/rinds.