Beef Tacos for Dinner

My kids were raised in UAE and they sometimes question me and their dad about why we feed them rice every day at every meal. 

The answer to that is that because we are Filipinos! It's in our blood! Just kidding. Well, it is a staple.

That's our diet and that's how we were raised back in the Philippines. Fried rice for breakfast (which is the leftover rice from the night before) rice for lunch, and rice for dinner. Sometimes for merienda (snack) too. We buy rice in sacks of 10 kg. I kid you not.

So from time to time, I give them something else. 

They love beef tacos. I serve it deconstructed and they build their own.

Beef Taco is easy to make. You start with a good fresh minced beef.

For this recipe you need:

For the Beef

1 kilo of fresh minced beef

3 tbsp of cooking oil

1 onion or 1 tsp onion powder (I used chopped onion)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

3 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp chili powder (I didn't add this because the kids have a love-hate relationship with chili so optional for me but by all means make it spicy)

2 tbsp soy sauce (because Asian but optional)

1 1/2 cup of water

Toppings

Shredded romaine/iceberg lettuce

1 tomato chopped

1 avocado chopped or mashed made to guacamole

1 lime sliced

1 onion chopped (optional for us but feel free to add it as you like)

shredded cheddar cheese

sour cream

8-10 flour tortillas (I heated mine in my Nutricook air fryer) 

Procedure

In a large pan, add oil and saute onions

Add beef and cook until it has changed color

Add taco seasoning (cumin, paprika, dried oregano, salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili) Mix until incorporated with beef

Add soy sauce and tomato paste, stir

Add water

Let it simmer until water is reduced but not completely dry and the beef is tender. 

Taste, and adjust saltiness and spiciness as per your liking.

How to build your taco

Take 1 tortilla

Add lettuce, top it with beef, tomato, avocado, (onion-optional) cheese, sour cream, squeeze lime juice

Fold or roll, take the first bite, and enjoy

If you have a problem with Filipinos eating rice at every meal, let us taco bout it!