Thai Tacos, Ole!

Today is Cinco de Mayo. Actually, yesterday was Cinco de Mayo, but these tacos were made on Cinco de Mayo. Are you following me? Good. Today is a Mexican holiday that we, here in the Statues, use as an excuse to eat unhealthy amounts of Mexican food and drink unseemly quantities of tequila. Does anyone know why we celebrate Cinco de Mayo? Me either! Thank goodness for Wikipedia!

On this day one must eat tacos and consume tequila on the 5^th of May. It is just the rule of the universe. I mean, technically, you can eat tacos and drink tequila any old day of the year, but it is especially important on this day. Not to mention, tacos are one of my favorite foods, so I feel that it is my duty to participate in such a holiday. Everything is better wrapped into a tortilla. I wonder why that is? I was perusing Pinterest the other day, shocking I know, when I came across this recipe. It spoke to me on so many levels. It involves flank steak, one of favorite cuts of meat, garlic, ginger, all wrapped up in a tortilla. It gets better: there’s mango salsa to top it all off. Are you drooling yet? I was.

While Thai inspired tacos a bit unconventional and are even more unconventional on Cinco de Mayo I just had to make them.

 Here is your group of ingredients. Except the parsley. I forgot the parsley and completely left out the cilantro. A fact about Me: I hate cilantro! Yep, that's right. Tastes like soap to me people. I don't abhorr it as much as I use too, but you won't find me throwing it into meals by the handful anytime soon. There are varying theories why some people find the taste of cilantro to be associated with soap or bug flavors. There is a similar chemical makeup in cilantro that is also found in soaps. Weird huh? Also, Julia Child hated cilantro too. I feel better already! What do I do when I find it listed as an ingredient in a recipe I'm making? I either substitute parsley or leave it out all together.

Isn't the flank steak lovely? I'm so hungry now!

Oh, I might have forgotten the brown sugar too. Poor brown sugar.

Loo, at that yummy marinade. You know what the great thing about marinades are? It doesn't matter what size anything is chopped. Heck, even the measuring can be a little on the sloppy side! It all just gets thrown into a plastic bag and shaken around anyway!

I grilled my flank steak. It's May, which means it's lovely out, which means it's time to grill everything in site! Plus, it makes cleaning up so much simpler. If you really wanted to you could use the broiler, but I feel like this wouldn't produce the same results. So please, for me, grill it. Thank you!

 Look at those grill marks. Yummy!

The steak is resting! Shh...No peaking!

While the steak was cooking and resting I made up a little spicy sauce to top these tacos with. This is a mixture of sweet chili sauce, spicy chili sauce, and Greek yogurt. Does anyone use sour cream anymore? I don't. I use Greek yogurt for everything nowadays. This sauce ended up being the perfect topping, a little spicy, a little sweet, and a little creamy. Yum!

I made up some mango salsa to go with these babies as well. Remember when I showed you how to cut a mango? Now you get to use your new skills! Aren't you excited? Mango salsa couldn't be simpler to throw together and it is just so darn good. I have to stop myself from eating it straight from the bowl. No, this is for tacos, not me!

While the steak was resting I decided to use the grill a little bit more and grill up the tortilla's instead of microwaving them warm. See those lovely grill marks? Aren't they purdy? I may have an obsession.

Once the steak is good and rested, place it on a cutting board, and slice. When cutting flank steak, or any tougher cut of meat, it is important to cut against the grain. This makes the meat oh so tender and delicious.

Now it is time for the best part of all: assemble! I laid my tacos with some butter lettuce I had hanging around, steak, salsa, chili yogurt, and grated cheddar cheese. Then I swooned I was so happy!

The tacos could also be topped with slaw if you felt so inclined to throw it together. Avocado would also be fabulous, I'm willing to bet.

Now, I'm really looking forward to the flank steak leftovers. Hmm...steak salad. Yum!

Thai Tacos

Serves 4-6 (depending on side dishes)   

1.5lbs Flank steak

¾ cup Coconut milk

4 cloves Garlic, grated

2 tsp Ginger, grated

2 tbsp Brown sugar

1 tbsp Sesame oil

1/3 cup Sweet chili sauce

Handful of parsley or cilantro roughly chopped

1.       In a resealable plastic bag combine all the ingredients. Then add the steak. Make sure the steak is evenly coated in the marinade mixture. Marinade for 4-24 hours.

2.       When you are ready to cook, remove the steak and either place in the broiler or on the grill on high-medium heat. Cook to your liking. I will not judge. Promise. 

3.       Once finished allow the meat to rest for 10 minutes under aluminum foil. Then cut against the grain in thin slices.

4.       While the meat is resting warm up or grill the tortillas. Gather all of your desired toppings.

5.       Assemble tacos and EAT!

Mango Salsa

2 ripe Mangoes

½ small Onion, chopped finely

½ medium Red Bell Pepper, chopped finely

1 small Jalapeno, ribs and seeds removed, chopped finely

Juice of ½ Lemon

Salt

1.       Peel and cut the mangoes, onion, red bell pepper, and jalapeno.

2.       Squeeze lemon juice over top.

3.       Salt to taste

4.       Eat!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!