Well Kirk is off in Thailand – eating and taking pics so we can enjoy his trip also – and Cathy is scampering about sharing her meals and ideas with us too. But today, ed (from Yuma) wants to talk tacos.
If you remember my post about a taco reconnaissance, we ended that night with hot dogs at Taqueria San Pedro. Everything about that place called for a return visit, but this time we wanted to focus on the tacos.
The menu is easy to find as there is one on each table:
The only items missing from this list are the wonderful aguas frescas and the hot dogs, which are only prepared on weekends. We each ordered up three tacos – a volcanes, a San Pedro, and a pastor.
While we were waiting a complete cafeteria tray covered with condiments arrived with our aguas frescas:
Although the cucumber slices are pretty ordinary, the three salsas (one smoky, probably chipotle, one arbol that's thick with chile chunks, and one pico de gallo) are each good, if not outstanding. The grilled onions and jalapenos are fiery enough to bring tears to one's eyes. The pickled carrots and jalapenos, on the other hand, were relatively mild. The highlight of the tray was the real guacamole, nearly pure avocado purée:
We also tried an order of the frijoles, and they were served whole bean style, not refritos. Good but nothing special:
The tacos, when they arrived, were things of beauty. The taco San Pedro, at the upper right, is a soft corn tortilla topped with a split whole roasted chile covered with cheese and carne asada. As you eat this, the greenness of the chile permeates every bite, without making the flavors too picante. Many of the same pleasures as green chile cheeseburgers:
Even though I saw no trompo, the al pastor was very good. The spice rub/marinade added sweet and picant red chili notes to the sliced pork steak. The onions and cilantro provided complexity and contrast. This close-up shows the porky freshness of the meat:
The highlights of the tacos, nonetheless, were the volcanes. Based on the few words of Spanish I recognized in my conversation with Pedro, the owner, I thought that these might be vampiros hiding under an alias. And indeed, that's what they were. This close-up shows all of the usual suspects. The moist and flavorful carne asada, covered with a blanket of melty white cheese, lay on a bed provided by a thick, desiccated, charred, crunchy corn tortilla:
On another visit, I discovered that Pedro will make volcanes with al pastor. This is how that looks:
Add salsa and guacamole and you have a tasty thing of beauty decorated with enough red and green to make one think about Christmas:
Taqueria San Pedro seems to be open every evening around five o'clock. They close long after I've gone to bed. The folks are friendly and the ambience is as sophisticated and elegant as is possible at a taco stand.
Taqueria San Pedro, 3445 8th St, Yuma AZ