Gimme some tongue, baby!
November 17, 2007 – 1:11 am
I’ve stayed up late writing the last few nights, and when hunger hits in the middle of the night in a small town like Corvallis, it can be difficult to find something decent to eat. But there is La Conga (formerly known as Rigoberto’s), and I’m absolutely hooked on their burrito con lengua. Yes, it’s a burrito with beef tongue.
Beef tongue is a common ingredient in real Mexican tacos and burritos. It’s a very tender meat, and the flavor is deep, robust and hearty. If you’ve never tried it, I advise you to get some tongue. If you’d like to try cooking it, the procedure is pretty simple. Put a tongue in a pot with chopped onions and garlic, cover it with water, add salt, and simmer for a few hours until tender. Next, remove the skin from the tongue, chop finely (or roughly if you want to enjoy the texture a bit more), and roll the meat into a burrito or taco with refried beans and your favorite fixings.
If you want to jazz it up a bit, you can add a cinnamon stick or other spices to the simmering pot. Cumin. Dried chiles. Peppercorns. And once the tongue is cooked, skinned and chopped, you could even dare to saute it in oil with chiles and spices to give it a little caramelization and zing. I haven’t found a good butcher in this town yet (I’ve actually been too busy cooking to do much exploring), but I’m growing so fond of the tongue burrito at La Conga that I’m considering purchasing a tongue and playing around with it a little.
And then I’ll probably cook it.
