We've all been there: Your family needs a quick meal on the table, and you succumb to the allure and promise of a quick dinner from the brightly colored packet of taco seasoning. Pretty much everyone knows the drill: Brown the meat, breaking it up as you go, sprinkle the taco seasoning over it, and add a specific amount of water, simmering and stirring until thickened. As the water evaporates away, you wonder, hey, what does that water really do, and is it necessary? Turns out it's essential for giving the proper consistency to the taco meat because those seasoning mixes contain cornstarch, which requires water and heat to create a sauce.
What you're doing when you add water is helping the cornstarch create a smooth sauce flavored with the spices. The heat then activates the cornstarch, thickening the mixture. Without it, the meat would be very dry and crumbly, and it could spill out of your taco shell instead of holding together, an issue you've probably noticed if you make your own taco seasoning blend.
While either cornstarch or flour can be used to thicken a mixture, cornstarch is the popular thickening agent when creating smooth, translucent sauces.Flour-thickened sauces tend to be opaque, like gravies. It also doesn't take as much cornstarch to thicken a sauce, making it ideal for including in a taco mix packet. The amount of flour needed would make the packet unwieldy. However, because cornstarch needs to be dissolved in liquid, you have to add water when cooking. Luckily, cornstarch is a forgiving substance that dissolves relatively easily, though you must not skip the cooking step because it needs high heat, just below boiling, to thicken.
Some taco mixes contain modified corn starch, which is not a genetically modified ingredient. Modified starches have the same effect as traditional starches, but they work faster. They can thicken quicker and are often used in sauces that need a specific temperature to thicken or are considered instant. This means there is less user error with a modified starch.
How To Make Your Own Taco Seasoning
If you've ever made your own taco seasoning mix from your stash of cabinet spices, you might have noticed that the resulting cooked meat is less cohesive. This is because most recipes do not include the addition of cornstarch.Now, you can create your own blends with a mixture of chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and other spices -- depending on the flavor you are looking for and what region you want to emulate. Once you have the flavor you want, add some cornstarch to the blend of spices. Just be aware that a little cornstarch goes a long way. A typical 12-servingtaco seasoning mix recipe uses about 1 ½ tablespoons of cornstarch.
If you want to skip the cornstarch in your homemade seasoning to use it for other purposes, just sprinkle ⅓ to ½ teaspoon of cornstarch per pound of browned, spiced meat before adding ¾ cup of water and heat until thickened.
Water is added to taco meat when you use a packaged seasoning packet. Those seasoning packets contain cornstarch, which helps to create a viscous sauce when water is added to the meat. The sauce helps carry more flavor with every bite.
It also doesn't take as much cornstarch to thicken a sauce, making it ideal for including in a taco mix packet. The amount of flour needed would make the packet unwieldy. However, because cornstarch needs to be dissolved in liquid, you have to add water when cooking.
Add Taco Mix, salt, and water to the ground beef. Stir well and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. (If the meat gets too dry, you can add a little more water.)
How do I make my taco meat not dry? The best way to prevent taco meat from drying out is to use ground beef with a high enough fat content, usually 70% lean 30% or 80/20. The leaner the beef, the more likely it is to dry out, so you'll want to add extra beef broth or water as it's cooking.
Once the beef is cooked, you want to cook it with the seasoning and liquid on medium low and just until the sauce starts to thicken. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't dry out. Heat up the tortillas before adding the ground beef on top. You can heat them up in the microwave, oven or on a skillet for 1-2 minutes per side.
The basic formula that I use whenever I'm converting a dry spice or seasoning into a paste for cooking is quite simple: equal parts spice, oil, and water. This helps bring out both the water- and oil-soluble flavor compounds for you to build on.
Adding water to ground meat can help make the meat more tender and moist, especially if the meat is lean. The water also helps distribute seasonings and other ingredients more evenly throughout the meat.
"No browned or fried ground beef here. This is cooked in water. YES, in water. Resulting in that nicely steamed, soft texture you get in most Mexican restaurants."
To use: Use about 2 tablespoons of the taco seasoning for every 1 pound of meat. Use more or less depending on your preference. Brown meat and drain the fat. Add your taco seasoning along with about 1/2 cup of water.
As the water evaporates away, you wonder, hey, what does that water really do, and is it necessary? Turns out it's essential for giving the proper consistency to the taco meat because those seasoning mixes contain cornstarch, which requires water and heat to create a sauce.
You could also use a taco seasoning packet, but I prefer this blend of seasonings. Once the meat is seasoned, add about 1 1/2 cups of beef broth and stir well. Bring this to a quick boil, reduce the heat, and cover with a lid. This will simmer on low for about 20 minutes or until the liquid has started to reduce.
When cooking on the stovetop, add ground spices to the pot briefly before adding liquid, so they have a chance to toast and release their essential oils. Whole spices impart their flavor more slowly and are best for long-simmered recipes like stews and soups.
Typically when cooking taco meat, we add water to help activate the powdered seasoning mix from a taco packet. But instead, we're going to use our fifth ingredient, milk. Using milk instead of water helps to play on the natural creaminess you'd expect from ranch which adds a really nice mouthfeel to the taco meat.
When boiling, poaching, or blanching, it's important to season your cooking water. It's easy to skip this step, but doing so is a missed opportunity. Adding salt to cooking water seasons the inside of your food, whether you're making noodles or beans.
Introduction: My name is Allyn Kozey, I am a outstanding, colorful, adventurous, encouraging, zealous, tender, helpful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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