Vegan Suadero-Style Tacos

To make good use of a nice crop of pápalo before the cold weather kills the plants, and inspired by National Taco Day and Fried “Chiles Toreados” with Onions in previous posts, I decided to re-visit my recipe for suadero tacos, one of the most iconic street offerings in Mexico City.  They are usually made with a special cut of beef (suadero), and a piece of pork sausage (longaniza) but, since my vegetarian daughter was visiting, a meatless batch was in order.

Vegan Suadero-Style Tacos – Tacos veganos estilo suadero

Printable recipe: Vegan Suadero Style Tacos

Ingredients

1 can cooked jackfruit
¼ cup lime juice, preferably freshly squeezed (2-3 limes)
1 tsp salt, plus more, to taste
¼ cup vegetable oil
1/3 lb (150 g) vegan spicy sausage
Vegetarian friendly liquid seasoning, such as Maggi™ or try my vegetarian Worcestershire sauce, to taste
Warm corn tortillas
To serve:
Salsas (for example, click on names for my recipes for green tomatillo and spicy chile de árbol, or bottled)
Fried chiles toreados with onions (click here for recipe)
Cilantro; washed and chopped
White onion; peeled and chopped
Limes; washed, cut into wedges
Pápalo leaves; washed (if available, or omit) 

About some special ingredients: 

When still young and green, jackfruit pods, seeds and also the flesh surrounding the pods, are used as a popular and very helpful substitute for meat.  I have used canned young green jackfruit in other recipes (click here for full description):

One of my favourite vegetarian substitutes for Mexican spicy sausages (such as chorizo or longaniza), is this simulated sausage, with an unequivocal Mexican Chipotle flavour:

And as I mentioned in my previous post, it might sound strange, but many Mexican cooks use Maggi™ liquid seasoning for an instant punch of umami (yummy flavour).  As a bonus, this bottled brown sauce, unlike traditional Worcestershire sauce, is vegetarian friendly:

Place drained cooked jackfruit in a non-reactive container, then squeeze lime juice on top (photo below, left), and about one teaspoon of salt (photo below, right):

Mix well, to season all pieces of jackfruit with juice and salt, then cover and allow to marinate for at least half an hour.  

Warm up oil in a large frying pan over medium heat; add marinated jackfruit and vegan sausage, and cook, turning to brown all sides (photo below, left).  Once everything looks cooked, break up into small pieces with a spoon, seasoning with liquid seasoning, to taste (photo below, right):

Continue cooking and stirring, until fully cooked and slightly browned; add a little water if it gets too dry, and adjust seasoning with more salt, if needed, to taste. 

Assemble tacos with a single or double tortilla as a base, filling with jackfruit and veggie sausage, then topping with a rainbow of salsa of choice, chopped cilantro, and onion; lime wedges, fried chiles and onions are, indeed, the default sides on each plate:

In many taco stands in Mexico, a bunch of fresh pápalo is on display, for people to trim a leaf or two and add to their tacos:

As a comparison, in the photos below, the final cooking stage of jackfruit and veggie spicy sausage “Suadero-Style” (left) vs. traditional beef suadero with Mexican longaniza sausage (right):

My daughter never tried beef suadero before becoming vegetarian, but she has eaten her good share of jackfruit tacos, and thought these were very tasty and flavourful.

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I am also sharing my recipe at What’s for Dinner? Sunday Link-Up #336 with Helen @ The Lazy Gastronome.