3 Mexican Inspired Recipes For Cinco De Mayo | Gordon Ramsay

Street food gets its name because it's cooked and eaten on the streets. From the hawker markets in Asia to the New York hot dog stands, there are some great chefs out there serving seriously delicious food that you can eat on the go. My first recipe is a special mix of fantastic flavors from around the world, beef tacos with wasabi mayo. The great thing about street food is anything goes. The only rule is they've got to be really fast and really tasty. Now, these tacos mix a Mexican and Japanese flavors into a delicious, meaty mouthful. First off, get that pan really nice and hot. These are sirloin steaks. Sear it in the pan with all that fat on. It'll add flavor. Salt and pepper. Couple tablespoons of olive oil in. Pan, nice and hot. Hold up the steak and lay it in. Always lay away. Give the pan a little shake and it stops the steak from sticking. We're looking for color. And if it sticks, it's going to burn. While the steaks are cooking, I can get on with my super quick marinade. Now, two tablespoons of miso paste. That's fermented soybean. That gives a really nice sort of rich sweetness. Tablespoon of sugar. Couple tablespoons rice wine. That gives it a really nice vinegary kick. Couple tablespoons of olive oil. Salt and pepper. I'm looking for a nice sort of thick, rich marinade. Marinade done. It's time to turn the steaks. Tilt the pan and give the steaks a little baste. All we're doing every time is just adding more and more flavor. Take your tongs and sort of lift the steak on its back and really melt all that fat down. Off with the gas. Take them out. Just take your knife. See all that fat there? Just slice that off. I don't want any of that. Now, in to the marinade. Beautiful. Tacos are one of Mexico's most popular street foods. They can be made from beef, pork, chicken, or fish, and are loaded up with amazing sauces and spices. Now, I want something sort of pickly, cabbage. These are Chinese cabbages. Slice it in half. Look at it, really crisp and really tasty. We're going to slice that into quarters and then just shred it and take your time. Think of cabbage here and you think of sort of braised. Overcooked cabbage, nothing worse. But in a taco, you want freshness. A little season of chili flakes. They sort of discreetly give it a little bit of heat. A little touch of rice wine vinegar. If you haven't got that, fresh lemon juice. A small drop of toasted sesame seed oil. Give that a really good mix. Now I need something to sort of bring it together. We take some wasabi paste, very hot, very spicy. A sort of thumbnail size. I'm going to mix that with a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise and give that a really good mix. These are basic corn tortilla. The trick is to sort of color them and then shape them. Actually place it on the gas ring. Use some tongs so as not to burn yourself. You can also toast your tacos in a frying pan. From there, I'm just going to place it on the rolling pin. Literally 30 seconds as it cools down. The great thing about serving tacos is people can fill them themselves just the way they want them. Cabbage. Just squeeze out wet marinade. Nice, rustic little mountain. Mayonnaise on. Wait till you see how soft and delicious and almost sort of melting in the mouth texture we've got from this amazing sirloin. Sort of that really nice sear around the outside. It's just nice and pink in the middle. Start off with my crispy shell. Back of the spoon with the wasabi mayonnaise inside the taco. Just sprinkle that delicious pickled cabbage. And then just start lining my taco with three or four slices. Touch more of my spicy mayo. That is how I'd make the perfect taco. Spicy Mexican soup. It's hearty, delicious, robust, but served with some tortillas and a wonderful salsa. It's almost like a complete meal in one. Starting with some finely chopped red onions for my soup. Let's get some heat going early. These are chipotle, so they're smoky, rich. They don't come with any warning signal, and these are seriously hot. So be adventurous, but beware. A nice teaspoon of toasted cumin. Oregano, dried. That's now frying off the spices, the heat. You'll see the chilies start swelling up. Delicious. Garlic. Be quite generous on the oil, because that helps to blow out the chili. Right now, those onions and garlic are on fire. We're going to balance the sort of heat from the chipotle with sugar. Turn up the heat and really start caramelizing that sugar and the chili. Gives off the most amazing aroma. Next, fry off a tablespoon of tomato puree. Add a can of chopped tomatoes, cooked kidney beans, and vegetable or chicken stock to cover. There's something quite exciting about big and bold flavors, because in the restaurants, you have to be somewhat controlled. You can't go crazy. So cooking these kind of dishes at home gives me that kind of release. Chilies, particularly when they're dried, continue to swell and release their heat as they're cooked. So the longer you cook your dish, the hotter it will be. It's not as powerful as it needs to be yet. And every five, six, seven, eight minutes, that's going to get stronger, hotter, and more delicious. Bring that up to the boil, and cook that out for 15 minutes. Whilst I allow the chili heat to infuse, I'm going to crack on with quick, crunchy tortilla chips and a fabulously fresh and spicy tomato salsa, known in Mexico as pico de gallo. Start by finely dicing three ripe tomatoes, one or two deseeded fresh jalapeno peppers, and half a red onion. Then chop a good handful of fresh coriander. Add the juice from two limes, salt and pepper, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. For the tortilla chips, rub a little olive oil onto six large, shop-bought wheat wraps. Sprinkle with smoked paprika, and gently massage in. Cut each wrap into triangles, and spread them onto a baking tray. Bake for three to four minutes in a preheated oven, 180 degrees, until golden brown, and leave to cool. To complete my Mexican lunch, I need to finish my deliciously fragrant spicy soup. The spice is there. It is absolutely spot on. Now for the cooling down process. The Mexicans are brilliant at building layer upon layer of flavor with delicious chilies and spices. But they're also experts at tempering their dishes with cooling ingredients, like avocado, sour cream, and cheese. That's why you can take that amount of chili, you got that spoon of richness, spice, and all of a sudden, the avocado's almost like a little fire blanket over those chilies. To further counter the chili heat, Mexicans use a rich, tangy, crumbly cheese. But I'm sprinkling on Lancashire, which is a great British substitute. And last but not least, cooling fresh coriander. One delicious, spicy Mexican soup. Serve that with your tortilla chips and your pico de gallo salsa, a phenomenal blend of textures, and layers, and spice, and creaminess. Big, bold, spicy Mexican eggs. This is a very classic Mexican-style brunch dish. Bold, kick-ass flavors. Slice the chili, seeds in. Garlic sliced, nice and thinly. Tablespoon of olive oil. I'm a big fan of brunches. And if you get it right, a great brunch can see you right through to dinner. Now to start, the sort of spicy, fragrant tomato sauce. Get your cumin in there. Garlic, chili, roasted cumin, red onions. Already sounds Mexican. Once that starts getting really nice and crispy, in with your tomatoes. Never be embarrassed using good, canned tomatoes. I do it all the time, cooking at home. Now, by reducing that, you sort of come down to a delicious paste. Leave that to simmer. Next, canned beans called black beans. These are authentically Mexican, but cannellini beans, or chickpeas, will work just fine. Just rinse them in a little bit of water. That is beautiful. Turn off the gas, and just let it absorb. Leaving the dense beans to luxuriate in the spicy tomato sauce will allow them to soften and soak up all the flavor. Next, oil and season an oven-proof dish for my spicy egg brunch to bake in. And just get some of that oil around the outside. Take your corn tortillas, slice them in half, and then just stick them to the side. These are a staple in Mexico. Take one, and place that in the center. Get your mix, and place that on top of the tortilla. Spread that out nice and smoothly. Lift up those little flaps. I want that crisp shell on the outside. Now, your eggs and cheese. Get the base of the egg, and just make a little hole in there, and then crack the egg into there. Again, use a little point. Put your egg in there. One, two, three, four, five, and one in the middle. Gently crack and get the egg to sit inside, almost like it's a little dugout. And then one for the center. Get a really nice, rich, delicious, strong Montgomery cheddar. I want to grate the tortilla shell as well, so get generous with it on the top. I'm going to season that with these little babies, little chili flakes. They're my little secret weapon. And they're going to spice up that egg. A touch of salt, a touch of pepper. Sit that in the oven to bake for 8 to 10 minutes at 180. That smells incredible. Just a little bit of coriander to finish it off. And that, for me, is what brunch is all about. Let's go. A fantastic fiery brunch to get your party started. Spicy Mexican eggs in a crispy tortilla shell.