As promised I have posted Nick’s recipes for his tacos recently reviewed on this site.  I posted them late, but they are here nonetheless :

Pork Taco Recipe

Chicken Taco Recipe

Pico de Gallo, Guacamole and Chipotle Mayo Recipes

1. 2 vine tomatoes, diced
2. 1 / 2 red onion, diced small
3. handful chopped cilantro
4. 2 tsp salt
5. few dashes of green tabasco
6. spritz lime on top

Guacamole :

NOTE : This is for tacos only.  For chips, combine with pico and a clove of minced garlic.

Mash the following :

1. 3 avocados
2. 2 tsp salt

Finally add a spritz of lime

Chipotle Mayo :

1. 1 / 4 cup mayo
2. 1 tbsp chipotle sauce or chipotle tabasco

To combine all these things into a taco, Nick recommends the following order (starting from a bare tortilla)

1. Warm tortilla
2. Spread Chipotle Mayo
3. Add meat
4. Add Guacamole
5. Add Pico de Gallo

Mix the following in the pan :

1. 12 fl oz orange juice
2. splash cider vinegar
3. 1 clove garlic, minced
4. 1 / 4 brown / yellow onion, chopped

Let this simmer for 1 – minutes, then add :

1. 4 chicken thighs
2. seasoning salt or cajun seasoning
3. 2 – 3 tbsp chipotle sauce
4. 1 – 2 tbsp green tabasco
5. 2 tsp salt
6. 2  tsp cinnamon
7. 4 – 6 jalapeno slices
8. couple splashes of orange juice

Simmer for 20 – 25 minutes.  Turn off heat.  Remove thighs and cut meat off the bones and pull with a fork to shred.  Return to liquid and simmer for at least 10 – 15 minutes.

EAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Pork Tacos

Add the following in the pan :

1. 1 can mango nectar
2. splash of vinegar
3. 1 clove of garlic, minced
4. 1/4 onion, chopped
5. Add 1/2 pound or so of pork shoulder
6. 2 – 3 tsp chili powder
7. 2 – 3 tsp red pepper flakes
8. 1 tbsp brown mustard
9. 1/2 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (or 3 – 4 tbsp chipotle sauce)
10. 2 – 3 tsp hot sauce of choice
11. 2 – 4 jalapeno slices with splash of juice

Simmer 20 – 25 minutes.  Remove from heat and pull meat from bone (if applicable).  Return to sauce.  Simmer 10 – 15 minutes or more.

EAT!!!!!!!!!!!

Chef : Nick James

Address : He lives in the Avenues of SLC, but there is no restaurant

Phone : Shall not be listed

4 stars out of 5

A week or so ago I received an email from my good friend Nick that he wanted to make tacos for a group of friends so that they could be reviewed by a proper taco taco journalist such as myself :

I was stewing up some chicken thigh for tacos this morning, and it reminded me that I want to make you tacos sometime.

Included in the email was the incredible photo above that Nick had taken of his tacos.  Could I say no?  Of course I couldn’t.  We planned it out and on a magical Taco Tuesday Nick went to work and improvised on his latest taco recipes to create us some incredible chicken and pork tacos.

All week long I was anxious to try Nick’s tacos.  Nick is an extremely creative person and having mentioned to me that he had been continually changing and improving on his improvised taco recipes I was very curious to see what he would share with us.  Nick is a great artist (you can see his work at http://nickjam.es/) but until that night I had not had the opportunity to taste any of his cooking.

Nick has told me that his enjoyment and approach in cooking is very much like that in his artwork.  Once he is comfortable with a medium whether it be pencils or chipotle sauce he feel comfortable to experiment and lose himself in his creation and in cooking for example he feels no need to follow a recipe or make precise measurements.

I stalked around the kitchen behind Nick as he worked and explained to taco enthusiasts Dave, Ryan and myself about what he was doing and how much longer we would have to wait.  We circled him like hungry sharks until he told us to grab our plates and started throwing freshly warmed tortillas onto them.

Now that we were finally ready, I filmed Nick presenting them to us :

These tacos were amazing.  All 3 of our judges were impressed.  Here are their responses  :

My personal favorite was the pork taco recipe.  The flavor was complex and constantly changing from initial bite to its after taste.  The orange juice certainly helped to bring out the tenderness and develop a unique flavor.  The chicken tacos were delicious as well.  When I say that the pork was my favorite, it was like choosing between two children.  The chicken had just the right amount of picante-ness so that it was spicy but at the same time it was sweet like candy.

The morale of this story is that when Nick asks you if you’d like to try his tacos, you say YESSSSS!  If you don’t have this luxury, stay tunes because I will post the recipes later this week.

4 stars out of 5.

It’s been a long time has it not?  Several of you have asked me why it’s taken so long to have some new reviews here on slctacos.com.  Well I been way busy, mang!  How busy?  Well, let’s review…

1. Finished up the video game Toy Story 3 for work.  If you have kids (or like having fun), go check it out.  It’s a great game
2. Besides practically living at work finishing the game I was also accepted to graduate school.  I’ll be studying Computational Linguistics at the University of Washington
3. I also moved to be much closer to the taco epicenter of Salt Lake City.  I’m now blocks away from the heart of the action between 800 and 900 South
4. I’ve been busy hanging with sharks

So now that life is back to normal, I have several taco stand reviews already written and some great taco recipes to share with all of you.  I can’t wait to get back to work as a taco journalist.

In the meantime, sometimes people ask me “Where can I find the Chow Truck to try their original tacos?”

Well, it just so happens that I know exactly where the Chow Truck will be parked on Friday night July 16th.

It will be parked directly outside the great STOLEN & ESCAPED gallery (177 E 300 S, below Frosty Darling) which will be showing 4 of my paintings including a brand new one which I have yet to post on the Electric Internet.  So consider this a call to tacos.  A call to art.  Come on down and chow down with us.

The gallery will be open from 6pm to 9pm and the Chow Truck is planning to be there from 7pm to 9pm.

Come on my and say hello to check out some of my paintings like these :

manta ray, laser eyes : killing a building

the squid’s technique was stealth

ZEBRA BITE ATTACK!!!

Chow Truck

Location : Parked in various places around Salt Lake City.  Find where it is today at http://www.chowtruck.com/

Review : 4.5 stars

As Noyen previously mentioned, there’s a brand new mobile eatery in Salt Lake City.  You may remember in 2009 that I wrote about a truck in California serving up asian fusion tacos and that I wished Salt Lake had something similar.  This wish has come true in the form of the Chow Truck.  I recently loaded up the tacocar with my fellow taco enthusiasts to see if the truck could live up to my dream.  How did it live up to my dream?  Keep reading and this taco adventure will unroll like a tortilla before your eyes.

The air was electric with anticipation for the Chow Truck as we left the office to load up on tacos.  We had already heard from others who had tasted from the truck that the tacos (and other delights) on the menu were a very different and delicious experience not to be missed.  And of course I was more than giddy about the idea of a truck which moves all over the city day to day whose location you must find from its website or from Twitter.  This idea of taco trucks and flash mobs was something I had wanted to see for a long time.

I had no idea that the flavors would be such an interesting mix so I was impatient to get these tacos into my mouth-hole. Luckily, the tacos arrived quickly into my mouth-hole and I have to say that I recommend these tacos to all taco enthusiasts.  These were absolutely delicious.  The chicken was great.  Delicious fresh veggies mixed in with lemongrass chicken.  The pineapple-ginger pork was fantastic.  The ginger gave this a great aftertaste.
Finally, I chomped down on the spicy beef.  Absolutely amazing.  Several of us went back for seconds just to try this delicious spicy taco a second round.  I haven’t been to the truck in a few weeks, but this was by far the crowd pleaser in our group so check it out.

I’ve been back again to the Chow Truck and it’s been consistently good.  As well as handing out goodness in the beloved form of a taco, they also appeal to others in the form of a tiny hamburger or “slider” who love a good burger like I do.  This was great just like the tacos are.

So go try out the Chow Truck and let me know how you like it.  I read that yesterday the truck was making Pork Mole Quesadillas. I missed it but hopefully they’ll have them later this week if I can break away from the office.

In closing, here’s a gallery of all of the taco enthusiasts on this trip and how many tacos they ate :

6-time world taco tasting champion Benson -- 3 tacos

Taco enthusiast Tyler -- 3 tacos

Taco enthusiast Bryce -- 3 tacos

Taco enthusiast Chris -- 3 tacos

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The author of this article put away 3 tacos and he wants more. RIGHT NOW!

Does anyone know who originally stated the quote?

I’m pretty sure it was Benjamin Franklin, right?

So if you’re looking for music to listen to next time you sit down to enjoy some delicious tacos, check out the new podcast I just started with my good friend Jared Gallardo.

It’s called “Gentlemen, Scotch and Song” and you can go listen here right now :

http://www.gentlemenscotchandsong.com

Just a few taco enthusiasts becoming PUPUSA enthusiasts

Pupusas Chulton City

300 S Main (SW corner of the street by the bank)

Salt Lake City, UT

801-637-8557

4 out of 5 stars

A few weeks ago I received an important and urgent message from taco enthusiast GURTHY.  Since he and I both work in the downtown area and he knows of my love of tacos he sent me an IM that there was a new taco stand located on the corner of the 300 S and Main.  I promised Gurthy I would check out the stand and report back.  Jon, consider this your attention.

A few of us walked over from work to report on this new “taco” stand.  We were immediately surprised to find PUPUSAS instead.

GURTHY INITIAL REPORT : Don’t be alarmed, but this is not a taco stand

GURTHY SECOND REPORT : Although this site is titled slcTACOS.com, this review will go on, because I love pupusas and their birthplace is as close to Mexico as you get.

What is a pupusa? I suppose now would be a good time to talk about their deliciousness.  A pupusa is a wonderful treat which comes to us from El Salvador.  However, instead of using a thin tortilla like our amigos mexicanos, these salvadorenos use maize flour dough to create a thick flat bread which they will with all sorts of things like cheese, pork, chicken and many others.  The best way I have found to describe pupusas to most people is that they are a lot like a mexican gordita but their bread is much thicker.

A pupusa is born in this visual example of how maize flour dough is transformed into a pupusa.

After relating this information to my taco compatriots, we started right away and I ordered three pupusas : cheese, chicken and pork.  After ordering I asked the owners how long they had been open.  At the time of writing, this familia salvadorena has been open for about 2 months and they report that business has been very good so far.  The name of the stand they tells me comes from their hometown in El Salvador.  I did a bit of searching on the electric internet and so far have not been able to find anything about the city or find it on a map.

Pupusas at the stand run $1.50 a piece and usually 2 or 3 will be more than enough for a meal.  Add a bit of cabbage and salsa and you’re in business for a great meal on the hustling and bustling streets of downtown Salt Lake City.

A quick little snapshot of two of the pupusas I found a home for.

After our meal, I asked our otherwise band of tacovores what they thought of the meal and they had already made up their minds to come back.  We exchanged a few laughs with the owners of the stand who were thrilled to be causing the beginning of 5 new pupusa careers and we promised to come back soon.

GURTHY FINAL REPORT : So that’s a pupusa and it’s a block from your work.  Are you man enough to try one?