What is suadero? It’s pink, looks like pork, but it’s not pork. It’s beef! Looks like brisket, but it’s not quite the same texture. It’s delicious! It’s often referred to as rose meat.
Finally, I meet suadero face to face!
The thing about living in small town U.S.A is the lack of authentic Mexican ingredients. It’s a lot better these days, but some cuts and varieties of meat are impossible to find. While staying with family in California recently, I found beef suadero at the Mexican market. I couldn’t wait to prepare it!
But, what is suadero?
Technically, it is part of the brisket, but it’s not included in those big slabs of brisket I am familiar with. I have cooked and smoked quite a few brisket and I have never seen that distinct pink cut of meat. The texture is a little different than the dark red brisket. Make sure to check out the latest episodes of the Taco Chronicles on Netflix for more details about suadero.
My experience with this cut, on this day, was that it wasn’t greasy like some people have told me it was. I started with a small section. It was only a little over one pound.
But, what salsa shall we have??
On this day, I had already prepared a salsa using dried chile cascabel. The cascabel isn’t that spicy, so some times I like to add some chile de arbol into the mix!
Suadero Tacos
Equipment
- Pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Grapeseed or avocado oil
- 1 1/2 pounds beef suadero
- 1 tsp kosher or sea salt
- 1 tsp fresh cracked pepper to taste
- 1 tsp granulated garlic
- 1 tsp chile ancho or guajillo powder
- 1 med onion, sliced into strips
- 4-6 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
- 4-5 roma tomato quartered
- 4 serrano chile peppers stems removed
- 3 cups beef or chicken broth
You Will Also Need
- Chile Cascabel Salsa see link above
- 2 cups your favorite guacamole
- 1/2 cup red onion sliced thin
- Saute of nopalitos see recipe notes
- lime wedges
- 10 Warm corn tortillas
Instructions
- Add 1/4 cup of oil to pressure cooker and preheat to medium/high for 5 minutes. Mix the salt, pepper, garlic and chile ancho powder. Season the suadero both sides. Set aside for a few minutes.
- Once oil is hot, sear the beef for 5 minutes per side. Remove it from the pot and add another drizzle of oil. Add the onion and garlic. Saute for 3 minutes. Add the tomato and chile serrano. Saute for another three minutes.
- Pour in the 3 cups of broth. When it comes up to a simmer, taste it for salt. Add the suadero back in. Lock the lid and turn the heat to high. Once the pressure cooker starts cooking at high pressure and releasing the steam, turn the heat down to medium. Set timer for 45 minutes.
- While the beef is cooking, you can prep and salsas or fresh garnishes.
- After 45 minutes, remove pressure cooker from the heat source. Let it sit until the safety valve releases.
- When ready, remove the beef from the pressure cooker and shake off any excess broth. Slice into 3-4 sections. Preheat 2-3 tablespoons of oil in a skillet to medium/high heat for a few minutes. Sear the beef for 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer to cutting board and chop into small pieces.
- transfer beef to a serving bowl. Pour in some of the reserved broth left in the pressure cooker. Add the remaining ingredients left in the pressure cooker to the blender. Season with salt to taste and blend until smooth for a delicious salsa!
- Serve suadero with warm corn tortillas, your favorite salsa, guacamole, red onion, cilantro and lime!
Notes
Reader Interactions
Comments
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These look so delicious! I have a hard time finding good corn tortillas here in upstate NY. Could you name a few brands you think are pretty good? Thanks so much.
Karen, if you have a Wegmans near you, you are in luck! Wegmans brand organic corn tortillas are the best store bought tortillas around!! I love them!
Can you cook this without a pressure cooker? Low and slow?
Of course you can.
Any feedback on cooking without a pressure cooker? Temps, time,etc? Thank you!
Well, I would definitely sear it as instructed. I rarely use the crock pot myself. But, if I did, I would cook it on low for at least 6 hours or until the meat was pull apart tender.
Thank you! Much appreciated. I just dont own a pressure cooker.
Sonia, you’re lucky to have found suadero. I live in Los Angeles and I’ve never seen it in the markets (ethnic ones). And I’m impressed that you actually know what suadero really is… it’s NOT brisket. I just called out an LA Times writer on this subject because he was fawning over a taquería’s suadero tacos…but then he mentioned brisket and I realized it was fake. Apparently, even in Mexico, taqueros pass off various other cuts as suadero because there’s only one such muscle in each animal, which makes it quite rare. In any case, you’re right, it’s called rose meat as well as”fly swatter” because this muscle makes the skin under the belly twitch and chases away the flies!
hi Manuel! You don’t know how excited I was when I found the suadero at Northgate market! I have never seen it and never thought I would ever be able to prepare it. Trying to explain to people the difference, is exhausting! Lol! Fly swatter! That’s funny! I will have to mention that on my blog post. Actually, do you mind if I add you comment to my blog post?