Tongue and Head Tacos

Anyone for tongue and head tacos?

As I've gotten older, I've become more prone to trying out a lot of types of food that most would tend to steer clear of.  In the past couple of years, I've come to acquire a taste for octopus, shrimp heads, urchin and other tasty treats found at some of my favorite sushi places.  One thing I've never tried but have been very curious about is some of the more bizarre meats served at some mexican restaurants.

Lengua (tongue), Cabeza (head) and Seso (brain) have been tasting goals of mine for a while now, but I haven't had the opportunity to find any of these alternate meats since most of the Mexican places I frequent don't have these on the menu.  Well, that changed when we visited Taqueria la Mexicana in Long Beach last night.

Taqueria la Mexicana is a small taco stand tucked away in a Long Beach neighborhood, where I bet the neighbors are constantly hungry due to the delicious smell of fresh Mexican food wafting from the joint.  Alison wasn't too courageous and went with an Asada Tostada, I on the other hand, hooked myself up with a Lengua Taco, a Cabeza Taco and an Asada Burrito with the works.  When I received the Lengua and Cabeza tacos, I couldn't tell which was which since I've never seen either of the meats before, but I figured that the tongue was the lickable little meat cube with, well, the tongue like texture.  Taqueria la Mexicana uses a really potent green sauce on their tacos that packs a hell of a spice-filled punch, so within the taco itself, there was not a clear taste to the tongue or head meat.  The texture, however, was much different than I was accustomed to.  Both were very tender and buttery, not tough at all.  I think I liked the lengua a little more since it was less fatty and had a bit of a more familiar, firmer consistency.  I found both of the new meats to be very interesting, but I'm glad I opted to have them as tacos.  I don't think I liked them enough, or are accustomed to them enough, to commit to a whole burrito full of tongue or head meat.  I did however back up my tacos with an Asada Burrito, which was a damn fine burrito that was packed with flavor from the spices, onions rice and company.  Definitely worth going back for.

Sopes

Alison had finished her tostada and saw that they had Sopes on the menu, so she headed back to grab one.  I think that may have been the most delicious $2.50 investment of the night.  I've never had Sopes before, but I'm glad Alison got one because I was treated to a small mountain of asada, sour cream, tomatoes, lettuce and sauce on a base of what seemed like a fried tortilla.  Damn good.

Mouth's view of an Asada Burrito

Taqueria La Mexicana

3270 E. 4th St

Long Beach, CA