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Looking back, it is highly unlikely that the even the most cutting edge food writer would have predicted that the humble taco would emerge as today’s beacon of global cuisine. Essentially a sandwich that can be eaten with one hand substituting a tortilla for bread, across America the taco has become the delivery vehicle for experiments in modern fusion cooking.
With taco trucks now prowling the streets from St. Louis to New Orleans, it is easy to forget that the taco is not originally from this side of the border. In fact, the history of the taco is unclear beyond that some form of corn (or maize) based tortilla folded or rolled around meat or small fish was consumed in what is now Mexico since before the arrival of Spanish conquistadors. Today the taco has been adopted by restaurants from fake-Mexican fast food chains to white table cloth dining rooms.
As a humble food that is nearly ubiquitous in America, it was only a matter of time before an enterprising chef seized the opportunity to take the taco to the next level. Although surely there were others playing around before, it was Roy Choi of Kogi Taco Truck in Los Angeles who really brought the new taco to the forefront of fusion food.
It was audacious to launch a Korean taco truck in a city that is home to over 4 million people of Hispanic or Latino origin, most of whom probably grew up eating the real thing. Then again, perhaps it was only natural in a city that is home to people from 140 different countries speaking over 220 languages that the corn tortilla would eventually be adopted to create a food only vaguely Mexican: a Korean “taco” made of a corn tortilla holding barbequed short ribs and topped with the spicy fermented cabbage called kimchi.
The Kogi Taco truck has been such a success that it has spawned an army of imitators with seemingly no end to people eager to reinterpret the taco in their own image. Beyond the streets, the global taco craze has snuck into the halls and attractively lit dining rooms of hip new restaurants. So it was that this past week I found myself at China Poblano, the newest restaurant from Spanish uber chef Jose Andres, perusing a menu of Chinese-Mexican food, including a long list of only somewhat Mexican looking tacos. Sure there were traditional tacos of fried fish with salsa or pork belly and pineapple, but there were also a few tacos that even my foodie mind scarcely could have imagined.
The “Viva China” taco with beef tendon, oysters, scallions, and peppercorn sauce is a bold creation. The filling of the carnitas tacos of braised baby pig and pork rinds would be as at home stuffed in a Chinese “bun” with a smear of plum sauce as it is in its soft corn tortilla shell with salsa. But it was the Silencio, a taco of duck tongue and rambutan fruit, which truly called to me as the harbinger of a new taco era. The corn tortilla, handmade by a Mexican cook I could watch rolling and pressing dough from my perch at the bar, proved the perfect casing, complimenting but not overpowering a filling of unctuous slightly chewy duck tongues topped with slivers of sweet white rambutan fruit. The idea of “taco” for me will never be the same.
Once the traditional concept of “taco” has been demolished and rebuilt in new, fascinating combinations, the translation for home cooking becomes exciting new territory. If barbeque-ready thinly sliced short ribs are unavailable at your butcher, substitute skirt steak. A quick 15 minute marinade at room temperature in a bath of soy sauce, brown sugar, and garlic provides a suitably “Asian” taste. Grill the steak to medium rare and slice thinly. Pile the meat onto corn tortillas and top with store bought kimchi and a dollop of garlic chili sauce. Voila! Korean taco.
Take the fish taco to the next level with a po-boy style clam or oyster taco topped with salsa as well as the traditional remoulade. Try corn tortillas in place of pita as the holder for chickpeas spiced with cumin, cardamom, and cinnamon for a sort of vegetarian, Mediterranean taco.
As a food that has taken on a new, global dimension, it is suitable that the word “taco” has no known translation. It is of pre-Columbian Latin America and it is of modern Mexico City. It is of Los Angeles Korean taco trucks and shiny, new Las Vegas restaurants. The humble taco is of the world, and the home kitchen offering an age old way to invent tasty new combinations of corn tortilla and well, just about anything.
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/1140-tacos-gone-global/
The Global Taco
Looking back, it is highly unlikely that the even the most cutting edge food writer would have predicted that the humble taco would emerge as today’s beacon of global cuisine. Essentially a sandwich that can be eaten with one hand substituting a tortilla for bread, across America the taco has become the delivery vehicle for experiments in modern fusion cooking.
With taco trucks now prowling the streets from St. Louis to New Orleans, it is easy to forget that the taco is not originally from this side of the border. In fact, the history of the taco is unclear beyond that some form of corn (or maize) based tortilla folded or rolled around meat or small fish was consumed in what is now Mexico since before the arrival of Spanish conquistadors. Today the taco has been adopted by restaurants from fake-Mexican fast food chains to white table cloth dining rooms.
As a humble food that is nearly ubiquitous in America, it was only a matter of time before an enterprising chef seized the opportunity to take the taco to the next level. Although surely there were others playing around before, it was Roy Choi of Kogi Taco Truck in Los Angeles who really brought the new taco to the forefront of fusion food.
It was audacious to launch a Korean taco truck in a city that is home to over 4 million people of Hispanic or Latino origin, most of whom probably grew up eating the real thing. Then again, perhaps it was only natural in a city that is home to people from 140 different countries speaking over 220 languages that the corn tortilla would eventually be adopted to create a food only vaguely Mexican: a Korean “taco” made of a corn tortilla holding barbequed short ribs and topped with the spicy fermented cabbage called kimchi.
The Kogi Taco truck has been such a success that it has spawned an army of imitators with seemingly no end to people eager to reinterpret the taco in their own image. Beyond the streets, the global taco craze has snuck into the halls and attractively lit dining rooms of hip new restaurants. So it was that this past week I found myself at China Poblano, the newest restaurant from Spanish uber chef Jose Andres, perusing a menu of Chinese-Mexican food, including a long list of only somewhat Mexican looking tacos. Sure there were traditional tacos of fried fish with salsa or pork belly and pineapple, but there were also a few tacos that even my foodie mind scarcely could have imagined.
The “Viva China” taco with beef tendon, oysters, scallions, and peppercorn sauce is a bold creation. The filling of the carnitas tacos of braised baby pig and pork rinds would be as at home stuffed in a Chinese “bun” with a smear of plum sauce as it is in its soft corn tortilla shell with salsa. But it was the Silencio, a taco of duck tongue and rambutan fruit, which truly called to me as the harbinger of a new taco era. The corn tortilla, handmade by a Mexican cook I could watch rolling and pressing dough from my perch at the bar, proved the perfect casing, complimenting but not overpowering a filling of unctuous slightly chewy duck tongues topped with slivers of sweet white rambutan fruit. The idea of “taco” for me will never be the same.
Once the traditional concept of “taco” has been demolished and rebuilt in new, fascinating combinations, the translation for home cooking becomes exciting new territory. If barbeque-ready thinly sliced short ribs are unavailable at your butcher, substitute skirt steak. A quick 15 minute marinade at room temperature in a bath of soy sauce, brown sugar, and garlic provides a suitably “Asian” taste. Grill the steak to medium rare and slice thinly. Pile the meat onto corn tortillas and top with store bought kimchi and a dollop of garlic chili sauce. Voila! Korean taco.
Take the fish taco to the next level with a po-boy style clam or oyster taco topped with salsa as well as the traditional remoulade. Try corn tortillas in place of pita as the holder for chickpeas spiced with cumin, cardamom, and cinnamon for a sort of vegetarian, Mediterranean taco.
As a food that has taken on a new, global dimension, it is suitable that the word “taco” has no known translation. It is of pre-Columbian Latin America and it is of modern Mexico City. It is of Los Angeles Korean taco trucks and shiny, new Las Vegas restaurants. The humble taco is of the world, and the home kitchen offering an age old way to invent tasty new combinations of corn tortilla and well, just about anything.
Kimchi and Barbequed Skirt Steak Tacos
Made with garlic chili sauce, kimchi, skirt steak, vegetable oil, soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar, salt and pepper, corn tortillas
Made with garlic chili sauce, kimchi, skirt steak, vegetable oil, soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar, salt and pepper, corn tortillas
Serves/Makes: 4
- 1 pound skirt steak
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- salt and pepper
- 12 corn tortillas
- 1/2 cup store bought kimchi
- garlic chili sauce
In a small bowl mix together vegetable oil, soy sauce, and brown sugar. Mince garlic and mix in with soy sauce. Place skirt steak in a shallow dish and cover with the soy sauce mixture. Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.
Preheat a grill or grill pan over medium high heat.
Remove the meat from the soy sauce mixture and season on both sides with salt and pepper. Place the meat on the lightly oiled grill or grill pan and cook for about 3 minutes per side for medium rare or a bit longer for medium. Let stand for 5 minutes covered in foil.
While meat is cooking and resting, heat tortillas one at a time in a hot pan for 20-30 seconds per side. Cover with foil and repeat with remaining tortillas.
Thinly slice kimchi and set aside. After meat is done resting, thinly slice against the grain. Assemble tacos with thinly slice meat, kimchi, and garlic chili sauce as desired.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/1140-tacos-gone-global/