-Today is all about the art of the taco and one of my favorite tostadas.

When we would just hang out at the beach, they would serve those tostadas.

It is so incredibly delicious.

The layering of flavors, the play of textures, the bliss of the perfect bite.

Whether you are leaning towards some crispy beef or the bright crunch of Puerto Vallarta seafood, Jalisco will satisfy your taco cravings.

And inspiration follows me back to my kitchen as I play with my versions of those tacos, starting with an enchanting battered shrimp taco garnished with a jicama, apple, and cucumber slaw.

Then the Puerto Vallarta classic -- a dry ceviche tostada.

And I complete the series with a delicately toothsome mushroom taco.

But if you're gonna make tacos, you need the things that are gonna dress up your tacos and really make them extraordinary.

Every taco masterpiece needs a final touch, like a velvety salsa de guac.

And a smokey, fiery chile de árbol salsa.

This is art appreciation for taco lovers.

♪♪ -♪ Dame, dame ♪ ♪ Dame tu chocolate ♪ ♪ Dame, dame ♪ ♪ Dame café caliente ♪ ♪ Dame, dame ♪ ♪ Dame tu corazón ♪ ♪♪ -"Pati's Mexican Table" is made possible by... ♪♪ ♪♪ -♪ Avocados from Mexico Over 40 years, bringing authentic Latin American flavors to your table.

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♪♪ ♪♪ -When it comes to seafood street stands, Puerto Vallarta shines.

My friend and longtime local chef Thierry Blouet has a favorite for me to try.

For 31 years, Marisma has been serving tacos and tostadas people want to come back for.

What do you get?

-I always get the fish taco.

-Uh-huh.

-And the shrimp taco.

-That's the dry ceviche I was telling you about.

-Have this one.

This ceviche is from Vallarta.

-I used to come here with my family.

-Yes.

-And when we would just hang out at the beach, they would serve those tostadas, and that's what I remember from here.

It's so delicious, and it's so different.

Guys, I want to have one of those.

Ooh.

-Yes.

-So, this is a traditional Puerto Vallarta-style ceviche, which is dry.

It is so incredibly delicious.

Oy!

Oh, yeah!

-El guacamole.

Okay.

I'm doing what she's telling me to do.

Ooh.

-Very nice.

-I love these kind of concoctions.

Okay Mmm.

Mmm.

-Mmm, mmm.

-Mm-hmm.

-Mmm.

[ Laughs ] -Even though they dry the ceviche, when you bite into it, you get the juicy.

But I have to leave room to try Thierry's favorite, the battered shrimp taco.

♪♪ What makes a difference in everything they do is that they make everything from scratch, including... -The tortillas.

-...the corn tortillas.

Mm.

-Mmm.

-Okay.

No.

This battered shrimp taco is ridiculous.

Showing me the best of Puerto Vallarta, all the hidden gems.

-The good ones and the classic ones.

-The test of time ones, right?

-Yes.

Yes.

Through the time.

-You really can never have enough tacos.

I mean, there's taco night, taco Tuesday, we eat tacos here at home every day.

But if you are gonna make tacos, you need the things that are gonna dress up your tacos and really make them extraordinary.

We're gonna start with a battered shrimp taco, and to dress that taco, I'm gonna make a jicama, apple, and cucumber slaw.

And then I'm gonna add a little bit of a salsa de guacamole.

Mmm, delicious.

So, we're gonna start with that slaw.

And the first thing to start with that slaw is that creamy dressing.

So I'm gonna eyeball here about 1/4 cup of mayo.

1 tablespoon of mustard.

You can use yellow mustard, just like me, or you can use Dijon.

Now, you know your chipotles in adobo sauce, but you also find sweet chipotles.

They just have more brown sugar or piloncillo, and they're delightful.

And I'm adding a tablespoon of that.

1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.

3 tablespoons of Mexican crema.

And then I'm adding salt, about a teaspoon.

1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper.

The juice of 2 limes.

And then I'm adding celery seeds.

I really love the taste of celery seeds.

They have this really intense, unique flavor that makes me think of a really good slaw.

So, why not use something that makes you think of a really good slaw when you want to make a really good slaw?

I know.

So I'm adding the celery seeds in here.

So, let's taste.

This is so good.

This is creamy.

It's tangy.

It's a little bit spicy.

It's a little bit sweet.

And the celery seeds are really taking it up a notch.

So I have a half of an English cucumber.

I'm just cutting these into slightly smaller matchsticks.

One green apple that I also cut into matchstick pieces.

And then I'm gonna also add half of this jicama.

Cut the skin just like this.

You can do it with a knife.

Okay, so I'm gonna slice the jicama.

♪♪ Now we're gonna cut this into matchsticks.

Then I'm adding 1/4 of this red onion.

And we're gonna cut it into plumitas or, like, very thin slivers.

And now we're adding a serranito.

And I'm cutting them into thin slices with seeds and all.

Then we're just gonna mix this.

We're just getting started.

We're gonna make something that you find in every possible taquería.

You always have a salsa roja, you always have a salsa verde, and you always have a very liquidy green thing that they call guacamole, but it's really a guacamole salsa.

I have a pound of cooked tomatillos, and I just husked and cleaned my tomatillos and cooked them over simmering water.

It was like 8 to 10 minutes as I was making the slaw.

You were with me.

You were watching me.

And then you can add a jalapeño or a serrano, or just add both.

And then I'm just adding a bunch of cilantro.

And I am adding the leaves.

Breaking these in here.

It's so satisfying.

Adding a teaspoon of salt.

One ripe avocado.

A piece of white onion.

Puree this until smooth.

♪♪ Now we have our slaw.

We have our salsa guacamole.

Now we're gonna make our shrimp taco.

I have large shrimp.

And I really wanted to get large shrimp because I want to have nice, plump bites of shrimp.

So, we have 1 cup of all-purpose flour.

This is a teaspoon of ground cumin.

And this is a teaspoon of ground chipotle.

Salt, 1 teaspoon.

Ground black pepper.

So I'm adding 1 1/4 cups of seltzer.

You can see the bubbles are making the flour react.

And we're gonna have a very puffy batter.

So we're gonna whisk.

So you just want to make sure that there are no clumps.

I'm using safflower oil, which is perfect for frying.

It is high-heat stable.

Its smoke point is up to 450 degrees.

If you have a thermometer, you could test your oil.

It should be at 350 to 375.

So, I'm going to coat my shrimp in the batter.

And this is perfect.

You want the oil to really actively bubble all around the shrimp.

Look at that.

And you know what?

I'm being quick, so it is like a minute per side or 2 minutes altogether because shrimp are delightful when they're just cooked, but you don't want them overcooked because they will turn rubbery.

Now, I'm using safflower oil, which is neutral in taste and aroma, so it's not going to impart any extraneous flavor to your dish.

It's going to help your ingredients have the best of their flavors shine through.

So, I have my comal set over medium heat, and I'm just gonna heat my flour tortilla but I don't want to toast it or brown it.

So, you know your tortilla is thoroughly heated on both sides once it puffs like that.

I just love to see a tortilla puff.

And then I'm gonna add a few of these shrimp.

And then the creamy slaw.

This salsa de guac.

I mean, you know how good this is gonna be.

Like, I already know.

♪♪ Mmm.

This is -- This is ridiculous.

When you bite, the first thing you bite into is that salsa de guacamole, and then you go through the crunch of the slaw and then you get through the plump shrimp.

And then the flour tortilla.

This is your next, not only shrimp taco or seafood taco, like, this is your next taco that you're gonna make for your friends at home.

It's gonna be a keeper.

Jalisco is known for many amazing dishes.

But it also has some unique and delicious takes on a classic -- the taco.

Jalisco is known more for birria, but apparently, they also have amazing barbacoa.

And this place, El Ranchero, supposedly has some barbacoa tacos planchados.

Come on!

Come on!

♪♪ ♪♪ It's beef barbacoa.

I thought that barbacoa here was only made with goat and lamb.

I'm gonna have to dig for his secrets 'cause he doesn't want to share.

Look, look, he's showing me what he does.

He puts the barbacoa on the corn tortillas, throws them on the griddle, then flips it so the barbacoa gets planchada, too, nice and crusty.

And then if you want, you can ask for cheese.

And when he folds it, and it melts, and it create a crust so you have chicharrón de queso and then the crunchy barbacoa, and we need to have some.

♪♪ Yum.

I'm following instructions.

Okay.

Need to add the onion because it cooks with the fat of the barbacoa.

Aah.

Okay.

I'm waiting for José Luis to prepare his, and I'm, like, dying to bite into mine.

♪♪ Like, the barbacoa melted with the cheese, and then the cheese turned into crust.

And the tortilla has the flavor of the broth.

Mmm.

You guys have to come and eat here, okay?

-[ Chuckles ] ♪♪ -Now we're gonna make some vegetarian tacos.

And these are mushroom tacos that we're gonna top and cook with a tomato and chile de árbol salsita.

I have 1 1/2 pounds of tomatoes.

2 garlic cloves with the skin on.

1/4 of a white onion.

And you know what?

I'm gonna cut this 1/4 of a white onion into 4 pieces so that I get more char in my onion all over.

So, smaller pieces.

I'm gonna put this under the broiler, and it's gonna be anywhere from 7 to 10 minutes.

We want the skins to really char and roast and the ingredients to really transform.

While my ingredients are charring or toasting for the salsita, I'm gonna get started with my mushroom filling.

I have here a large casserole.

And I'm gonna add a couple tablespoons of safflower oil.

I love different kinds of mushrooms.

These are maitake, and they are feathery.

They are earthy.

They're peppery.

They're so delicate.

They're kind of velvety, too.

And we're just gonna slice them.

And we have also shiitake.

Shiitake are more meaty.

And for the shiitake, I'm gonna remove the stems, but we are not gonna waste the stems, because you really want to make the most of the ingredients and you don't want to waste.

So, I'm not gonna use it for the taco because it's a little bit tough, but I'm saving all the stems to make a vegetable stock.

When you char or roast or broil your ingredients, you want to flip them every 3 to 4 minutes just to check that they are charring and roasting beautifully but not burning.

These are cremini.

I also know them as baby bella.

I was shocked to learn that here in the U.S., about 1 pound of food per person is wasted every single day.

That makes it to 103 million tons of wasted food a year.

Can you imagine the impact that has for our planet?

So, we can do our part in our kitchens every day.

I'm gonna use 3 cloves of garlic.

So I'm just chopping the garlic.

I'm going to remove the thyme leaves from the stems.

These are looking perfect.

The skin -- completely charred.

This is gonna give it such a smokey, out-in-the-country flavor.

So I'm adding these in here, in my blender.

And my onion.

And then we have the cloves of garlic that we have to peel.

And I'm adding chiles de árbol.

These are spicy and big, so I'm adding 3.

Teaspoon of salt.

I have my heat at medium-high.

And I'm gonna add my 3 cloves of garlic along with the thyme.

When the garlic starts smelling fragrant and it starts changing in color, which is, like, right now, I'm gonna add my pound of mushrooms.

If you don't have mushrooms at home, you can use this base recipe for whatever else you may have in your fridge.

You can use zucchini, corn, potatoes, chayote squash, any kind of squash.

Just shop your fridge.

And I'm adding a little bit of salt and pepper.

And as they start releasing their juices, I'm gonna puree my salsita, not until completely smooth.

We want it a little chunky.

A little more.

Just like so.

This is another great idea for how to use everything that you may have in your refrigerator.

You can use leftover salsa to season other things.

So, for example, I'm gonna add some of the salsita right here with the mushrooms.

Like 3 tablespoons of the salsa.

Then I want the mushrooms to cook with that salsita.

I'm gonna add a splash of sherry vinegar, which would be about a tablespoon.

It's gonna add a little bit of a tang and depth of flavor.

So, I'm gonna chop some cilantro to top my taquitos.

And I'm using the leaves and the stems because we want to maximize our ingredients at every turn.

So I am going to warm up a corn tortilla now.

Just like the flour tortilla, you know your tortilla is thoroughly heated from the outside and from within when it puffs a little.

So that way, when you make the taco, you're gonna have a satisfying experience because the tortilla is not going to break.

The mushrooms.

More of that salsita.

And we're using that salsa de guac.

It smells so different from that shrimp taco.

♪♪ Mmm, mmm.

Mmm.

I'm just showing you how beautiful it looks because that's how beautiful, delicate, and delightful it tastes.

Really, really one-of-a-kind taco.

You've probably tried ceviche, but this is probably one of the most unusual ceviches you will have ever tried, but it is one of the most delicious.

It is the typical ceviche of Puerto Vallarta.

I have 1 pound of fresh halibut.

You could use halibut.

You could use snapper.

Any fish that is mild.

And I'm cutting it into chunks.

No skin.

No bones.

And then I have 3 medium carrots that I already peeled.

I just coarsely chopping them just to make it easy for my food processor.

You don't want to add the fish first because, if not, you're gonna end up with a fish puree with big chunks of carrot.

And you want an even grind in here.

Now that you have the carrots just coarsely chopped, I'm gonna add the fish.

♪♪ So now I'm gonna pulse, but I'm gonna pulse carefully because now I have my delicate raw fish.

♪♪ That is perfect.

So, see, it's like -- it's not super-finely ground.

And now add all of this mixture in the bowl.

And now I'm gonna cover it with one very generous cup of freshly-squeezed lime juice.

This lime juice will not only flavor the mixture, but it will also cold-cook it.

A generous teaspoon of salt.

And 1/4 teaspoon of freshly-ground black pepper.

And 1 teaspoon of oregano.

The oregano is so important in the ceviche.

And then I'm just going to mix it.

And the lime juice should be everywhere in this mixture.

We're gonna let this marinate at room temperature for half an hour.

If you want to marinate it more, cover it and put it in the fridge.

♪♪ I want to show you how to make some delicious corn tostadas.

I learned how to do this in Sonora.

They brush corn tortillas with water, and then they sprinkle them with salt on both sides.

And then you just put it on top of your grill or your preheated comal, and the tortillas will toast and become a tostada with the salt stuck to it.

So, it's like flavored chips, like a flavored tostada.

And you just have to have your comal over medium-low heat, and you just -- whatever you are doing in your kitchen, when you see that they start to toast and they smell toasty, you flip them to the other side.

It's like 5 minutes per side.

I'm going to drain my ceviche.

So, it marinated.

It soaked up all of the flavor from the lime juice.

But now, this is not a juicy ceviche.

No, no, no.

Dry ceviche.

See, you think you had all the juice, but you didn't.

And you can see how it cooked.

The texture transformed, and the color completely changed.

So, to this, I'm adding 1/4 cup of finely-chopped white onion.

And I'm adding one jalapeño, finely chopped.

But now I really want to add a serrano, too.

That's it for this.

♪♪ A little bit more oregano.

This Puerto Vallarta ceviche really loves oregano.

This is your beach-side meal in Puerto Vallarta.

But you can have it at home, too.

It is just as good as any of the ceviche stands there.

It is just as good as the one you get at the beach, and it is just as good as it should be for you to make at home.

♪♪ So, you have amazing tacos.

Always need a tostada recipe in there, too.

♪♪ ♪♪ For recipes and information from this episode and more, visit PatiJinich.com.

And connect!

Find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest @PatiJinich.

-"Pati's Mexican Table" is made possible by... ♪♪ ♪♪ -♪ Avocados from Mexico A tradition of authentic Latin flavors and family recipes.

Tropical Cheese.

-Stand Together -- helping every person rise.

More information at StandTogether.org.

-Here, the typical arroz con pollo -- or not.

Unfollow la receta.

Mahatma rice.

-King Arthur Baking Company.

Find out more about our masa harina at kingarthurbaking.com.

-Oléico -- High Oleic Safflower Oil.

-Tecate Alta.

Cerveza suprema.

Mexico is in us.

-FEMSA Foundation.

♪♪ -Proud to support "Pati's Mexican Table" on public television.

♪♪ ♪♪