The Good Dish Has The Ultimate Hack For Hard-Shell Tacos
Americanized tacos are a popular weeknight-at-home meal in the U.S. because of their simplicity to put together. The ingredients are largely store-bought, and the DIY assembly allows for customization, so every member of the household is happy; people can add as much or as little taco-seasoned ground beef, shredded cheese, iceberg lettuce, sour cream, tomatoes, and more to their choice of tortilla.
On taco night, everyone is at peace until you and your brother both reach for the last hard-shell taco, refusing to eat a soft flour or corn tortilla instead. The soft versus hard-shell taco debate is one that has divided households for decades: According to a survey by Ortega, 53% of Americans reach for soft tacos, while 47% like hard-shell tacos better (via PR Newswire). Since these margins are so close, it makes sense that families often have to buy multiple types of tortillas to keep everyone happy. However, one food hack from the new cooking series, "The Good Dish," allows you to make two types of taco shells with one type of tortilla.
All you need is a microwave and a glass
To settle the age-old conflict of soft versus hard-shell tacos, chef Jamika Pessoa showed her fellow co-hosts of "The Good Dish," Gail Simmons and Daphne Oz, a tortilla hack. The easy trick aligns with the goal of the recently-debuted show, which its website says is to deliver "delicious and easy-to-recreate recipes, simple shortcuts, money-saving tips, must-have trends, and effortless how-tos."
Pessoa demonstrated the hack, which transforms a soft flour tortilla into a crispy taco shell in a matter of minutes, in a clip posted to Instagram. She instructed viewers to loosely fold a tortilla into a shell shape, tuck it into a tall glass, and microwave it for one minute. The result is a crispy, puffy, and lightly browned homemade hard-shell taco. It's unclear if this would work with a corn tortilla as well, but if you have a surplus of flour tortillas and no hard-shell tacos on your next taco night, you won't have to go to the grocery store to satisfy the soft taco haters.