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Smoked Cow Tongue - Any Experience?

likeadeere

likeadeere

is one Smokin' Farker
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I swear I'm not doing this just to get a rise out of the brethren. I've brought this up in a few of my replies-to-threads, but never gotten a good answer. So I'm starting a new thread to catch the eye of the Q-talk surfers.

I live in an area with a lot of Hispanic culture. I love it, don't get me wrong. We have some very authentic restaurants (taco vans) in this area, a few years ago I decided to try some lengua tacos (beef tongue). I tell you what, it was some of the most tender meat I have ever had! I order it almost every time now. And if it's not on the menu, I usually request it, and each restaurant has had it. They just don't like to put it on the menu, because it can scare off us pale-skinned customers.

Maybe I'll be the first to do it here on the forum. If I can gather the courage to buy a whole tongue at the store, I'll submit some pron for your viewing pleasure.
 
I've seriosly been wanting to give it a try. But man when I see that whole foot long tounge staring up at me, I get creeped out. Soon, I will just have to get past that and try it. I would appreciate some good prep suggestions.
 
It ain't pretty...



After Boiling it's like skinning an alligator...

Picture075.jpg


But it gets better, kinda of...

Picture127-1.jpg
 
Man - ur right, that doesn't make it any easier to eat. Do you have to boil it? Is boiling the only reason it's tender? Man, I think would cut the tip off so it looks like a roast, and not a...... tongue.
 
Lengua is delicious and very tender when done right. I have never actually grilled, or smoked one though. Usually it is boiled. When preparing the lengua you're going to want to rinse in water and also use the dull back side of a knife to scrap the lengua. Some weird stuff is going to be scrapped off :lol:, so be prepared. Also squeeze the back thick part of the lengua (sometimes blood squirts out).

How do you know the lengua is done? You take a knife and and take a stab at it. If the knife goes in like butter then it's ready....
 
As a kid I used to love lengua but I didn't know what it was. Then when I was old enough to know I didn't eat it for years because it was "gross". Then my mom snuck some in on me one time and I loved it. I'm over it now, I loves me some lengua.

We boil with herbs and spices sometimes with a jalapeno tossed in the water. After it's cooked we cube it and serve with corn tortillas, onion, cilantro and salsa. Make sure to remove the outer skin, I know a guy that didn't do that and well I'll just say he didn't enjoy his dinner very much.

Also, after it's cooked and cubed we sometimes fry in a skillet with onions until browned. Bon Appetite!
 
If you think about it..........as you are eating it............does that count as French Kissing a cow? I mean, the cow's tongue IS in your mouth!
Kidding aside, it's great stuff. Always boiled it cause it's so dang tough. Once sliced, you can grill or brown in a CI skillet with a touch of oil for color and texture.
 
When i was kid my great grandfather from Germany, Rudolph Johan Schuster, used to cook Beef Tonuge in a little counter top chicken rotiss, no clue how he preped it, but i know her used to stuff around the center with garlic and some spices and cook it forever then slice it like and serve it like a hamburger, he also used to pickle it and make Bloodwurst with it. Black Puddin any one?
 
My Mom used to make Beef tongue when I was a kid. I alway love it.

Mrs Mafia used to buy it from a Basque Rest. in Calif. I think it was pickled.
I know she really like it.
 
Weellll, when I was growdin up as the poor white trash I is, ma used to make tongue all the time... cheap protein I guess.

She always preped it and cooked it as you would a pot roast in the slow cooker, including the veggies and other stuff. And I think it was only the thicker back-of-the-tongue part, it's more uniform in size.
Always came out tasty & tender... hell we would even chew on the outer skin alot of times, grosses me the fark out now to think about feeling the cows taste buds in your mouth, and it was like farkin rubber.

Haven't had it since about 84' and don't plan to, but smokin it has me a little interested...
I'm not sure that the smoke or spices would penetrate that skin on the outside... Worth a shot I guess, it's not like you'll be expirementing on a $100 chunk of prime rib or anything! Buy 2! They're small! (ish)
 
I was raised on a farm and recall cows licking other cows bottoms and lord knows what else..that does it for me...Just can't get passed it..and after seeing what pigs stand in I can't do pickled pigs feet either..
 
Big H said:
I was raised on a farm and recall cows licking other cows bottoms and lord knows what else..that does it for me...Just can't get passed it..and after seeing what pigs stand in I can't do pickled pigs feet either..
Click to expand...

I'm from L.A. and Lengua and Cabeza? No thanks. :lol:
 
I'm from a migrant farm town in central california, all mexicans, many of which were and still are illegals working in the fields (which my grandparents were back in the 30s). I grew up eating lengua, tripas, menudo, pigs feet and god only knows what else I ate that my parents told me was "beef". I'm glad I grew up there cuz now I can make all of my friends dry heave when they see me chow down on some menudo!
 
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