San Antonio: Puffy Tacos

Edited at https://subtitletools.com (griddle sizzling) - Bro, I got something for ya.

- Huh?

- Mexican hands.

Chécalo!

- Taco tip number 85.

- The ability to flip a tortilla without burning yourself.

(jazzy accordion music) - I'm Jarod Neece.

- I'm Mando Rayo.

- And we're taco journalists exploring the most iconic tacos of Texas through the eyes of the people who make them.

- We're in San Antonio, Texas, where you wake up to warm breakfast tacos, barbacoa and Big Red, and you root for the Spurs.

- But today, we're exploring the most iconic taco San Antonio.

- The puffy taco.

- Let's go.

- This is the original puffy taco place, right?

- Yes, but they used to be called crispy tacos.

My husband thought of the name because he said it's what the taco does, it puffs up, so he named it puffy taco.

- And what is a puffy taco?

- A puffy taco is a taco, but we make the shell from scratch.

It's made out of corn masa.

- And do you say that you also have some long time employees here?

- Oh god, yes, and that's why the food stays the same because it's the same cooks.

- And it still tastes the same?

- That's what they always say.

Some move away and then when they come back again, that's what they say, oh I remember this, it still tastes like I remember.

- We'll we've eaten five times.

- We're ready for course number six.

- Yeah, we're gonna be that you are what you eat, and I think puffy is the right word.

- Puffy.

- It's good.

- In its truest form, puro means to keep it real, to be legit, to be authentic.

You know, puro is raised eating puffy tacos in the heart of the west side of San Antonio, in very poor area, but keeping it real to family traditions and meals and things like that.

I've been coming here probably since I was old enough to eat puffy tacos, which in Mexican, that's like what, six months old?

(laughing) And there's just a lot of history and culture here at Ray's, so it is a true puro San Antonio gem.

There are so many great families that have been here for decades, hundreds of years, like the families here at Ray's that really celebrate our culture around food, around tacos, around that being the center of the table and we share our meals together.

(singing in Spanish) - Let's go to Mi Tierra in San Antonio's market district because you can't have a puffy taco without talking about the significance of the masa and the tortilla.

- My father, Don Pedro Cortez, founded the first restaurant in 1941.

When he saw this space, he said, "Son, I want a Mexican restaurant "that our people can be proud of their culture."

- Well, Mi Tierra I think reflects the biculturalness of San Antonio by having a strong emphasis on corn tortillas and on flour tortillas because that is very bicultural.

The corn tortilla's, of course, going back 3,000 years in our history.

- And what about flour tortillas, that it's like a nice warm blanket, it's like yeah.

- Well that comes much, much later, much, much later when wheat flour comes in from Europe, the Spaniards bring that over.

- Well, all roads lead to San Antonio, no?

(laughing) (singing in Spanish) - Hey ya all, we're here at Henry's Puffy Tacos.

- Where puffy tacos has been a family tradition for three generations.

- My parents opened up the restaurant, Cinco de Mayo, May 5, 1978.

I would get out of school, take the bus, straight to work, six days a week.

- Well I worked at my father's restaurant at a young age when I was 16 years old.

Throughout the years, we've grown up and our kids have worked with us too.

- So every day, you'll see a family member at our restaurant.

- What's the difference between what most people would consider a crispy taco and what you call a puffy taco?

- A crispy taco is your store bought corn tortilla.

- So pre-cooked?

- Yeah, pre-cooked and fried made into a taco shell.

Ours is handmade, in-house, starting with the masa.

- So the corn?

- Yeah.

Roll the dough balls by hand, smash them by hand, each one individually.

- Throw it in the fryer it will puff up, and then we form it.

- And you do it by hand, right, you form it by hand?

- We do by hand, individually, each one single.

- So there's not a puffy taco maker back there?

- No.

- Like a button.

(laughing) - There's only one way to make puffy tacos and it's the old fashioned way.

- The old fashioned way.

- There's no other secrets, I mean it's just doing it this way.

- I'm pretty sure mine's better.

- Ah, sure (laughs).

Yeah, yeah (laughs).

- It's gonna fall apart.

- Puffy, not puffy (laughing).

- It's great just to see the generations of families coming through our restaurant.

So this has been a great experience for us, knowing that we're part of San Antonio and just growing up with our community.

- We take a lot of pride in our puffy tacos.

It is a staple in San Antonio.

I mean, if you're gonna visit San Antonio, you've got to try a puffy taco.

(jazzy accordion music) - That's a wrap on San Antonio, y'all.

We just ate a whole lot of tacos.

- And they were puffy.

Personally, I love digging deep into those stories and getting my hands into that masa and making my first puffy taco.

- And whether it was Mi Tierra or Henry's or Ray's, I loved hearing from the generations of taco makers, doing what they do best and just keeping it really real here in San Antonio.

- So next time, you're in San Antonio, remember eat puffy tacos and keep it puro.

- Because the tacos taste better when you know the story.

- All right Jarod, here's some San Antonio street knowledge.

- Órale - Órale - That means ay.

- Ay.

- Híjole.

- Híjole.

- No way.

- No way.

- Check it out.

- Chécalo.

(laughing) - That was perfect.