Tacos de discada
Discada is a northern Mexican mixed-meat dish cooked on a disc taken from a farm plow, in which beef, pork, bacon, ham, sausages and chorizo are fried together with onion, tomato, chile and often beer, then eaten in tacos. It is a gathering food of ranches, cookouts and family celebrations.
The disc
The dish takes its name from the disco de arado, the concave steel disc of a harrow or plow. Larousse Cocina describes how worn or damaged discs, about 60 centimeters across, were first reused as griddles for warming tortillas and gorditas; once someone plugged the central holes and smoothed the welds, the dished shape proved ideal for frying and stewing. Today the dish is often made in a large skillet or a wok-shaped pan when a disc is not at hand.
Origins
Several northern states claim discada. Larousse Cocina lists it as a peasant dish typical of Chihuahua, and notes an older disc preparation called chatarra, a fry of beef kidney, heart and liver related to the pepena of Valle de Allende. A 2025 article in Tus Buenas Noticias instead places its birth in the Comarca Lagunera, the region straddling Coahuila and Durango, explaining that in the twentieth century farm workers would each add their own food to a shared disc heated in the field so they could eat quickly. The dish is now popular throughout the north.
Preparation
The cooking follows a sequence so each meat renders and browns in the fat of the one before. Bacon and pork are usually fried first with onion, followed by chorizo, beef and sliced sausages or ham. Tomato, garlic and a blended seasoning sauce are added along with jalapeño or green pepper, and many cooks pour in beer and let the mixture simmer in its own juices. Recipes from the Lagunera region season with black pepper, thyme, oregano and cumin. A version published by Mexico's consumer agency for Father's Day adds Worcestershire sauce and optional grated cheese.
The finished discada is eaten straight from the disc, wrapped in corn or flour tortillas, with roasted chiles and salsa. Larousse lists further additions such as ground red chile, whole beans and small pieces of bacon or chorizo, and notes that almost anything, fish included, can be cooked on a disc.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 250 g thick-cut bacon, chopped
- 500 g boneless pork leg, cut into 1 cm cubes
- 250 g Mexican chorizo, casings removed
- 750 g beef sirloin or top round, cut into 1 cm cubes
- 250 g ham, diced
- 4 hot dogs or smoked sausages, sliced
- 2 white onions, chopped
- 3 jalapeños, sliced
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 3 tomatoes, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tsp each ground cumin, dried oregano and dried thyme
- 1 bottle (355 ml) light beer
- Salt and black pepper
- Flour or corn tortillas
Steps
- Heat a plow disc, wok or wide heavy pan over a strong fire. Fry the bacon until it renders its fat.
- Add the pork and half the onion and cook until browned.
- Add the chorizo and break it up, then add the beef and cook until it loses its pink color.
- Stir in the ham and sausages.
- Blend 1 tomato with the garlic, spices and a splash of water and add to the pan with the remaining onion, tomatoes, jalapeños and bell pepper.
- Pour in the beer, season with salt and pepper and simmer, stirring now and then, for 20 to 30 minutes until the liquid reduces.
- Serve from the pan with warm tortillas.
Reviews
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See also
References
- "Discada". Larousse Cocina. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "De Coahuila o Durango: ¿Dónde es originaria la discada?". Tus Buenas Noticias. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "Discada norteña". Revista del Consumidor (PROFECO, gob.mx). Retrieved 2026-10-10.