Tacos Gobernador, aka Governor’s Tacos!! Have you ever taken a bite into these crazy tasty shrimp tacos? They are irresistibly delicious and messy to start with. They are kind of a cross between a taco and quesadilla, with crunchy inviting bites with ton of melty cheese. And they have a great story behind them. Oh, we always love a good story...
Check out our collection of favorite Taco Recipes!
Who seriously doesn’t like some tacos in their life? At the Beisers’ we love them in all forms and shapes. From our barbacoa tacos to chili lime shrimp tacos to Korean beef tacos… Tacos are life.
It’s such a cheerful, happy meal. There is something about loading that taco with whatever meat you have on hand along with your favorite toppings and taking a huge bite into it. Bliss…
Seafood goes so great in in tacos. Now we are introducing you to this novel way to use your favorite shrimp in tacos. They are super flavorful along with onions and tomatoes, with just a little hint of peppers and Mexican spices.
Then they get enveloped in super melty cheese and wrapped in crunchy quesadilla style tacos. How interesting…
What are Tacos Gobernador?
Tacos Gobernador means Governor’s Tacos in Spanish. They are shrimp tacos out of Sinaloa, the Pacific coastal state of Mexico.
The little taco legend says that they were created in the 90’s by Los Arcos, a famous seafood restaurant in Mazatlan, Sinaloa, to impress Sinaloa’s governor at the time. This regional seafood invent has since gone to menus of seafood restaurants all over the U.S and Mexico, especially in Baja, California. They’ve even gone as far as some fancy seafood restaurants in Miami.
The story goes, governor shrimp tacos, or tacos gobernador de camaron, were created to surprise the governor, after he told a few friends how much he loved his wife’s shrimp tacos. Somehow this information was passed on to the owners of Los Arcos restaurant, where the Governor was supposed to dine.
The chef there had a task to cook something that not only tasted as good as the governor’s wife tacos, but even better to impress the governor. So quite a few tacos were developed and tested. When the governor showed up to eat, he liked them so much, he named them “tacos gobernador”.
From that time onwards, of course there are many versions and ways to cook these delicious tacos. Different seasonings and peppers go into the tacos according to people’s taste and preferences. The only constants are that they always have shrimp, tons of melty cheese, and crunchy tacos sticking together like quesadillas.
Check out our collection of favorite Shrimp Recipes!
Ingredients for Tacos Gobernador
- Shrimp – Size doesn’t matter, as we will be chopping them into pieces.
- Veggies – Onion (chopped), tomato (chopped with seeds removed to make it less saucy).
- Aromatics – Garlic, poblano peppers (cut into thin strips), cilantro.
- Spices and herbs – Paprika, onion powder, Mexican or regular oregano, cumin, only adobo sauce from chipotle chili in adobo sauce, salt and pepper.
- Tortillas
- Any melty cheese – Oaxaca cheese, Chihuahua cheese or asadero cheese. Most of them are easily available in local Latin or Mexican stores. In their absence, mozzarella would work perfectly well.
- Butter and oil
From here its pretty simple and quick affair…
How to make Tacos Gobernador
Mix all the spices and herbs like paprika, onion powder, oregano and cumin in small bowl.
Heat butter in a pan over medium high heat and sauté chopped onions till they are soft and start changing color. Add in poblano peppers strips and cook till soft.
Move this mixture to the side and add in shrimp pieces and cook for few minutes. Add in garlic and salt and the above seasoning mix and cook for a minute. Add in adobo sauce from the chipotle chili in adobo sauce along with tomatoes and fresh cilantro and cook till shrimp is cooked. Set it aside till ready to stuff in the tacos.
You can make this mixture in advance and store it in air tight container and refrigerate till ready to use. Cooking the actual tacos is very quick and easy once this filling mixture is ready, making them ideal for get togethers and parties. All you need is a griddle or skillet and you are ready for crunchy tacos you will be trying for the first time in your life.
This is how you do it… Drizzle some oil on a hot griddle or pan and place the tortillas to make them warm.
Place the cheese on tacos and and wait for it to start melting.
Top the cheese with the shrimp mixture. Carefully fold the tacos with a spatula, making sure the shrimp and cheese don’t spill out, and press them a bit so they kinda stick like quesadillas and cook till crunchy on both sides.
Serve immediately along with your favorite toppings like salsa, pico de gallo or guacamole. I made a quick guacamole and mixed it with our salsa verde. It was great to drizzle over the shrimp. But then again, they are so flavorful with cheese and perfectly seasoned shrimp that you can totally give a miss to any other extra toppings.
Variations
- Though its primarily known as shrimp tacos, in some places you will see it with other seafood like some firm white fish, or even lobster.
- Poblano peppers are very mild. If you’re looking for some heat, try jalapeño instead. Or for different smoky flavors, add in chipotle peppers along with the adobo sauce.
- Some people don’t use tomatoes, but we loved them in this recipe.
- Make it in a big quesadilla instead of tacos. YUMMM…
Leftovers and storage
As stated earlier, you can make a big batch of shrimp and store it in the refrigerator in airtight container up to a couple of days for good quality. You are set for unlimited tacos for the next few days.
All you are doing is heating up the griddle to make fresh melty tacos once you have the shrimp filling ready. We don not recommend freezing seafood.
So, are you ready to try these new tacos? Believe me, if the governor of some state in Mexico was so impressed with these to name them after himself… You are absolutely going to get blown away by the delicious flavors in every single bite.
Tacos Gobernador, on my Gypsy Plate… enjoy!
Try these other great Latin dishes!
Pernil (Roast Pork)
Arroz con Gandules
Albondigas Soup
Pollo Guisado
Turkey Nachos
Ropa Vieja
Picadillo
Tacos Gobernador (Governor's Tacos)
Tacos Gobernador, aka Governor’s Tacos!! Have you ever bite into these crazy tasty shrimp tacos? They are irresistibly delicious!
Ingredients
- 1lb shrimp, chopped into bite size pieces
- 1/2 large onion, chopped
- 1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
- 2 poblano peppers, seeded and cut into thin strips
- 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp Mexican oregano (or regular oregano)
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 2 Tbsp Adobo sauce, from canned chipotle chilis in adobo sauce
- Tortillas, as required
- 1 cup Oaxaca cheese, grated (or mozzarella cheese)
- 3-4 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
- 4 Tbsp butter
- A few drizzles of oil to heat up the tortillas
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Mix paprika, onion powder, oregano, and cumin in a small bowl.
- Heat butter in a pan over medium high heat. Add onion and sauté till soft and about to change color. Add in poblano peppers and sauté till soft.
- Move the onion and pepper mixture to the side of the pan and add in shrimp and cook for couple of minutes. Add in garlic and cook for a minute.
- Add in seasonings, adobo sauce and salt and pepper and mix everything together.
- Add in tomatoes along with cilantro and cook till shrimp is fully cooked. Remove from heat.
- Heat griddle or nonstick pan over medium high heat and drizzle in some oil. Place tortillas and warm them up moving, in circles in the oil. When warm, place the cheese on each tortilla. When the cheese starts melting, add shrimp mixture on top of the cheese.
- Fold the tortillas with the help of a spatula and press so they start sticking like a quesadilla. Make sure the shrimp and cheese don't fall out.
- Cook till they are crunchy on both sides. Serve immediately.
- They are great just like that. Or you can serve them with guacamole or pico de gallo.
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What an interesting story and delicious sounding recipe.
I will be making these soon.
Thank you. :O)