Lengua in Mushroom Sauce

They say that the tongue is the primary organ for taste. Having said this, did you ever wonder how a tongue would taste like – in a culinary fashion, of course?

I have tried many lengua (Spanish word for tongue) dishes and not one of them was unfavorable. In fact, I think that I can live a week eating different ox tongue dishes (only if the cost won’t be a factor).

Are you grossed-out in the idea of eating tongue? Don’t be, tongue is considered a special ingredient in most of the world’s major cuisines. Contrary to what you might be thinking, ox tongue tastes great – better than steak in some occasions.

In my life, I have only cooked five different lengua dishes. It might sound plenty already but there are still other highly recommended ox tongue dishes that I haven’t tried (I will practice cooking the others before the holiday starts so that we can have some interesting treat for Christmas and New Year dinner).

Lengua in Mushroom sauce is a rich and flavorful ox tongue dish. Its creaminess reminds me of beef stroganoff – pasta or mashed potatoes are a good idea for sides. Steamed rice will work too, but make sure to have at least an extra cup – you’ll definitely need it.

To feed your curiosity, the very first ox tongue dish that I tried cooking was the Lengua Estofada (estofado). I think I was 15 or 16 back then.

Try this Lengua in Mushroom Sauce recipe and let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

2 lbs ox tongue (lengua); cleaned, boiled until tender, skinned, and sliced

12 pieces fresh white mushrooms, sliced

10 ounces cream of mushroom condensed soup

3 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup water

Watch the cooking video:

Cooking procedure:

1. Heat a cooking pot then melt-in the butter.

2. Pan-fry the sliced ox tongue in medium heat for about 4 minutes per side.

3. Remove the fried ox tongue and set aside.

4. On the same cooking pot using the remaining butter, sauté garlic and onion.

5. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes.

6. Add salt, ground black pepper, cream of mushroom soup, and water then stir. Cook for 3 minutes.

7. Put-in the pan-fried ox tongue and stir. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes in low to medium heat (add water as needed).

8. Turn-off heat then transfer to a serving plate.

9. Serve with mashed potato or rice.

10. Share and enjoy!