My gauge of a Mexican restaurant has to be their tamales. What is the mouth feel of the cornmeal? Is there little, enough, or too much filling? Is the filling tasty?
I eat Mexican food more or less as often as I can.
I sort of want to be cute and say “corn” as my answer. But truth is, we nixtamalize masa every week for tortillas, sopes, tlacoyos, chochoyotes, tamales, etc. so it’s not even an absurd answer.
I also make free-form salsa pretty frequently.
I regularly test new (to me) Mexican restaurants by trying their chile rellenos — it’s a good indicator of their general culinary philosophy.
I think to really come down with a single answer to your question, I’m going to say sopes with wild mushrooms and red mole.
Years ago I had a key employee from Mexico who needed time off for a function for her extended family. I granted he request even though we would be receiving an intense multi day inspection. She returned to work several days later with two dozen tamales for me as a thank you. OMG!! It was the first time I had tasted what a tamale should be. It has been my standard ever since.
Tacos, enchaladas, and tortilla chips with guoc. I prefer enchaladas at restaurants, my husband has made them a few times at home but they don't seem quite right. Tacos are good everywhere, I like both street tacos and the hardshell ones. My husband makes amazing tacos at home. And guacamoli is way better at home, my husband could likely win a contest, his is so good! Way better than any I've had at restaurants.
At home: my wife's green chili stew, tamales, or enchiladas. Since I'm naming names: bowl of beans with green chili, cheese, and shredded beef at the Sopapilla Factory-Pojoaque NM, green chili stew at Socorro's-Hernandez NM, Al Pastor burrito plate at Dick's Pub-Las Vegas NM, and absolutely anything on the menu at the red taco trailer (Burro Loco) on the northeast corner of the 4 way stop light in Texhoma OK.
I eat a lot of Mexican food. It's probably the cuisine I eat the most. I grew up in San Diego, and when I was younger, my goto was the shredded beef burrito from Roberto's. In my early 20's, I worked right off the 101, near a Roberto's, and I would get one for lunch at least 2x per week to go eat it at the beach. It was the gold standard that I judged all other Mexican restaurants by. These days I cook at home a lot more, and one of my favorites is pozole rojo - a rich stew of pork, hominy, and red peppers. I make that a couple of times a month! Corn/masa is a great answer too! Everything is better with the great flavor of corn in every bite. I even put some masa mixed with a little water in my Texas style chili and it makes it so much better.
Some favorites include: Tacos, molcajete (I didn't say I could spell in Spanish!) Enchiladas, chips and salsa, rice, beans, refried beans, burritos, quesidillas, queso dip, queso fresca, taquitos, tostadas, taco salad, negro modelo, fajitas, chili verde, limes turned inside out with salt on 'em...
This is educational for me, since I am not familiar with Mexican food. I make 'chilli' which is probably nothing like authentic!
Tell me more about tamales please? They look like the equivalent of a pasty?
It is not 'crispy' but it is filling. To make Tamales, it is a bit labor intensive so when they are made they tend to be made in bulk when it comes from homes. I believe it is a common 'woman's work' gathering for some Hispanic families where a lot of repeated actions are done.
Corn husks are prepared and soaked to be an outside wrapper in order to make the tamale. Tamala Dough (Masa) is made of corn flour and put on the husk and spread out. A variety of fillings are made and then put on the dough before being rolled/wrapped up. I really enjoy pork/chicken but I have had some AMAZING beef tamales in the past.
To cook, they are steamed. Once done, you unwrap and add perhaps some sauces or other additions to customize it to your liking.
Oh yeah tamales! Basically corn meal smashed with lard into a dough, filled with the ingredients of your choice (pork is common) and then wrapped in a corn husk and steamed.
Timothy Norton wrote: To make Tamales, it is a bit labor intensive so when they are made they tend to be made in bulk when it comes from homes.
Hmm, I wonder if they freeze well, or would it be like party food where you only make for an occasion?
Corn husks are prepared and soaked to be an outside wrapper in order to make the tamale. Tamala Dough (Masa) is made of corn flour and put on the husk and spread out. A variety of fillings are made and then put on the dough before being rolled/wrapped up.
So maybe like a cross between a dumpling and a pasty...They do look yummy! I haven't grown corn in years (too cool) but maybe when my polytunnel is covered again (could be this year) I can try to grow sweet corn again. I guess the husks from those would work. I wonder what I could use if I didn't grow corn....
Dan Fish wrote:Super tasty. And super, super bad for you!
Almost anything in moderation is good, anything in excess is bad. I don't see why they need to be particularly bad for you. Is it the dough to filling ratio that tends to be a bit carbohydrate rich?
The first sign one is in a 'real' mexican food place is the option of Charro Beans; and yes, sometimes you have to ask. Mexican bean soup done well is sublime. If they have a great recipe for Charro Beans, the rest of the menu won't likely disappoint.
My experience is that they do freeze well. My Hispanic associates tell me that goat is the appropriate protein for tamales. That may be true, but I have had excellent tamales with other protein.
Nancy Reading wrote:I haven't grown corn in years (too cool) but maybe when my polytunnel is covered again (could be this year) I can try to grow sweet corn again. I guess the husks from those would work. I wonder what I could use if I didn't grow corn....
Oh you'd want to grow dent corn for the masa - then dry it and cook it with pickling lime to make it delicious, then grind. If you don't grind it, you have hominy.
I think in the U.S. we totally take Mexican food for granted, because Mexico is our southern neighbour. When my friend and her husband moved from NZ he discovered the joy that is Mexican food and he's never looked back haha, he says its his favourite thing about living in The States. She was born and raised here, moved to NZ to be with him, and had no clue how much he'd love Mexican food upon moving here
If you've ever seen the movie "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" with Johnny Depp playing a CIA agent hiding in the open (wearing a t-shirt that said CIA), you know about puerco pibil, and the Mexican mafia don who ordered the dish at restaurants, and if it was perfect, he went into the kitchen and shot the chef because nothing should be that good.
But I've actually never had pureco pibil. I'm sure it's wonderful.
In it's place, I love al pastor tacos.
While living in the DC metro area and working in Arlington VA, I'd often take a walk down the street from my workplace to visit area restaurants. At the first big intersection, there was a big construction project building a new mixed-use apartment/business/grocery store structure and there were a lot of hispanic workers and therefore a lot of food trucks at lunchtime. And if you don't know, ethnic food trucks can be like mobile outposts from heaven. One day while standing in line at a food truck right in front of the new building, I got into a conversation with one of the workers and told him of my love for al pastor tacos. He pointed down past the intersection and said there was a guy who usually parked down past the 7-11 who made a breathtakingly delicious and freshly marinated APT, but they were expensive and usually gone quickly. I thanked him and raced down there and oh my. He was right. Succulent. Flavorful. Aromatic. And homemade sauces, too.
I ended up eating there twice a week until he moved locations and I was never able to find him again.
Great memories. Great food. Don't underestimate Mexican pork dishes, especially al pastor.
The only Nachos I have ever had that I did not make myself were from the Concession Stand at high school football games.
An oozie cheesy mess.
I was reading a recipe by The Pioneer Woman yesterday.
Many layers of chips in the shape of a pyramid. The second layer is lots of cheese then shredded chicken cooked in a tomato taco sauce, then layer after layer of the same.
Speaking of tamales, years ago when I lived in Mexico the tamales were sold in a special shop and were mostly made of fruit.
Riona Abhainn wrote:I think in the U.S. we totally take Mexican food for granted, because Mexico is our southern neighbour. When my friend and her husband moved from NZ he discovered the joy that is Mexican food and he's never looked back haha, he says its his favourite thing about living in The States. She was born and raised here, moved to NZ to be with him, and had no clue how much he'd love Mexican food upon moving here
Yes, this. I grew up eating Mexican food (good, fresh, amazing Mexican food sold off trucks and in gas stations to working people) and when I left the US found that what makes it out into the rest of the world is usually nothing like what I enjoy.
Mexican food for me is not ground beef and cheese- it's bright flavors, fresh veg, lime juice and onions in a chayote salad, slow-cooked pork on a fresh tortilla, or (be still my heart) a chicken noodle soup with so much garlic and cilantro that it blows any viruses right out of your body. Man I miss Mexican food! When I go back to the US to visit it's one of the first things I seek out.
"Almost anything in moderation is good, anything in excess is bad. I don't see why they need to be particularly bad for you. Is it the dough to filling ratio that tends to be a bit carbohydrate rich"
Hi Nancy,
I am just saying they are bad for since they are like 75% lard by volume, hahaha.
My old boss told me she used to date a Mexican guy right out of high school. They would go back to his house where he lived with his family and there were always tamales in the fridge or freezer and she was eating a couple every night until the guys mom said, "Jessica, you can NOT eat tamales every day. Your heart cannot handle it!" Hahahaha.
I am in no way saying I fear tamales. Tamales fear me! Oh and add nachos to my list above!
My family like the Sonoran style Mexican food and we make carne asada at home all the time. We use diced/minced beef on a BBQ grill with mesquite wood to get a smoky flavor. Simply sprinkle some cheddar cheese and fold inside a soft tortilla to make a taco. A bit of Pico de Gallo on the side would be even better.
I had a friend who referred to tacos and tamales as "vitamin T" -- an essential part of the diet, and having grown up eating both, I definitely agree. Real Mexican food is very rare in NZ; you may find the odd place selling what they call nachos, but it is like they were trying to re-create the dish from a photograph: a bed of Doritos, topped with mince meat boiled in unseasoned tomato puree, sweet chili sauce, and with a dollop of cream cheese or mayonnaise on top. I avoid Mexican restaurants locally as I've been burned too many times -- the only exception is if the place has been recommended to me by my South American colleagues.
Producing Mexican food in NZ is a bit of a challenge as very few ingredients are readily available. In order to do it, I grow anchos, poblanos, and jalapenos, make my own tortillas (you can buy gourmet 'wraps' in packs of 6, not economical at all!), save and freeze or dry my corn husks, render my own lard. I ferment jalapenos or roccoto chilies to make hot sauce -- though a growing number of American expats are producing some very lovely (if dear) hot sauces. I've grown my own flint corn and nixtamalise it to make masa flour, or buy masa at eye-watering prices. Dry beans are expensive and imported from South America, but still cheaper than meat, so I buy in bulk and make tacos all summer, as well as growing some of my own now. Making tamales is reserved for my birthday and Christmas, but they freeze very, very well, so we make a big batch and spread them over a couple months.
I miss Mexican food... but a guy moved back here after living in the southwest of the US for like 20 years and opened a taco truck! Still I've only had 2 tacos from him since he opened.
Anyway, my answer is tacos. Or just tortilla chips and salsa. I do my own fish tacos sometimes, Japan has good fish!
I made a slow cooker beef barbacoa for the first time using a bottom round that I had in the freezer from my last half a beef and I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to make such a flavorful tender dish utilizing a cut of meat I struggled to use well in the past.
Watch your chilis though! I like my stuff spicy, but it is easy to turn it into something that is HOT.
Not Mexican food, but my spouse and I have been eating a lot of this tex-mex rice concoction I made up.
It's pretty simple: Take a cup of rice, various dehydrated veg (we also add dehydrated tofu or some prepared meat protein), and about a cup and a half of water with a third of a cup of taco seasoning that's made by our grocer. Cook on low for 20 mins. It's delish.
The one we had last night had dried tofu, corn, and peppers, along with a fresh onion and a frozen pack of mushrooms. We're in the part of winter where we have to be judicious with our fresh and frozen veg, since we're running low. Dried veg is bringing us to the finish line this year, and we're very grateful.
Oh, if you ever get a chance, try Guatemalan tamales. They have a softer masa, almost a corn pudding. The ones I used to get were chicken with an olive for the filling, mildly spicy. They are steamed in banana leaves instead of corn husks, which gives them a very delicate flavor. Have them with a blisteringly hot habanero sauce. They are sooooo good.
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She was born and raised here, moved to NZ to be with him, and had no clue how much he'd love Mexican food upon moving here 
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Description: Mesquite smoked Carne asada")
