Search the Community

I asked this question on Chowhound and only got one response. So, what's the best Mexican-American place in the Portland area? My two favorites are Esparza's, of course, and Lindo Mexico in Vancouver (2 locations). I've tried several other places in Portland, but nothing that I thought was any better than Chevy's or Who Song and Larry's. Anything better out there? Not looking for taquerias, burrito places, or authentic Mexican (ie, La Calaca Comelona, Taqueria Nueve, or Cafe Azul) in this case. Just the standard stuff we've grown up with. btw, I have a second question, if you're so inclined: What's your impression of Mexican-American food? Is it a place to get cheap food and beer with big portions and margaritas? Or is it a quality cuisine that doesn't get its due?

I'm hoping someone might have a tried and true recipe for Carne Asada. I checked the eGullet Recipe Archive and came up empty. And Internet searches haven't revealed much.

I'm exploring Mexican cooking and would like some tips on where to get good ingredients. I live in Manhattan, and would appreciate it if you could recommend some good grocers. I assume the best places are around 116th Street in East Harlem. I prefer to grocery shop in person, but would also appreciate some internet sources. Thanks for your help! Joe

Does anyone know where a guy from out west can find some down home New Mexican (region, not genre) cooking? Specifically, I'm looking for some good, spicy green chili. Anyone found anything like that? The dirtier the better.

One of the odder (but perhaps logical) developments in New York City in the past twenty years or so is the growth of cheap mexican fast food... sold by Chinese people. I'm not sure if this has penetrated to other parts of the country (although I know they exist in New Jersey, since I just ate in one). I was tempted to put this topic in the New York forum, but figured it might qualify as "Adventurous" enough for wider distribution. I'm hardly an expert in evaluating Chinese-made Mexican food. I've only eaten at a handful of them and had mixed reactions--ranging from slightly dismayed to mildly enthusiastic. But you can notice a trend: -The emphasis is on mass quantities and cheap prices -Its not nearly as bad as you'd think it is -No starch. This must seem bizarre to some of the chinese grill cooks, but for the most part they seem to be pretty good about this. -They haven't really figured out how to use the cheese correctly (and probably won't ever). -Its often located EXACTLY two doors down from a fast-food Chinese take-out restaurant. Why the distance is usually exactly two stores down, I don't know. But it is. -The fajitas aren't very authentic, but they are usally the best thing at these places -They often feature oddball items which are neither Mexican or Chinese. The one I ate at today (probably one of the better ones I've ever been to) had "Jambalaua Chicken" (their spelling), "Parmagiana Chicken" (their spelling), "Chicken Finger", "Thin Louis sandwich", "Curry Chicken" and much more in this vein. And... as Eric Cartman says "tacos and burritos", as well as the rest of the usual assortment of fast foodish mexican items. -The items are "fresh", at least to the extent that nothing comes out of a steam tray, like at a mall. 80% of it is grilled. -You are offered roughly a million options. Every possible combination of meat/fish, cheese, wrapper, black beans, guacamole, etc. has its own menu entry. -The customer base is often hispanic, although not often Mexican. But that's probably because there aren't terribly many Mexicans in the areas I've seen these places. Also: remember that Mexican food--of any caliber--is much rarer in the Northeast than elsewhere in the country. The one exception I'll make in my analysis here is that I HAVE seen Chinese owned "Cajun" booths at shopping malls (and they are consistently horrible), so I suspect there might be Chinese owned Mexican mall booths too. And I'm not sure the ones at the malls will necessarily follow these patterns, since they all use steam trays and produce mans tons of gloppy results. The one other thing I'll say about Chinese Mexican is that at least, in small ways, I wonder if its carving out its own identity. Even though the results have varied between places I've been, I've noticed some basic similarities throughout. Are these just inevitable results of Chinese cooking adapted to Mexican food or is there more to it? So what do you think of Chinese Mexican? As an idea, or as a reality, depending on your exposure.

I didn't see a thread about Mexican food in NYC, so (since I had a Mexican experience today) I decided to start one. Obviously we aren't going to be able to use the superilatives of the folks on the West Coast boards, but with 500+ restaurants of this type in NYC alone (at least, according to citysearch.com) there should be plenty to discuss. ------------------------------------------- The last place I'd expect to get decent Mexican food would be a place called "The Alamo", but I had lunch today in a place named so (at 304 East 48th Street, just east of 2nd Avenue) and it was very much worth recommending--at least with the understanding that I haven't sampled most of their menu. Apparently the place turns into a wild raucous party joint at night, but during the day it was quiet and the food was very good. Unfortunately the person I was dining with had the same entree as me, so I can only give limited data. The tortilla chips were freshly made and had that subtle pleasant aftertaste that I associate with good chips. Two kinds of salsa were provided: a very chunky Pico de Gallo with strong notes of both cilantro and garlic, and a thin green Salsa, with medium heat and a slight nutty taste. We both insisted on ordering the Mole Poblano, although Pipian and several other variations were available. :) Mole Poblano is one of the hardest dishes to do well, and in my experience if a restaurant makes a good Mole Poblano, at a minimum it at least proves they care about authenticity. The Mole Poblano here was brave in that it had the guts to be both bitter AND sweet, as well as moderately spicy. It was relatively thick in consistency and very dark in color. The accompanying Rice was excellent--with the precise balance between fluffyness and clumpyness (are those even real words?) that I've come to associate with really good rice. The beans really won me over. This is only about the 7th or 8th place I've been to in my life where they made refried beans with BLACK BEANS. They didn't put too much cheese on it either... just enough to cover the middle, and the solid part of the beans were still slightly firm, while the refried part was well pureed. The most impressive thing to me were the tortillas they gave us on the side. I don't know if I have the language skill to adaquately describe why they were so good, but we've ALL had mediocre tortillas in our lives and these were not them. They were obviously either made in-house or at an authentic very-nearby Mexican bakery. The surface was slightly rough in that way that tells you that they weren't mass produced, and the texture while eating them was slightly spongy, but still firm enough to not break. If I visit again I'll post more.

Can someone with an appropriate background speak about the regional differences in Mexican food? I know some, but I'd like to hear some expert info on this.

I've made a snap decision to head off to Yucatan next month, and I'm now in the contradictory position of trying to coax my body into bikini-ready shape whilst dreaming of Mexican seafood extravaganzas. Can anyone recommend a few 'must-go' eateries around the Yucatan peninsula? I'll be starting off in Playa del Carmen, but travelling down to Belize so anything in that area would be brilliant. Miss J

I think I am in the majority when I say that I have often sought after an authentic New Jersey Mexican restaurant to practically no avail. It seems that Mexican food in this area for the most part means Jose Tejas, On The Border or Chevy's. While those places serve their pupose I often tend to just stick with a margurita and chips and salsa at the bar (they actually all generally have good tequilla). I am however still wondering if there are some good legit Mexican restarants out there that I am unaware of. I was told that Ixtapa in Morristown was very good but shortly after read a review in New Jersey Monthly that made it sound just average. Thoughts on Ixtapa and any other suggestions are much appreciated.

Does anyone out there know what the street vendors selling sliced fruit throughout the Yucatan use to spice it up? There's a chile powder of some kind for heat (possibly mixed with citrus zest or citric acid) and a reddish syrup which is drizzled over the various freshly sliced fruits.

I am having trouble getting my poblano to keep its shape. I have charred the outside over a flame, then breaded with Panko and deep fried. I then cut open one side and stuff with the filling, cover with fundito and toast the top. It tastes amazing but looks terrible on the plate. Help!

There are instructions and videos on how to char, blister,roast the chiles; how to peel the skin off...but nothing explains how to get all those blankety-blank seeds off that top knobby thing through a simple slit without ripping the entire chile open. The only demonstration which I could find on actually getting out the seeds ripped the chile to shreds almost and the lady chef ended up by saying...and now you can stuff the chile with anything you like. I looked at the remnants of what was a beautiful green Poblano and wondered how on earth you could 'stuff' it with anything. How do YOU get the seeds out of the slit open chile?

Some expert advice needed. I've just returned (to India) from LA where I went quietly mad in Grand Central Market buying anchos, serranos and all those other types of chillies, so different from Indian chillies and which we never see here. And at one of the stands I saw these bowls of brown sauce which I was told was freshly made sauce for mole poblano (or is the sauce called mole poblano, and is so what's the whole dish that's made with it using chicken called?). Naturally I bought some and it survived the return journey reasonably well. It tastes great - sweet and spicy and a bitter-rich chocolate taste coming through. So I've been looking for recipes on the Net on how to use it, and I've become a bit confused. None of the recipes, naturally, is catering for lazy cooks who get in the sauce readymade, but even if one adapts accordingly, I'm still confused on how to prepare the chicken. Some recipes say boil, some say fry - what's the best way to do? Any guidance will be gratefully received and even though this is egullet, please don't tell me I have to make the sauce from fresh. Next time, I promise, this time I just want to use the stuff I bought in LA, Vikram

I bought a pack of dried chillies on Saturday but have looked without success for information about them. They look exactly like this: although some are squatter/rounder And most of them are 4-5cms long. They smell rich and wonderful, almost smoky The packet says: 千辣椒 Dried Chilli 100% Manufacturer: SICHUAN GAO FU JI FOOD CO LTD XINMING INDUSTRIAL PARK OF PIXIAN, CHENGDU --- If anyone can tell me anything about them, or suggest some uses, I'd be very grateful. When I've found information about chillis used in Sichuan cooking, the chillis described tend to be longer and thinner. I'd love to know what kind these actually are.

Caveat: I'm sorry, but my digital camera is on the blitz. As soon as I can get a photo, I'll post one on-line. My neighbor gave me a basket of goodies from her garden and amongst them was appears to be a chili pepper. It is a bright orange-red and is about the size of a habanero. However, it also has these "wings" or "petals" (3 of them) that come out of the side of the pepper and point upwards towards the tip. My neighbor had no idea what it was other than she said when she nibbled just the outer flesh, it was sweet, but when she got to the veins and seeds, it was very spicy. I've looked up photos of habaneros and scotch bonnets and other than the size and color matching, nothing had these "wings". Any thoughts on what I might have in my possession? Could I have a habanero with a natural mutation to it? Feel free to post any links to photos you find on the web as that may help narrow down the pepper. Also, other than using them in cooking right now, any thoughts on what my friend could do to preserve all of these chili peppers (she has a ton of them)? I thought about pepper jelly, but wasn't sure if there might be other options, too. Thanks!!

I've been looking for this for a while. Every year about now, these things turn up in the local markets and supermarkets. They are some kind of chili pepper. In Chinese, they are known as 米椒 (mǐ jiāo), but this doesn't help much. 米 is the main character for rice and 椒 means pepper. So we could call it 'rice pepper'. Unfortunately, 米 can also mean 'grain' or seedling'. I've seen ‘米椒' translated as 'millet chili'. But I've never found an English name I can relate to. They are the size of gooseberries or large grapes and really pack a punch. Colour varies. They also come pickled year round. Can anyone come up with a recognisable English name? Or even better, a Latin name? Many thanks for your time.

I bought these chiles at the farmers mkt. My conversation with the seller went like this: "What kind of chiles are these?" "Medium sweet chiles." "They're not hot?" "They're hot." "Are they Thai chiles?" "No, but you can use them like Thai chiles." "How hot are they compared to Thai chiles?" "They're hotter than jalapenos." The chiles are yellow, orange, and red, about 1" to 1 1/2" long at most. I always thought any chiles this small were Thai chiles, but I guess not. Can you identify these chiles?

I get these green chili's from my local Indian grocery store in waltham ma. bulk. 1.99 lbs They are hot to very hot, not anywhere near Scotch bonnet hot. tape give you an idea of size. left out they turn orange maybe red. I plan to make some green chili oil tomorrow with them as an Experiment. i like the taste of green over red. grind up a bunch in the Cuisinart with some neutral oil, heat in the microwave and keep hot for a bit and filter with a coffee filter or two: my guess is green Thai birds. your thoughts?

Going through my stash of chilies, I have noticed some discrepancies and I'm hoping someone can help. Okay, I've got two different bags of chile puya. One is dark red, smooth surfaced and the other is light red to orange with more of a bumpy texture to the skin. it almost looks like a chile costeno. The first one is prepackaged from El Guapo, the second from a market in Mexico. Are they both chile puya or if not, will the real chile puya please stand up. This brings me to the other problem. I have chile costeno and chile costeno rojo. Then there is chile amarillo. Now, I know for a fact that the chile amarillo is hotter than the costenos. All three are of the same size and texture, except of course, the amarillo is light orange. I know that I must keep better record keeping when I buy chiles but I find chile identification very confusing. For example, I thought chile ancho was available only in three grades; primera (big and fat), segunda (mama bear) and terceira (whatever is left over). But oh no, chile ancho is available in negro and oscuro. Then to confuse matters even more, chile ancho is also known as chile tenir in other parts of Mexico. Is it just me? Say it ain't so! S