Ceviche

Fish Ceviche at Mi Gusto Es

Doradito?

Who can name this dish?

Ingredients:
Blue corn tortilla shell
Frijoles (bean puree)
Queso (cheese)
Cilantro
Onion
Salsa verde and salsa roja

Clearly, this is a great burger commercial!

A Passion for Noodles

"Taiwanese" Beef Noodle Soup, My Way....




Noodle Porn?






Also known as "niu rou mian" in Chinese




Noodles w/ braised beef shortribs . Here in D.F., Taiwanese restaurants and certain ingredients are non existant, so I revised a version of this noodle soup for some Taiwanese home cooking in Mexico City.

Given a choice between eating only rice or eating noodles for the rest of my life, I would choose noodles. I love noodles. All kinds of noodles, from Beijing style hand pulled noodles, to Shaanxi knife cut noodle, udon, to Italian pasta... but my favorite is Taiwanese beef noodle soup.

When one thinks about Taiwanese food and culture, one must not forget to mention "niu rou mian", which translates to beef noodle soup. It is a dish that has made such a great impact on a country, that it has become a way of life for many Taiwanese. It is near impossible to walk through more than a couple blocks without spotting a restaurant specializing in this dish. There are niu rou mian festivals and a annual competition, where the winner gains instant fame amongst his countrymen and women.

If I had a bowl full of this in front of me, then there are no other foods in the world I would rather eat. So...if you ever find a Taiwanese restaurant, go in and tell them that you want "niu rou mian"!

The King of Mexico City's Street Foods: Tacos, Baby!!!

My favorite taco stand in Tacubaya.


Cooking up some longaniza sausage, suadero and tripa with corn tortillas.



Una orden tacos suaderos.
Cost: 6 tacos for 10 pesos.
Conversion rate: 13 pesos = $1 USD


Tortas, Quesadillas, Frito Plantanos, Hambugeresas, Tamales, Flautas, Helado, Street Corn....

In a city where the thousands of street food vendors line sidewalks, alleyways, and anywhere they can fit their cart in, the street taco is KING.

The tacos are wrapped in corn tortillas, about 4 inches in diameter. The tortillas are always doubled up with 2 pieces per taco. You call out the filling of choice, whether it be al pastor (a gyro like sausage rotated on a rotisserie), longaniza sausage, tripe, suadero, or the many other offerings. After the tacos are filled with your desired protein, it gets topped with cilantro and onion. And now, the fun begins. You customize your taco with a little salsa verde or rojo, a squeeze of limon, and add cucumbers or radishes on the side.

My favorite taco stand is right off the Tacubaya metro station. For 10 pesos, you get 6 great tasting tacos of suadero or longaniza. Or for the same amount of dinero, you can have 4 tripas tacos, which is a specialty of this vendor. He often sells out!

Street tacos are delicious, however there are risks for all street foods. Eat with caution.

Tips:
1. Find the busiest vendors. If it's good enough for the local crowd, then it's good enough for me. They know what's good.
2. See, taste, smell. Is their cooking platform dirty? Is the cooking oil old or is the oil clear and fresh? Does the meat have an off odor?
3. Use common sense!


I will leave you with one final line:
As the locals say, "If you haven't eaten street tacos, then you haven't really been to Mexico City!"

My Soul Food

Jiaozi, as it is called in Chinese, is one of my favorite foods in the world. My mom used to tell me stories of her and her 3 brothers making hundreds of dumplings everyday when they were kids. Back in Taipei, my grandparents used to host mah-jhong games every weekend for the neighborhood. To be considered good hosts, every single attendee had to be fed. My grandma's recipe was so popular that some people came just for the dumplings and not mah-jhong. So dumplings were served every weekend. They were stuffed with ground pork, plenty of chives, and seasoned with a touch of ginger. I swear, I could eat about 40 or 50 or these in one sitting. That's a lot of dumplings!!!

After being cooked, the jaozi is dipped in a sauce made from soy sauce, black vinegar and garlic. Every member of my family makes it the same way, just as my grandparents used to make it. My mom made this for me often when I was growing up. I have tried this dish in many restaurants from Los Angeles to Vegas and NYC to Boston...even China! However, it just nevers seems quite as good as the ones my family makes. While here in Mexico, I sometimes think about home. One of the things that I am nostalgic about is food, particularly the foods that I grew up with.

My family makes these wrappers from from scratch by rolling out little nuggets of dough. Here, I have recreated my grandma's recipe for the dumplings with store bought wrappers.



Beautiful raw jiaozi.

Beautifully cooked jiaozi.

for the dough:

3 cups AP flour

2.5-3 cups room temperature water

for the filling:

1 cup ground pork

1 T soy sauce

1 t salt

1/2 t sugar

1 T dry Sherry

1/4 T white pepper

2 cups thinly sliced Chinese chives

1 T ginger, minced

for the sauce:

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup black vinegar

1/4 cup water

crushed garlic

For the dough, mix ingredients and knead until mixture is homogenous. Set aside to rest.

Mix all ingredients in filling.

Divide dough into smaller pieces (1 inch x 1 inch). Flatten each piece with the palm of your hand and roll dough into a circular shape, about 3 inches in diameter.

Place about 1 T of filling in each wrapper and fold over into a half moon shape. Press edges tightly to seal.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the dumplings in. Give it one stir to make sure none are sticking to each other or the bottom of the pot. Once the dumplings start to float, allow it to sit in the boiling water for an additional 5 minutes. Drain and serve with dipping sauce.

Mercado San Juan

Images from Mercado San Juan

Introduced to me by Chef Jair Tellez of MeroToro restaurant, this amazing market is a chef's dream. You can find anything from fresh herbs, Asian vegetables, exotic spices, imported and national cheeses, to fresh seafood and whole pigs all under one roof!

La Jersey

There is a charcuterie and cheese shop called La Jersey that triples as a tapas bar as well. A sip of Rioja goes quite well with tapas like:

Shaved Ibero Ham with Manchego and Spanish olive oil

Fresh Mozzarella

and Fresh Ricotta, Honey, and Walnut!!!