Mexican Food help please

[foamheart]

Long ago I  went down into Mexico a lot doing business. While there I ran into a food served from Breakfast to lunch that contained what appeared to be cooked down sow belly. It was sort of like fried pig skins that had been slow cooked in a gravy, soft and tender with these large air pockets. It was marvelous, but I have never been able to find a name let alone a recipe for it.

That and the breakfast baked egg, chicken and corn tortilla casserole I could have lived on. Well with the ocassional ceviche thrown in. I am a coonass, gotta have my seafood.

Anyone have any ideas about what this "stew" is called? It was really rich, and the pig skin was so good. I would love to learn how to make it.

Thanks for your help guys

 

[smokinhusker]

Sounds like Menudo. A traditional Mexican soup made with beef stomach (tripe) in a clear broth or with a red chili base. Usually, lime, chopped onions, chopped cilantro are added, as well as crushed oregano and crushed red chili peppers. 

Menudo is usually eaten with tortillas or other breads, such as bolillo. It is often chilled and reheated, which results in a more concentrated flavor.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

My mom is mexican. i grew up eating menudo, home made tamal, real tacos......Im hungry

menudo.jpg

• BGKYSmoker
• Jun 14, 2013

 

[foamheart]

Wow I have had Menudo before, I lived in West Texas. It might well have been Menudo, I have no problem with tripe, just I don't remember any I ever had tasting like what I remembered in Mexico. Well if it was Meundo it was a wild variation of it.

Thanks guys, I have been trying to put that together now for 20+ years. Menudo is a distinct possiblility.

This place is great!

 

[moikel]

Wow I have had Menudo before, I lived in West Texas. It might well have been Menudo, I have no problem with tripe, just I don't remember any I ever had tasting like what I remembered in Mexico. Well if it was Meundo it was a wild variation of it.

Thanks guys, I have been trying to put that together now for 20+ years. Menudo is a distinct possiblility.

This place is great!

I am a long way from Mexico so find this really interesting. The Mexican food here is improving but there is no menudo.Tripe now in the supermarket because the Italians cook it in winter,the honeycomb stuff.They do it with beans really slow,considered old timers food.

I am going to do a chinese version soon,combine it with beef tendons,beef tongue & shin. Hot pot style like I ate recently I posted a photo in Clarissa's thread. Shallots ,cilantro,raw peanuts,chilli,soy sauce deal.

One or more of you nose to tailers going to showcase menudo sometime soon?

 

[foamheart]

Probably not me, I said how amazed I was. I would have never considered what I had Meundo. I eat a bunch of what some folks might call questionable, but Meundo, Chitlans, and Haggis I think I will pass on if I have my choice. I am a Coon-ass, we eat the bait if we don't catch anything bigger. LOL

I just don't care for the normal taste of the aforementioned.

 

[dls1]

Foamheart - Mexico is a big country and it would be helpful to know what part of it you're referring to. While some food items are common throughout the country more often than not there are distinct regional variations. Also, some items are exclusive to certain regions alone. The exception would be Mexico City which, due to inward migration, is a huge melting pot offering the regional cuisines.
 

As others have mentioned, while what you had menudo, if you don't like it now you probably would not have liked it 20 years ago. To me, there's no middle road with menudo. People either love it or hate it and those that love it were probably weaned on it from birth.

As one alternate guess what you might have had was a version of pozole (posole). At it's basics, pozole is simply a meat and hominy stew commonly served in the morning or mid day.. Cubed pork is the typical meat but beef or poultry can be used as a substitute or in combination with the pork. Pozole is most common in central and northern Mexico and depending upon the region, fresh green peppers (popzole verde) or dried red peppers (pozole rojo) are used along with a variety of spices, herbs, and other ingredients. To purists, an authentic includes a pigs foot or shank along with cicharrones or fried pork rinds. There are many recipes for pozole available on the internet, and if that is what you had, just narrow your search as to the type it was.

Another guess as to what you had would be guisado de cazuela de cecharron, or pork rind/crackling stew. As I've only had it in the markets or from street vendors in Mexico City I'm not sure of it's origins but I'm certain it's available elsewhere. For a recipe I use to make the guisado, with a few personal variations, click the link > http://nbclatino.com/2012/08/23/chefs-spotlight-hugo-ortega-on-the-street-foods-of-mexico/

Good luck in your hunt.

 

[foamheart]

The area I was covering at the time consisted of Chih, Sin, Dur, Nuevo Leon, Zacat, and Tam, and of course there was trips to Mex. City and a couple a shows in Cancun. I am pretty sure this was in the City of Chihuahua. I don't remember any corn, but its been a long time and in my mind I have kept the unusual meat as the marker. It wasn't red or green, it was in a thick rich brown gravy almost like a veal demi-glase. But after looking where others have pointed and knowing how each chef no matter his origin likes to put his individual stamp on things the Posole would be an excellent bet.

It was in a very nice restaurant where I had it, I sort of learned no matter how appealing the aroma, stay way from the street vendors. Like everyone else I had to learn it the hard way, ended up in the hospital dehydrated. This amused the local engineers I was assisting to no end. After that we only stayed at the gringo hotels. The restaurant though was strange even for Mexico, it had that air of a HUGE deli, only 2 chairs and small tables, but it was as big as a warehouse and packed solid.