Durian

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March 24, 2011 | 2:32 PM | By

Ethnic food tastes worth acquiring: Nopales

Photo by Ron Dollette/Flickr (Creative Commons)

Ensalada de nopales at one of L.A.’s Guelaguetza restaurants, which serve Oaxacan-style Mexican food, December 2007

I’ll admit that there’s nothing terribly unconventional about nopales, the fourth item in this week’s series of unsung ethnic delicacies. Nopales, or nopalitos, are made from the cooked paddles of the prickly pear cactus and are standard fare in Mexico, and thus in Southern California.

But the items we’re talking about here are not necessarily unusual, just unsung. I hadn’t thought of including nopales, but a note from a reader this week reminded me of why they’re not particularly popular with those who didn’t grow up with them: “babas,” or in English, slime.

Which is a crying shame, because when prepared well, the slime is gone and the nopales are delicious, with a tangy taste and a texture not unlike green beans. Yadhira De Leon wrote on KPCC’s Facebook page that they are are “good for you and filling.”

She added, “You just have to rinse them real good to get the slime off.”

Nopales are good for you. They are low in carbohydrates and are believed to be stabilize blood sugar and lower cholesterol, among other things.

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FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Arroz con calamares en su tinta, Durian, Guelaguetza, La Huasteca, Nopales, Tejuino
March 23, 2011 | 2:42 PM | By

Ethnic food tastes worth acquiring: Tejuino

Photo by mswine/Flickr (Creative Commons)

Can fermented masa taste good? Yes. A cup of tejuino, August 2008

We’re on day three of a week of posts involving those delicacies from Southern California’s smorgasbord of ethnic cuisines that may not sound, look, smell, or even necessarily taste like delicacies on the first try, but are tastes worth acquiring because they’re pretty darn good.

Readers have been sending in suggestions, so look for a list at the end of the week. In the meantime, today’s delicacy is tejuino, the Mexican fermented corn drink made with piloncillo, the unrefined brown sugar used in Mexico, and that tastes far better than it sounds. Really.

The suggestion comes from Gustavo Arellano of the OC Weekly, he of ¡Ask A Mexican! fame and the author of a forthcoming book on the history of Mexican food in the U.S. Here’s what he wrote in an e-mail about tejuino, which is beloved by tapatíos, the nickname for Guadalajarans:

Only the tapatios truly love it…but at its best, that fermented masa gets cut by piloncillo and ice cream.

When I expressed doubts after having run across a not-so-great batch some years ago, he reminded of me of what I already knew, which is that “anything involving piloncillo is, ultimately, delicious.”

And so it is. The trick to good tejuino, which is served cold, is lots of piloncillo, along with a hefty pinch of salt and generous squeeze of lime juice. It’s traditionally served with a scoop of lemon or lime shaved ice or sherbet, which adds to its sweet tanginess.

To remind myself of the taste, I bought a big cup of it today at Tejuino Los Reyes, a Lincoln Heights juice bar. It came topped with a bright green scoop of lime sherbet and was ridiculously sweet and tangy, almost like agua de tamarindo but thicker. It was hard to put down.

Yesterday’s post featured durian, the foul-smelling, good-tasting fruit that is immensely popular in Southeast Asia and is found in Asian grocery stores here. Monday I started things off with an ugly-but-good dish from my upbringing, arroz con calamares en su tinta, or rice with squid in its own ink.

Have a suggestion for a similar acquired taste? Feel free to post it below. Photos are welcome.

FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Arroz con calamares en su tinta, Ask a Mexican, Durian, OC Weekly, Tejuino, Tejuino Los Reyes
March 22, 2011 | 4:49 PM | By

Ethnic food tastes worth acquiring: Durian

Photo by Florian/Flickr (Creative Commons)

The fruit that’s sweet but smells like feet: durian on sale at a 99 Ranch Market in the San Gabriel Valley, June 2009

This week, I’m featuring a post a day on those ethnic foods that may be an acquired taste, but are worth acquiring because in the end, they are unsung delicacies. And I’ve been taking suggestions, which is a good thing, because there are different delicacies for different people.

Which brings me to today’s item. The “food, booze and punk rock” blogger Javier Cabral, aka The Glutster, suggested one of his favorite acquired tastes, the durian. Yes, that durian.

The spiky, football-sized fruit is, for some, the closest thing to a culinary prank. I was once invited to a lovely home-cooked dinner by friends in Singapore only to have my hosts begin giggling as time for dessert approached. “Now,” one of them said, “you get to try durian!” As everyone began to laugh, I realized that I’d been set up as the evening’s entertainment in the role of foreigner-getting-her-first-taste-of-durian, or rather, my first whiff.

Enormously popular in Southeast Asia, the durian has creamy, custard-like flesh. The problem, not a small one, is that it smells like sweaty feet. It’s worse in close spaces, to where durians are forbidden on Singapore subway cars, along with flammable goods.

I wouldn’t have thought to suggest it myself. But as Cabral wrote in an e-mail, the fruit’s consistency and flavor are worth braving the odor. His take on durian:

It is my favorite fruit for sure, quite possibly favorite sweet as well. Once you get over the acquired smell, you will get such a complex mix of coconut, banana, pineapple, mango, creamy cheese. It has an unrivaled mouthfeel that can not be replicated no matter how many egg yolks and heavy cream a pastry chef uses!

He’s right. In truth, the taste isn’t half bad. Acquired? Definitely. But it’s worth trying.

Yesterday’s post featured arroz con calamares en su tinta – rice with squid in its own ink – a dish that sounds nasty and looks worse, but is a personal favorite. Know of a dish that’s ugly but good, or an acquired taste that’s worthwhile? Suggestions, and photos, are welcome.

FILED UNDER: Culture/Identity, Durian, Singapore, Southeast Asian food, The Glutster