From Arroz con Pollo to Carne Asada: Mexican Cuisine Defined
Mexican cuisine offers a variety of options beyond the usual suspects — tacos, burritos, and enchiladas. Mexican cuisine is as diverse as Mexico’s geography. From coastal regions to inland empires, you’ll find many peppers, spices, and cooking methods, but all Mexican foods have something in common: fresh and rich flavors that brighten up any meal. Even traditional American dishes can borrow from Mexican cuisine, giving new life to your all-time favorite recipes.
Let’s take a look at some of Mexico’s most popular dishes and ingredients.
Arroz con pollo is a popular meal in Latin American and Spain, and it means “rice with chicken” in Spanish. Depending on the region, there are many different ways to prepare it. Some cooks use special peppers and spices like chipotle and paprika to personalize it. Experiment with your own flavor combinations.
Carne Asada is marinated and grilled steak, thinly-sliced and served with flour tortillas. You can use carne asada in tacos, burritos, or by itself. It’s easy to incorporate this traditional Latin dish any day of the week. You can marinate almost any kind of beef in a lime-based marinade.
Marinate it overnight (or at least for a few hours). Carne asada is supposed to be a salty dish, so before you place your meat on the grill, rub it down with a mixture of coarse salt or Lawry’s seasoned salt, a little cumin, and garlic powder. Once you’re ready, place the marinated and seasoned filets on a hot grill. Cook on high heat until medium-to-well done. In Latin America, carne asada is prepared well done; however, you can cook it to medium doneness if you prefer. Transfer the cooked meat to a cutting board and slice it into thin strips across the grain. That’s the simple method.
Traditionally, carne asada is cooked in a large fire pit over direct heat. If you don’t have access to a large fire pit or the time to slow cook a large cut of beef, prepare yours over charcoal bricks for a more rustic flavor.
Many, many dishes in Mexico contain chiles and peppers. Chiles date back thousands of years to Mayan civilizations, in which/where they were used to make sauces like mole, pronounced “moh-lay.” Mole is made with several types of chiles and is distinct to each region and varies from cook to cook. You can find many traditional Mexican chiles and peppers at your local grocery, including poblano chiles, serrano chiles and chipotle peppers. Poblano peppers are mild, heart-shaped peppers that are large and thick — perfect for stuffing. Chile rellenos, which literally means “stuffed pepper,” is a common dish in Mexico prepared with poblano peppers. Spice up one of your favorite dishes with a chile or pepper, or both!
Incorporating Mexican flavors into everyday meals is easy. It can be as simple as creating a spice rub for chicken, shrimp, or steak; using taco seasonings or preparing easy fajitas with marinated meat; or substituting ingredients. For example, chicken parmesan becomes a Mexican-inspired dish by adding cumin and chile powder and Jack cheese.
Mexican cuisine is built on a foundation of meat or seafood and vegetables and grains and is differentiated through cooking method, spices, and other seasonings (like peppers and chiles). To bring a Mexican flair to your dinner routine, think about subtle ways you can substitute ingredients. It’s easy!
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