Tex-Mex Food is a Community Asset by Ruth Paget

Tex-Mex Food is a Community Asset by Ruth Paget 

Smart Californians know that having a Tex-Mex taquería down the street with from-scratch food at reasonable prices is a community asset. 

That is how I feel about Michael’s Grill and Taquería in Marina, California. My family has been their customer for many years, but I think tourists to the Monterey Peninsula might also like their Tex-Mex food in a place with free parking out of the downtown bustle. 

Some of the dishes tourists might like at Michael’s follow: 

-La Playa Combo (The Beach Combo) with charbroiled shrimp, blackened chicken, a cheese enchilada with red sauce, rice, black beans, and warm flour tortillas 

-Quesadilla with carne asada (grilled think steak) – the steak is an add-on item to the folded-over large tortilla with melted cheese. This is like a grilled cheese sandwich. 

-House burrito – a wet burrito with green tomatillo sauce (Mexican greet tomato sauce) on top of a wrapped tortilla filled with charbroiled shrimp, blackened chicken, and Spanish rice with black beans on the side 

-large tacos with blackened chicken or charbroiled shrimp with chopped lettuce and grated cheese 

-street tacos for smaller appetites 

The ordering is taquería style. You place your order at the counter, pay, and receive a number on a stand to place on your table in the dining room. A server brings your food when it is ready. 

Michael’s is good food, good prices, and good people. 

The regulars know it is great, and first-timers might be pleasantly surprised. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Sichuanese Food in Marina, California by Ruth Paget

Sichuanese Food in Marina, California by Ruth Paget

The Chinese say that food is medicine. They also think their medicine should be delicious, which is why I like Chinese food. 

My favorite Chinese food comes from the central-western province of Sichuan in China. Sichuanese food iis known to be very spicy due to the presence of many spicy red chili peppers used to stir-fry it. 

Both of the Chinese restaurants in my neighborhood of Marina (California) serve one of my favorite Sichuanese dishes – Kung Pao Chicken. Kung Pao Chicken honors an honest public servant who served in the not-so-reputable Qing Dynasty about two hundred years ago. 

Kung Pao Chicken is usually a reasonably priced item on restaurant menus and boosts your immune system with stir-fried vegetables and tonic spices and aromatics. The spice combination that flavors the pounded flat pieces of chicken breast includes:

-garlic 

-fresh ginger 

-light and dark soy sauces 

-rice vinegar 

-sugar 

-several spicy hot red chili peppers 

At Marina’s Lee’s Garden Restaurant, they serve Kung Pao Chicken made with green pepper squares, onions, carrots, and zucchini cubes for fresh flavor. Lee’s Garden puts 9 red hot chili peppers into its Kung Pao Chicken for kicky flavor. I like it this way, but also like the milder Kung Pao Chicken made with 3 to 4 red hot chili peppers that Marina’s Ho-Wah Restaurant does as well. 

Ho-Wah uses celery, zucchini, carrots, and onions for freshen its Kung Pao chicken. Ho-Wah is easy to spot with red lanterns dangling from its roof. It is famous for serving Marina’s mayor and has made the newspapers for serving Chinese vegetarian food. 

Both restaurants offer extensive meal options, but during pandemic times I like to think the Vitamin C in the vegetables and spicy peppers and the iron in the chicken help boost the immune system. 

For more information on Sichuanese food, see Fuscia Dunlop’s book The Food of Sichuan. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Marina Poké House in California by Ruth Paget

Marina’s Poké House in California by Ruth Paget 

Marina Poké House is a neighborhood restaurant that locals enjoy for the zesty ingredients and reasonable prices. Tourists might enjoy Marina Poké House for the Hawaiian fare at mainland prices, too. 

I have eaten the poke beginner’s California Bowl ($10.50) on several occasions. The California Bowl has three scoops of imitation crab (made from fish and delish) sushi and a scoop of chopped avocado on top of a generous base of rice. I usually have spicy aioli as my sauce. 

The bowls besides this are made to order and come in three sizes – small, medium, and large. When you order a custom bowl, specify the bowl size first and the number of fish you would like that determine the price you pay. 

To create a poké bowl, you have to choose four types of ingredients in a specific order. Marina Poké House makes this easy by listing steps in order on its menu as follows: 

1-Pick your base – rice, brown rice, or mixed local greens 

2-Pick your various fish, seafood, and/or tofu 

3-Pick your sauce from ponzu to wasabi mayonnaise 

4-Pick your topping – from avocado to kimchi to seaweed salad  

Marina’s Poké House serves Strawberry-Guava and Guava Nectar in cans among its beverage offerings for a nice counterpoint to the spicy sauces. 

For a discussion of poké’s history within the wider spectrum of Hawaiian cuisine, see Rachel Laudan’s The Food of Paradise: Exploring Hawaii’s Culinary Heritage (pages 37 – 38). 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Eating Baja Fish and Shrimp Tacos from Mexico by Ruth Paget

Eating Baja Fish and Shrimp Tacos from Baja, Mexico by Ruth Paget

 

I ate Baja Fish tacos when I was a youngster in Tijuana, Mexico with my mom and cousin Carol while my mother was on a convention with the International Typographical Union in San Diego, California. 

We were eating in a Mexican restaurant wincing on super sweet Coca-Cola made with pure cane sugar.

My tired, feminist mom kept repeating, “No, Ruth. We are not going to see bullfighting here.” 

There were posters of toreodors in gold costumes on the walls that made me keep pestering my mom.

I was going to find out that misbehaving kids have to get back on the bus for San Diego and not visit Tijuana at all. After eating, we took the next bus back to San Diego. 

My mother did not want to rent a car and drive in Mexico, so we took the locals’ mode of transportation. People were getting on the bus with crowing roosters. I thought that was cool and pointed my finger at the birds. 

My mother was not impressed and said, “Mind your own business.” 

That bus ride is the last I have seen of Mexico. I have discovered in California where I live now that wealthy people go the Baja in the 21st century for beaches, medical tourism (plastic surgery and/or abortions), and street food especially fish tacos. 

In Marina (California), my family goes out for fish and shrimp tacos at Las Cazuelas Restaurant on Del Monte Avenue. They have always done take-out, so I think they are coping with Covid-19 measures pretty well, especially with delivery being offered by several companies in our area. 

What makes Baja fish and shrimp tacos so special? The tang they get from being made with pickled cabbage and onions along with Serrano chile cream. 

There is a good recipe for Baja fish tacos in The Best Mexican Recipes by America’s Test Kitchen. For the creamy Serrano chile mayonnaise, check out Californian Marge Poore’s 1000 Mexican Recipes. 

For the ingredients, residents of Monterey County California might want to try looking for them at the Santa Fe Supermarkets in Seaside and Salinas. Santa Fe is a Mexican chain with subsidiaries in the United States. Both supermarkets in Seaside and Salinas have large parking lots. 

No matter how you obtain Baja fish or shrimp tacos, enjoy eating them. 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks (Japan) and Teen in China

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From Bratwurst to Bimibap - Part 3 - by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

From Bratwurst to Bimibap – Part 3 – by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Mi Tierra Market in Seaside, California sells clean, dried corn husks in bundles among other items, making my dreams for a tamale making party come closer to fruition – now I just need helpers to stuff the husks.

The produce section gleams.  Pasilla, lime-green Anaheims, yellow guerito peppers, and dark green jalapeño peppers glisten there.

Pudgy plantains invite frying, and brown-skinned yuccas feel rough to the touch.  Mi Tierra sells fresh cactus petals with their pickers.  These taste sour and go well with scrambled eggs made with chopped tomatoes and onion.

As usual, the drinks intrigue me.  I love horchata, which tastes like a rice pudding milk shake.  The jamaica juice looks good, too, and is described as a hibiscus flower drink.

Mi Tierra also sells champagne cola and other Mexican soft drinks like the guava and pineapple flavors of Jarritos and mandarin orange.  There is also Aga apple soda and Sidral cola.

Mi Tierra’s true beauty lies in its butcher counter, which extends the width of the building.  The butchers, who work under dangling strands of chorizo sausage, really ham up the service.

The immaculately clean counter presents a wide variety of:

-gizzards

-milk white tripe

-liver

-beef tongue

-neck bones

-hogs’ feet

-slim cuts of steak for carne asada

-ground beef and steaks

-cactus salad

-cream-like cheese called Queso Oaxaqueño

-seafood salad

-fresh fish on ice

-tiger prawns

All in all, the mouthwatering display made me want to run home and open some cookbooks.  (Note: Diana Kennedy and Rick Bayless explain technique well in their Mexican cookbooks.)

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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From Bratwurst to Bimibap - Part 2 - by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

From Bratwurst to Bimibap – Part 2 – by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Asian-Filipino Market in Marina caters to a largely Southeast Asian clientele according to its India-born owner.  The market offers goods spanning the culinary world from Thailand to the Philippines.

A love for snack foods seems to be common to all these countries judging from the vast selection of taro chips, seaweed chips, shrimp crackers, and coconut crackers for sale.  Snack fantasies led me to dreams of more substantial fare, so I headed over to the instant sauce section.

Many people avoid making ethnic food at home, because it requires a major outlay for basic ingredients.  Ready-made sauces can ease a new cook into a foreign cuisine, which is one of the reasons I like them.

Korean barbecue, Chinese roast duck, Cantonese noodles, and packets of Filipino kare-kare sauces are just some of the temptations on Asian-Filipino’s shelves.

I could smell the warm peppery masala spice mixture in the Indian food aisle before I got there and imagined how good it would taste in ground lamb kebab with cilantro and onion. 

I wanted to make coconut milk with the unsweetened, shredded coconut and season it with curry leaves to poach fish or shrimp.

Instead, I ended up buying a bottle of tea masala to make chai at home.

A penchant for habanera sauce led me to Mi Tierra Market in Seaside, which has Mexican and Salvadoran products.

End of Part 2

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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From Bratwurst to Bimibap - Part 1 - by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

From Bratwurst to Bimibap – Part 1 - by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

I like to make many ethnic foods at home, so I have learned about ingredients by shopping at local markets around Monterey County, which feature Asian, Hispanic, and European foods. 

The Monterey County Weekly (Circulation: 200,000 – California) liked my idea for a story on three markets that are still going strong after twenty years: Mecca (German), Mi Tierra (Hispanic – Mexican and Salvadoran), and Asian-Filipino (Southeast Asian).

These stores have changed some items on display, but they can special order usually, if you know brand names.  I have slightly edited the article for clarity:

From Bratwurst to Bimibap

You’ll want to eat before shopping at Marina’s Mecca German Market.

The owner suggests that shoppers fortify themselves with a hot schnitzel sandwich – lightly breaded pork loin on a hot roll with sauerkraut and Swiss cheese – before examining the row of chocolates that fill up half the store.  (Note: This display has changed in 2019.  There are more soup and sauce options on the shelves now, but ask about special orders.)

Among Mecca’s chocolate offerings that seem to change with the season:

-Ritter Sport Chocolates

-Swiss Lindt Chocolates

-Sarotti Whit Chocolate

-Toblerone

-Chocolates with Poire Williams

-Asbach Uralt brandy-filled chocolate

-Mozart Herzl chocolate with a soft marzipan core surrounded by pistachio cream in a chocolate covering

From the chocolates, it’s an easy segue into coffee klatsch territory for Tchilbo, Jacobs, and Eduscho German coffees to go with Mecca’s selection of marzipan, orange liqueur, and chocolate/vanilla marmor cakes.

I highly recommend the cookies, too:

-Bahlsen’s chocleibniz – a butter cookie topped with chocolate

-marzipan cookies with chocolate bottoms

-almond cookie sandwiches with cream filling

-capellas – almond crescents with chocolate covering both ends

-Delobas – puff pastry with blueberry filling

-Florentines – delicate lace-like cookies

(Chocolates and cookies are my favorite renewable emergency foods.)

Eating sweets with your eyes lets you enjoy the deli counter more.

Mecca’s cooked veal and pork bockwurst sausage heats up easily and makes for a tasty meal as does the homemade bratwurst pork sausage.

I asked the owner what the difference is between the Italian and Hungarian salamis, and a customer answered, “About 500 miles.”

From Mecca, I set out for Marina’s Asian-Filipino Market.

End of Part 1.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Lengua and a Lightbulb, Please by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Lengua and a Lightbulb, Please by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

El Rancho Supermarket is one of my favorite spots for take-out food in Marina, California just outside Monterey.  Hispanic take-out food is still not well known, so my review for The Monterey County Weekly (Circulation: 200,000 – California) remains relevant:

Lengua and a Lightbulb, Please

Driving down Reservation Road in Marina (California), it is hard to miss the yellow billboard with El Rancho written on it.  And, you won’t want to miss the meal deals inside at this neighborhood supermarket’s butcher counter.

The menu above the counter lists items in Spanish only, but the names roll off the tongues of El Rancho’s customers, who resemble a mini United Nations.  The store manager said, “The whole neighborhood eats here.”

My recent perusal of Lonely Planet’s Whole Food Mexico gave me the idea to order a torta sandwich with carnitas (deep-fried pork).  My husband Laurent chose carne asada (lime-marinated steak) from the “ordenes” section.

We took our order slip from the counter and walked around the store to pick up water, Jumex mango nectar, and some Mexican sweet rolls.

The sweet rolls look like oversized croissants and buns with sugar and frosting on them.  You serve them to yourself on a tray and the cashier bags them.

We paid for everything at the cash register, picked up our order, and sat down at one of the kitchen tables surrounded by catfish in a freezer; brown-skinned yuccas and plantains in the produce section; and chips to our back.  Four-foot piñatas dangled over our heads.  The butchers chopping up cuts of meat provided entertainment.

My pudgy torpedo-shaped torta had a slightly crunchy crust and received a slathering of guacamole and shredded lettuce to cradle an inch-thick portion of deep-fried pork carnitas.

The salty pork made me wish for a beer, but you can only buy that as groceries.

The portions at El Rancho made several trips necessary to sample more of the menu offerings.

On my next visit, I tried another torta with chicharron (deep-fried pork skins).  If you like rich food that will fill you up for a day, this is definitely the sandwich for it.

The different filling did not change the price of the torta.  This principle operates for the whole menu board:  The listings under the tacos, for example, can also go in burritos or sopes.

Sopes are thick tortillas with turned-up edges that resemble three-inch piecrusts.  I tried one with lengua (beef tongue).  I thought the sope was doughy, but the tongue boiled with tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers merits a return trip.

Another El Rancho specialty I tried is chile verde, which I ate in a taco.  This pork selection is cooked with green onion, bell peppers, and a few jalapeño peppers:  the end result is a satisfying meal.

Burritos at El Rancho are large.  I chose adobada, spicy pork, as my filling.  The combination of spicy adobada and beans was delicious, but had my waistline crying for mercy.

The tamales are fat with carnitas or spicy chicken filling.

I also tried the chicken (gallina) meal.

I plan to return to sample more items:

-costillas (ribs) dinner

-burritos con camarron (shrimp burritos)

-quesadillas

-enchiladas

Along with the food, I liked learning all the Spanish words on the menu.

Once you start ordering items in Spanglish, the vocabulary will stick to you costillas at El Rancho.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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