Originally published in my secret, anonymous blog on July 18, 2014.
Part I: Ticks
This morning, as I’ve been trying to do every day for the past week, I woke up by 7:00 am. I’ve actually been getting up between 6:00 and 6:30 am, but I stayed up until 1:00 am last night because my husband came home late from playing a music gig. Also, earlier that evening, someone had posted a close-up picture of a humongous sunflower on Facebook, which triggered my trypophobia (fear of clusters of holes). So I had a hard time falling asleep, feeling my skin crawling all over and regretting that I had eaten okra for dinner. (Visualize the inside of one. I refuse to post a picture.)
500 W. William Cannon Dr.
Austin, TX 78745
(512) 326-1341
no website
The Highlights
Meat: Yes, and lots of it, but honestly, after finding a hair in the bowl, I lost my appetite and wasn’t willing to see if it had both the smooth and honeycomb cuts.
Hominy: None! Not even upon request!
Toppings: Cilantro, onions. No lime or jalapeños, not even upon request.
Tortillas: Pretty good! I think they should stick to making tortillas.
Availability: Call for availability.
Price: $5.50 for a large-sized bowl (small to go $4 / large to go $8)
Although it was all right and not as bad as I was expecting it, as it was only my fourth time to try menudo, I was highly disappointed by the lack of pozole (hominy). At some places, it’s true, you do have to request it. But they had none whatsoever. It wasn’t even an option! Continue reading “Menudo in Austin, Texas: Tortilleria Rio Grande #2”
Who said 38 was too late to start a new life? The last several years had been a struggle for me, as I suffered from anxiety, stress, and perhaps even slight depression. After getting my MFA in Creative Writing from Texas State University in 2004, I admit that I stopped writing fiction and had lost my motivation to submit my writing for publication. But at least I blogged on a fairly regular basis from 2007-2012 (read the original blog here), and in 2011 and 2012 I was actively writing for several publications. In 2013, I only published three blog posts. In 2014, I wrote nothing, except for some very personal writing in an anonymous blog, published in the late summer, which no longer exists. Continue reading “New Beginnings”
Many Mexicans and Mexican Americans grew up eating menudo. It’s a traditional Mexican soup made with beef stomach (tripe), cooked in a broth flavored with dried red chile, onion, garlic, and oregano. There are a zillion variations of this recipe, with red or white broth, with or without the honeycomb meat pieces, yellow or white pozole (hominy), and sometimes no pozole at all. Toppings usually include lime, diced onion and jalapeño, and chopped cilantro. Oregano is always a plus.
I didn’t grow up with menudo, although pozole was a childhood staple. Pozole consists mainly of hominy, with either shredded pork or chicken as the added meat, and the toppings are similar: onion, cilantro, and shredded cabbage and thinly sliced radish. The first time I ate menudo was in 2012, when my mom took me out to a local family-owned place in South El Monte, California. I didn’t like it. It smelled weird, and the meat was rubbery. It was cow stomach, for crying out loud!
Homemade Menudo on New Year’s Day, 2015
The second time I tried menudo was Thanksgiving of 2014, at The Pozole’s mother’s home. (If you’ve never read The Pozole’s writings or seen his film work, it’s about time. Go there after you’re done reading my stuff.) I have to admit, I really liked it. The secret to liking menudo was eating the homemade stuff. That completely raised the bar for me. Now I’m an addict, but I have very high standards:
Balanced ratio of hominy to tripe (a 40/60 to 50/50 ratio works well)
Quality meat, including a combination of smooth and honeycomb cuts
Cooked well enough, but not too much that it’s soggy
Fresh and plentiful toppings: cilantro (without stems), onion, jalapeño, and lime (must be juicy)
Robustly flavored but not overly salty broth
Not too watery, but not too thick and greasy broth
So there you have it. Check out my Austin, Texas menudo tours for my ratings. I’ll save you the misery of not finding any hominy in your menudo.
