Any
dish you can prepare in small portions
can be an antojito if it has a Mexican
flavor profile. Understanding the signature
ingredients, seasonings and techniques
that give a dish an authentic Mexican
taste—or flavor profile—allows
you to improvise more easily.
Let’s explore some of the key flavors
and techniques of the Mexican kitchen,
then look at how we use this knowledge
to create an original—but Mexican
accented—antojito. Of course our
“key” lists could be much,
much longer, but we’ll keep them
abbreviated here.
Key
ingredients:
Beef, especially value cuts
Corn, fresh and dried
Avocado
Queso fresco and other cow’s milk
cheeses
Chiles, fresh and dried
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Key
seasonings:
Lime
Oregano
Cumin
Cilantro
Key techniques:
Toasting onions, garlic and chiles to
enhance flavor
Pickling in vinegar with spices (escabeche)
Shredding, not cutting, meat
Smoking
Stuffing and frying chiles
Once you have these building blocks in
mind, you can begin recombining them in
creative ways. What about a salad variation
on a chile relleno, using pickled ancho
chiles and a filling of fresh corn, avocado,
smoked shredded beef and Mexican cheese?
This smoked beef salad uses a little-known
cut from the shoulder clod, called the
shoulder tender (or terres major, its
Latin name). It’s smaller than pork
tenderloin and every bit as tender as
beef fillet, with even more flavor.
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