Sunday, February 20, 2005

I Know Almost Nothing about Mexican Food - Chicken Fajita? -

OK, here’s my confession: I know almost nothing about Mexcan food.

Can I call this Chicken Fajita?

I've been to some Mexican restaurants/fast food places both in Japan and the U.S. including Taco hel..., sorry, Taco Bell in the past. I’ve had tacos. I’ve had fajitas. I’ve had chilli con carne. (They’re all Mexcan food, right?) I liked them all, and I have a craving for them once in about every 4 to 5 months.
That's about it.


Today I was in the mood for a bit spicy Mexcan dinner with beer, so I decided to use up the leftover “burrito seasoning mix” I had in my kitchen for a while. I also wanted to have guacamole which I fell in love with when I first tasted it in AZ, USA. So I bought a very ripe avocado and, again using up a bag of seasoning mix, made some guacamole. To add some nice and fresh tomato flavor, I chopped up a ripe tomato and mixed it with “salsa seasoning mix.” I know...I can’t survive without “seasoning mix” stuff when it comes to Mexican dishes. So now you know my ignorance.



OK, here comes another ignorant question of mine… when you put all these (chicken and onion slice seasoned with “burrito seasoning mix,” guacamole, chopped tomato seasoned with “salsa seasoning mix” and cheese) wrapped in lightly toasted tortilla, can I call this “Chicken fajita?” And another one: What’s the difference between “taco seasoning mix” and “burrito seasoning mix”? Are they very different?



Anyway, this fajita tasted pretty good.

BTW, we do have flour tortilla here in Kochi. Never ever underestimate an inaka (rural) city in Japan. The nearby supermarket which closed today didn’t have pistachio flavored “look chocolate” or thinly sliced rice cakes, but did have flour tortillas like this. They must be quite different from real Mexican tortillas, but the taste isn't too terrible. I guess I won’t fail too much as far as I stick with all those “seasoning mix” series. ;P

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yum yum..! 

Posted by MrsT

Anonymous said...

Looks great, but can you buy tortillas in Kochi?! 

Posted by Jonny

Anonymous said...

> MrsT --- Thanks! They were pretty spicy ; )

> Jonny --- Yep, we can.
BTW, did you like the pictures of "rakugan" (the cakes they make with Kashigata) ? 

Posted by obachan

Anonymous said...

Very delicious looking! I love avocado and tomato together!

I think what you have is a burrito? A fajita is made with grilled marinated skirt steak. Here is a link for more information on fajitas (it's in English): http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodmexican.html#fajitas and burritos: http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodmexican.html#burritos

We have many good Mexican restaurants in Chicago. Please come and visit Chicago sometime! I'll take you for Mexican food!


 

Posted by Natasha

Anonymous said...

Hi Natasha,
Thanks for the URLs. (It is very unfortunate that those sites are in English --– I may not be able to understand what’s written there ; ))
Also thanks for the invitation to Chicago! I’d really love to eat Mexican food there! Hey, if I ever visit you there, can you take me to the “Married with Children” fountain, too? 

Posted by obachan

Anonymous said...

Never ever underestimate Kochi!
Looks absolutely delicious, I'm sure you enjoyed beer as well.
Looking forward to the next 'seasoning mix' story... 

Posted by Keiko

Anonymous said...

Sorry about the English!

Absolutely! It's called Buckingham Fountain.  

Posted by Natasha

Anonymous said...

You absolutely have to come to Chicago. We have a great Mexican population here. In the summer on Sundays, there is a street where traffic is blocked and all these Mexican food stands come out and they have amazing food... 

Posted by Char

Anonymous said...

fajita can be nonbeef. I prefer chicken breast fajita. The components consist of strips of equal size of chicken red and green bell peppers and onions grilled (teppanyaki!) and then still sizzling placed in the tortilla with sour cream, guacamole and tomato salsa.


I am using wraps to roll up turkey breast slices with romaine lettuce and basil mayo inspired by the spicy thai chicken "wrap" from the roly poly menu.  

Posted by Jennifer

Anonymous said...

Yes I did, thank you Oba-chan.

Amazing how quickly things change in ten years. In 1995, I could not get tortillas in Tokyo! 

Posted by Jonny

Anonymous said...

> Keiko --- Yep, beer tasted so good with this spicy food. I always buy many kinds of seasoning mix when I go to imported food shops in Kobe.

> Natasha --- Buckingham!? Wow, Sounds English!

>Char --- Hi! Thanks for your comment. That sounds absolutely tempting. I’ve got to be there!!

> Jennifer --- Mmmmm, sour cream! That’s what I forgot this time! Basil mayo also sounds good, too. Thanks for the inspiring ideas. : )

> Jonny --- Really? In Tokyo? Hmmm, things really change quickly. Now I’m anxiously waiting for Starbucks Coffee to come to Kochi. 

Posted by obachan

Anonymous said...

You actually don't need your trusty spice packs to make guacamole--it's super easy! All you need is garlic, lemon, salt to taste, and maybe some finely chopped onion.

Or, try Alton Brown's recipe (I haven't tried it yet):
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_20356,00.html

Mmmmm! 

Posted by Malia

Anonymous said...

and cilantro or parsley! 

Posted by Jennifer

Anonymous said...

> Malia --- OMG, really? I thought the seasoning mix had some magical ingredients that we can never find around here. I’ll give this a try! Thanks!! :D

> Jennifer --- Yeah, I’ll definitely go for parsley! Mmmmm! 

Posted by obachan

Anonymous said...

It looks perfect to me> 

Posted by Ting Aling

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Ting! :D 

Posted by obachan

Anonymous said...

You should put more mexican food like menudo. And Ingrents to the food.

obachan said...

Thanks for the advice, anonymous commenter.I'll do so next time. :)