Mexican Christmas Traditions

Name: Huevo ranchero for one
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 1 serving
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 1 corn tortilla; 1/2 tablespoon light cooking oil (such as safflower or canola oil); 1/3 cup canned black beans or pinto beans, reheated (whole or refried); 1 large or extra large egg; 1/4 cup bottled or canned salsa (you can choose red or green)

How to make suero

552 · Mar 24, 2017 · 2 Comments

Suero is basically homemade Mexican Gatorade.

In fact, it’s similar to a limonada, but with salt instead of sugar. It’s a very simple recipe and surely you’ll already have all the ingredients, but it’s the best remedy for a hangover.

And it's not to be confused with buttermilk, which is another meaning of the word "suero" in Mexico.

Suero is an amazing Mexican hangover cure that's similar to Gatorade, but easy and cheap to make at home. See more Mexican hangover cures at theothersideofthetortilla.com

What's awesome about this drink is that it can also be used to help you recover from a run or an intense workout! The salt helps you retain liquids after you’ve been dehydrated.

Sick with the flu? This is also helpful for staying properly hydrated.

Remember: table salt tastes saltier than Kosher salt (which is what I usually cook with). Start with ¾ of a teaspoon and add more if necessary if you plan to use table salt.

And if you've got some digestive issues, a little watermelon and aloe vera juice for a couple of days can help you get back to normal once you're rehydrated. Té de bugambilia (bougainvillea tea) is also a great Mexican home remedy for when you're sick with a cold or cough.

RELATED: Guide to Mexican Limes

Suero (Mexican homemade Gatorade)

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Author: Maura Wall Hernandez
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Yield: 1 serving 1x
Category: drinks
Cuisine: Mexican

Print Recipe

Description

The Mexican hangover, flu and dehydration cure that gives Gatorade a run for its money.

Ingredients

Scale

12 ounces cold agua mineral (in the U.S., Topo Chico is my preferred brand of mineral water)
¾-1 teaspoon of salt
juice of 1 lime

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Instructions

Pour mineral water in a highball glass and add salt.
Squeeze the juice of one whole lime directly into the glass and stir to mix everything well, until the salt dissolves. You can also toss in a few lime wedges if you like.
Add ice if you like, and drink the entire glass while it's still cold.

Notes

If you're suffering from serious dehydration, please be smart and consult a physician.

Weekday huevos rancheros

13 · Mar 20, 2017 · 1 Comment

Huevos rancheros are a popular Mexican breakfast dish, but they don't have to be complicated or time-consuming to make.

With a couple of store-bought ingredients, you can make them quickly enough to eat breakfast at home before work!

Eating breakfast every day is important to me. Don't you just feel like you're starting the day off right when you sit down and eat breakfast without being in a hurry? I started waking up a little bit earlier so I could have some daily quiet time to eat breakfast, sip my tea or coffee, and read the newspaper. Since last year, I've been eating a decent breakfast a lot more consistently and I notice I make better choices throughout the day when I've had breakfast at home.

And as much as I love stuff like churro french toast or pancakes on the weekend, I really need to eat a protein-rich breakfast on weekdays so that I don't snack on too much sugary crap during the day. And as much as I love a trenza de huevo con chorizo for breakfast, unless I make it the night before, it's a little too much work when I'm trying to get out the door quickly in the mornings.

Sometimes José will wake up early and make breakfast for me before work, which is such a treat. I love this huevo ranchero for one recipe because it's so simple but SO good. To cut down on prep time, we just use canned beans (the preferred brand in our house is La Costeña) and Herdez bottled salsas (the red is called salsa casera and the green is salsa verde).

A huevos rancheros recipe so easy you can make them on a Monday morning! Recipe via theothersideofthetortilla.com

Huevo ranchero for one

Prep 5 mins

Cook 5 mins

Total 10 mins

Author Maura Wall Hernandez

Yield 1 serving

A classic Mexican breakfast made easier with some store-bought ingredients.

Ingredients

1 corn tortilla
½ tablespoon light cooking oil (such as safflower or canola oil)
⅓ cup canned black beans or pinto beans, reheated (whole or refried)
1 large or extra large egg
¼ cup bottled or canned salsa (you can choose red or green)

Instructions

Heat ⅓ cup of beans and ¼ cup salsa and set aside.
In a skillet, heat ½ tablespoon canola oil over medium heat. Lightly fry the tortilla on both sides and transfer to a paper-towel lined plate to drain off any excess oil; discard the paper towel. Spread the beans over one side of the tortilla.
In the skillet, there should still be a little bit of oil. Crack the egg into the skillet and cook the egg sunny side up, 1-2 minutes until the white is opaque and the yolk has slightly set.
With a spatula, transfer the egg on top of the beans. Pour the warm salsa gently over the top of the egg and serve.

Courses Breakfast

Cuisine Mexican

RELATED RECIPE: Huevo con chorizo breakfast tacos

What to eat at Enrique in Mexico City

13 · Mar 19, 2017 · Leave a Comment

Opened in 1944 as a taco stand out in the remote fields between Mexico City and Cuernavaca, Enrique has become a representative establishment of Central Mexican cuisine that's worthy of visiting almost every time I'm in town. Located along the federal highway, this behemoth of a restaurant seats well over 1,500 guests—and is now well within the city’s confines—on Insurgentes Sur in the Tlalpan borough.

The buildings recall classic haciendas (built this century) and the vast dining rooms with high ceilings are designed to amuse. The decor is what you'd expect; solid wood tables and chairs, crisp table linens, papel picado hanging from the ceiling, and talavera tiles everywhere.

Start with some chicharrón with guacamole, an order of chalupas, some crunchy tacos dorados doused with salsa borracha, or a couple of their deep-fried quesadillas, made with their unique masa.

Order the consomé de carnero, made with the best bits of their famous barbacoa and with the right amount of tasty, tender garbanzo beans. Truly one of the greatest soups ever. Garnish with chopped onion, cilantro and fresh-squeezed lime juice.

Of course, the main dish you order should be the barbacoa, the earthy mutton cooked underground and covered with maguey leaves. It is right up there with the best barbacoa I’ve had, and the price is not too bad either. If you're eating with multiple people, it will be more economical to order by the kilo rather than by the taco. Make yourself some tacos and bathe them with two of the best salsas in the country, according to my husband. The green tomatillo salsa is his gold standard, and the salsa borracha, made with pulque, also ranks highly on his list of favorites.

Order the horchata by the pitcher and convince your table to share—you won't be disappointed!

Other classics worth ordering include crepas de huitlacoche, carnitas, mixiotes, mole, and various enchiladas. On weekends they offer several varieties of pulque if that's your thing.

Enrique certainly has something for everyone—like Disneyland. Just be aware of their shtick and don’t let certain aspects ruin what could be a phenomenal meal.

On the weekends, mariachi, marimba and jarocho bands, along with their own dance troupes, will incessantly blast their brand of folkloric entertainment, and a house PA system will make sure every-single-table-REALLY-FUCKING-LISTENS-to-every-note-played. It can be rather annoying because it makes conversation with those at your table rather difficult. I understand there are people who actually go there to watch the shows and enjoy them, and that's totally fine. I'm just not one of those people.

However, there are a few tables by the entrance, separated by several walls and where the speakers are unplugged, where you can have a peaceful meal. Also, the children’s playground is far, far away and the roaming clowns (for the kids' amusement, and fully dressed like they just came from the circus) will not make their rounds all the way in the front.

Now that you know how to avoid the undesirable parts of the restaurant, sit back and enjoy the exemplary traditional cuisine. Even though their kitchen is bigger than that of a sold-out Carnival Cruise Line ship to the Caribbean, Enrique still produces some of the tastiest Central Mexico fare, and the quality is top notch.

I think of Enrique in the same vein as Disneyland—a cheesy and loud place—but with careful navigation and location awareness, you can still find it lovable and enjoy a phenomenal meal that’ll evoke priceless memories each time you return.

TO VISIT: Enrique
Insurgentes Sur 4061, Tlalpan, 14000 Tlalpan, Ciudad de México, México
+52 55 5573 9988
Open 7 days a week, 8 am to 8 pm (except on some holidays)
Valet parking

Visiting Mexico City? You might also like these restaurant recommendations:

Easy Hibiscus-Glazed Doughnuts

27 · Jan 1, 2017 · Leave a Comment

Impress everyone with this easy recipe for hibiscus-glazed doughnuts for breakfast. They look fancy but you won't believe how quick they are to make!

Who doesn't love doughnuts for breakfast? I don't trust anyone who says they don't. I first got the idea to make this doughnut recipe when Fany Gerson posted a photo on Instagram of a similar-looking doughnut she was making at her doughnut shop in Brooklyn—appropriately called Dough. If you're not familiar with Fany, she's one of my favorite people in the culinary world and she wrote a beautiful book called "My Sweet Mexico" in 2010 that has made me one of her biggest fans. As a lover of pan dulce and Mexican candies and desserts, her book was the first one I found that made these treasured recipes accessible in English.

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The Best Mexican Hangover Cures

367 · Dec 31, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Did you know Mexican hangover cures are among the best?

We've all been there. You had too much fun, and you're paying the price the day after. You might even have what my friend Victor calls "cruda del agua," which is when you're so hungover that you can't even keep water down. That's the worst, and if that's the case, as soon as you can hold anything down, try the recipe for suero below before you eat anything.

A few notes: I'm not a doctor and this isn't medical advice. Some say they benefit from taking an antacid after a night of heavy drinking before consuming anything with tomato or chile to aid in curing a hangover because they're acidic and sometimes can provoke heartburn and acid reflux.

MEXICAN REMEDIES FOR CURING A HANGOVER

Best remedy for the kind of hangover that makes you vomit:

Suero is like homemade Mexican Gatorade. In fact, it's similar to a limonada, but with salt instead of sugar. It's a very simple recipe and surely you'll already have all the ingredients, but it's the best remedy for ANY hangover. (And it can also be used to help you recover from a workout!) The salt helps you retain liquids after you've been dehydrated. Remember: table salt tastes saltier than Kosher salt (which is what I usually cook with). Start with ¾ of a teaspoon and add more if necessary....