chicharonnes!

i promise to finish up my asia reports as well as share with everyone the deliciousness that was my birthday eating, but in the meantime, i'd like to report that i've finally hit the food stands by the red hook soccer fields.

first i did a walk through from start to end so i knew my options. i started with a plate of papusas, fried plantains and a pickled cabbage salad the color of cotton candy. i garnished with a dab of sour cream on the plaintains, a pickled jalepeno for the salad, and some rich red sauce on the papusa.



the papusas were filled with minced pork and queso. the plantains were caramalized and crusty on the outside, deliciousy tender on the inside - some of the best i've never had. the vinergy slaw, addictive as well as a crunchy and tangy counterpart to the savory papusa. the total cost of this plate? $3.50!

dan went for a huarache quesedilla. i used to own a pair of nike huaraches when i was younger. they were constructed of space age magenta and blue fabric and had a black rubber heel band rather than a full heel shell. fancy! i loved that they cooked the corn tortilla to order, spreading a thin layer of masa on the griddle to form the huarache portion of this meal. it was more like an open faced taco. on a separate cooking surface, the meat was cooked.



to wash things down, we got a big ol' styrofoam cup of horchata, which we had first tried a couple summers ago at a san diego farmers market.

i was still hungry. what to eat next. i went for the ceviche...


which was great for the first couple bites. chunks of whitefish, little coins of octopus, plump shrimp, swimming in a milky, citrusy brine. and then i found a ginormous black hair in my ceviche and that was that. the hair was in such contrast to the whiteness of the marinade that it was game over. i should have gone with the grilled corn. the hair may have won round one, but i'll be back.

p.s. i did not have any chicharonnes. i just like to say the word.