The second tale, and my favorite, is that when the dish was first created there was a spotted chicken in the vicinity creating a fuss.One tale tells of the mixture of beans and corn creating a spotted effect, just like a spotted hen sort of looks.If there is no chicken, why is it called gallina pinta? There are two stories as to how this name originated. The origin of the name is not clear, gallina pinta is a species of spotted hen, yet this recipe does not include chicken. Originating in the Mexican state of Sonora, this dish consists of a slow-cook recipe made with beef, corn, and beans. Delicious, practical, and simple to prepare, it is a wonderful comfort soup perfect to make any day of the week. Then again, you should also keep in mind that Sonora Mia wasn’t even our best meal of the weekend.Gallina pinta is a tasty Mexican northern dish made with hominy corn, pinto beans, and beef. Since there isn’t a viable Sonora-style steakhouse in Los Angeles, Sonora Mia may warrant a trip to Tijuana on its own. Since this was Tijuana, the whole meal cost less than $15 per person, making Sonora Mia an astounding bargain. We wrapped the meat and queso with steaming tortillas de agua, ethereal see-through flour tortillas. With that much fat, it was no surprise that these beans packed a heap of flavor. On the side, we received a single devastating dish of frijoles maneados, refried beans blended with chorizo and lard, topped with Monterey Jack cheese. Still, the prized cuts were the steak, with a great outer char infused with wood smoke. The ribs were crusty from the grill, the well-seasoned chicken was near succulent and the small intestines were blistered, sweet and funky in all the right ways. Somehow, we managed to show restraint by choosing a vegetable over chorizo.Įsparza haggled with our server to schedule a custom Parrillada Villa de Seris (275 pesos), a mesquite-lavished mixed grill loaded with tripa (tripe), pollo asado (grilled chicken), Costilla (beef rib) and two prized cuts of beef – cabreria (akin to rib-eye) and arrachera (loosely translates as flank steak). A couple grinds was plenty.īelieve it or not, but our meal was still just beginning, so I limited my exposure to the Queso Fundido Natural (55 pesos), a molten mass of Monterey Jack cheese topped with rajas (roasted green pepper strips). We garnished each soup with a sprinkling of fresh-ground chiltepin peppers, a fiery red peppercorn that’s widely unavailable in Los Angeles. This was a hearty but satisfying soup.Ĭazuela (60 pesos) was another winner, strewn with shredded carne seca, peppery vegetables and chunks of potato. The herbaceous Gallina Pinta (60 pesos) was loaded with tender beef tail and rib meat, plus beans and hominy. Our carnivorous feast began in earnest with a Burro Machaca (50 pesos ~ $3.50), a streamlined burrito loaded with dried beef with a consistency akin to pork floss, plus a liberal amount of roasted onions and peppers.īill Esparza (Street Gourmet LA) insisted on ordering two different regional soups, and his decision paid dividends. Sonora Mia loaded our table with a powerful trio, including dishes of creamy avocado, orange chile de arbol and fiery jalapeno, seeds and all. The best way for a Mexican restaurant to make a good first impression is to deliver premium salsas. The cows are grass-fed through and through. Every steak comes from Ranch 17, a ranch used by many of Tijuana’s leading restaurants, including Villa Saverios. La Familia Munoz hails from Hermosillo, the state capital of Sonora, and has represented their state in style for a decade. We passed under the pixilated cactus sign to find a homey wooden restaurant and an intoxicating aroma emanating from the sizzling mesquite-grilled steaks. Given that, we arrived at Sonora Mia, a very good Sonora-style steakhouse with meat from Mexico’s beef capital. That was all well and good, but if you’re going to hang with a horde of food writers for a full day, the subject matter inevitably turns to meat. The trip’s first meal drew from the sea, as we feasted on an array of creatures with fins and shells.
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