Massive MEXICAN FOOD Tour In NEW YORK!

Oh, up, down, central, right? Yeah. Oh, OK. I got it. Yeah, yeah. That's what Fred was talking about. My mom is from Puerto Rico. Yeah? Your mom is from Puerto Rico. Nah. Mexico. Fred, you can confirm this. I can definitely confirm that. No. I can see myself coming back later and partying at Pocato. I mean, look at this. New York City has never been known for Mexicans. But from 2000 to 2010, Mexicans were New York City's fastest-growing ethnic group. That means while there was great Mexican food in Corona, Queens, now even Manhattan restaurants are starting to serve some deep-cut dishes from Puebla and Oaxaca. We're going on a massive journey with our cameraman, Fred, who is half Mexican and half Korean to check out everything from Mezcal to Mole, from Moquehete to Aztecan to Coyos. Hit that like button, and let's go. All right, our first spot on this video is Barrio Chino in the Lower East Side. You know, they do have a mix of some Tijuana dishes, but also some Aztecan dishes as well. Is it kind of funny being here and it's called Barrio Chino? Fred? Well, my family does call me Chino because I'm half Korean and half Mexican, even though it's not the same Chino in Korean. But, you know, eating here kind of feels like I'm at home. All right, so the food has arrived here at Barrio Chino, and I know what you're thinking. You're thinking it might be a little bit hipsterized. Listen, we are still in the Lower East Side. However, they got some deep-cut dishes like this one. This is not your normal basic corn tortillas. What they got inside is some cheese. We got some crema, which is, you know... I don't know how to say that in English. I think this is pretty cool. This is my first time having glocoyos, and glocoyos is actually an indigenous Mexican word from the pre-Hispanic days. So let's try it. Mmm. Oh, yeah. Oh, that's like a thick, fluffy corn cake right there. I only had this, like, a couple times in my life. You know, I think it's pretty cool how the hipster spots are even taking it deeper than just tacos now. They're even offering some more, like, kind of indigenous foods, you know, things that might more come from Puebla or Oaxaca. Guys, we're looking at some camarones borrachos, which is basically drunken shrimp. What they do here is they sizzle this in tequila. So that's why they call it borrachos because borrachos means drunk. So how would you use borrachos in a sentence to describe somebody? Hey, yo, like, see that guy over there? That's a borracho, bro. Like, he's straight-up drunk. Yeah. He's on his ass. Camarones borrachos. This is the first time I'm having this dish. Mmm. Wow. I taste tequila in it. Ooh, that is sweet. I think it's cool because, you know, a lot of other cultures, such as Chinese, we have our drunken dishes that are cooked in, like, wine usually, but this one's cooked in tequila. Makes sense. Fred, I know that where your mom's from in Mexico, maybe seafood isn't the biggest, but, hey, man, it's camarones. Tastes like apples. Straight up. Tastes like spicy apples. He has some enchiladas verde. They spread some crema around. We got some cheese, frijoles. They got some avocados. Ooh, we got some chicken in here, in the tortillas. Wow. What I like about this is that they have a nice wooden plate or bowl for the tortillas. And you know when it's authentic when they bring you a bowl of tortillas with a napkin on top. In my hand, I have a tuna tostada. It's a spicy sauce on top of some raw tuna, on top of some guacamole, on top of a tostada. But, man, this looks like I got some Chinese chili oil on top. Mmm. Wow. One thing that we're gonna really try to do in this video is explore as many regional Mexican cuisines as we can in Lower Manhattan. I get it. I think that there is quite a lot of food in Brooklyn and Queens that may be more authentic. But, guys, I think it is important to note that Manhattan is really increasing its traditional Mexican food. Like we said, from places like Oaxaca, Puebla, you know, with a little bit more Aztecan influence. So, I'm really excited. All right, Fred. We are here at a spot called Cuauhtla Morelos. And your mother is actually from Cuauhtla Morelos. Morelos being the Mexican state, Cuauhtla is the city inside of that state. It's kind of in between Mexico City and Puebla. So, here we have a Cuauhtla-like dinner plate. Yeah. Does this look familiar to you, or is this something that maybe you only would have had if you grew up there? Okay, the only thing I do recognize here is this and the Mexican cheese. Okay. I mean, this is like, yeah. This is the only two things I remember, and I had fun eating them, for sure. I was told that this plate really represents Cuauhtla because it brings all the agriculture and the meat together on one plate. You know, you have cactus, jalapeno, onion. Go for it, man. Cuauhtla has, like, a lot of rivers. Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, this is good. This is actual authentic. Tacos, freshly made tortillas. This is the cochinita pavil. I'm about to try it. I love all those fresh little toppings that they put on with the peppers and stuff. Mmm. Whoa. One of the best tacos I've had in a long time. Fred, you gotta try this, man. I gotta ask myself. Yo, my amigo, you gotta try the side of that. Oh, Fred, you were saying that you actually understood their Spanish here better than any other Mexican spot that we've been to. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, back in... Since I grew up with my mom, she only, like, speaks Spanish to me, and her accent, I'm, like, very used to. But every other, like, people with, like, different accents, whenever they talk to me, I'm understanding, like, 80%, 70% of them. But here, I'm understanding, like, a full 100% of what they're saying. And that's because we are here at a spot called Cuauhtla Morelos, and that's where your mom's from. That, it all makes sense, guys. Make something happen. You got it, you got it, Fred. And put it with the cactus, too. I want to see you eat everything. Okay, yeah, let's get all the three meats in there. The cheese, the meat, the chicken, the steak. And make sure you put some cactus in the onion. Fred, we in the multiverse right now. I'm doing it for you, right here. Oh, that little onion on top. Oh, that's cuauhtla to the max. All right, guys. That's mucho cuauhtla. You know, guys, what I love about Mexican restaurants is you can always bet on them being very, very inviting, you know, and especially when they can tell that, obviously, you have a genuine interest in, you know, Mexican culture and their food. Everybody's cool, man. It's just, it's been a good time. We've met a lot of nice people doing this video, man. Yo, Boston Mexicans, we all about love. Oh, definitely, y'all love. Oh, yeah. What part of Mexico is this menu from? Okay, we have a different thing that is coming from different parts. The quesadilla is coming from the north. The shrimp tacos is coming from the south. And the pork tacos is coming from, like, the middle region of Mexico because this is where we, we eat whatever we produce. It's what is going around. That's why in the center of Mexico, Puebla, Oaxaca, Mexico City, and a little bit above, we use a lot of pork. In the south, I mean, it's been more, like, close to the coast. They use more fish and shrimp and all that kind of stuff. And the birria is being made especially with beef and lambs. So in the north, which is, like, a little bit more dry, is what they've been producing. Okay, so we're gonna get the short rib birria ramen. What else do you recommend that we try? The tacos, get the pork, and get the shrimp. Okay, for the tacos, pork, and shrimp. Can we get the bean tacos, too? The bean tacos is, okay, this is them. A lot of people, they don't know, but when you are, like, a vegetarian, the beans, combined with the tortilla, those two grains make a vegan protein that you can substitute for meat. Okay. So that's why you put it on the menu or something. Okay, right, right, right. But it's not traditional Mexican. No. All right, you guys, Mexicans do not eat vegan stuff. No. That's not Mexican. Fred, you can confirm this. I can definitely confirm that. No vegans at all. All right, what's going on, everybody? We're here with Willy. You're originally from Puebla, Mexico, and you guys are serving all different regions of Mexican food here, right? Yes, sir. So what are we looking at? Tell me what's traditional and what's not traditional. Okay. This one is the street food, which has been called the esquites. It's like a corn on the cob, but just in a little plate. But not, okay, esquites, okay. Esquites. This one is the shrimp tacos, which is with a little mango and cucumber salad. Okay. A little chipotle mayo. Nice. To give it a little spiciness. It's from the south of Mexico. And this is from the south of Mexico. And this is the carnitas, which is basically from the middle of the Mexico. And we use, like, pork to be, like, feeding most of the time. Where they eat a lot of pork in the middle. We eat a lot of pork in the middle section. Okay, and then we have this. And this one is a mix from Asia and Mexico. We are trying to combine something to make a new plate, which has been called the ramen, but in all versions. Mmm, the birria ramen right here. The meat is being cooked for, like, more than five, six hours. So you're saying this is half Mexican, half Asian, just like Fred. Just like Fred. Cool, thank you. Well, Fred, so what's it like for you to be eating, like, you know, at all these Mexican spots that are serving different regions of food? Andrew, growing up as a kid, I'd be eating a lot of Mexican food. And honestly, like, no one really taught me how to, like, what each food was originated from. So it's cool to see that there are a lot of, like, foods around Mexico and each region has its own formalities that I'm learning. I'm learning every day. Yeah, and I love how Willie was so helpful in saying, like, yo, in the central part of Mexico, they eat a lot of pork and then they eat a lot of beef in different parts and a lot of shrimp in the other parts. But yo, first dish we gotta go into is their eye-catching dish. They got the birria ramen. I know a lot of other spots out there are trying to do their own version, but I'm really excited to try this, Fred. Yo, Fred. They call this, what, the ramen? Yeah, the ramen, man. Half Asian, half Mexican, just like you. I'm eating my soap right now. What did he say? Hey! Mmm. I would say with the type of noodles that they're using here, it actually does kind of remind me of a pho, but really more like a Vietnamese bowl call where the consomme is very, very deep and beefy and then you have the pieces of beef floating around. So I gotta say, this is probably, of the birria ramens I've had or the kind of Mexican-Asian fusions I've had, man, this one really, really works because it actually kind of feels sort of like some version of an Asian dish I've already had. Got here is a esquites, which is also known as elote en vaso, which is basically, you know, corn in a cup, which is a popular side or snack in Mexico. Here I got a shrimp taco with mango from the south of Mexico, but please don't be mad, Fred. I kind of want to put the esquites on my taco. It's that. It's not wrong. It's not wrong, man. You do you. It's all Mexican food, dog. It's all trying to mishmash the regions. Let's go. Esquites. I had this a lot as a kid, growing up. My mom would make this, like, almost every Friday. So guys, these are the carnitas. We eat this a lot in a lot of central Mexico. Basically, you know, pork tacos. Oh yeah, put that lime in for sure. Another side note, we add a lot of lime to a lot of our food. As we finish up here, I wash down my carnitas tacos with some horchata, and I wash mine down with a good old jicama. Yo, here's to exploring Mexican food in New York City. Last but not least, we got the tamarindo, which is another drink we got. So what was your favorite dish here? I'm going to say my favorite dish is the ramen and the esquita. Oh, mine was the esquita on the shrimp taco, which I had to do for round two. We have bean tacos, which are a little bit less common because, you know, most people in Mexico would eat meat. But Fred, you have eaten, you know, these elements together before. I have, I have. But maybe not in taco form. This is for the vegan crowd, that's why. All right, guys, bean tacos. Okay. The beans are really good. I didn't expect this to be, like, the beans to be that good. What makes good frijoles? Good frijoles, I mean, depends on how, like, long you cook the beans for them, for sure. But the way he cooked it, really, I give you props. This is really good. El aguate is an historical animal because many people thought that the aguate was a dragon. That's why his name is water monster. Oh. It's Spanish. This animal, it's like an endemic species from Mexico because almost, I think that 80 to 90% of the species only borns on one part of Mexico. That is the, do you know what is trajinera? The boat in Xochimilco. Oh, okay. In the city of Mexico. All right, man, what are we looking at? This one is the handmade tortillas, tostadas for the ceviche. This one is the side of rice and beans that comes with the arrachera a la mexicana. This one is the ceviche. Tacos de barbacua, arrachera a la mexicana, and elote placero. And all this is 100% authentic to the style of how they would cook it in Mexico. In my opinion, this is more than 100% Mexican and everything is awesome in this place. And also, what is this? The michelada, the meat from Mexico. The green meat is covered with tajin and it's delicious. All right, well, hey, Michlikan, guys, is actually the Aztecan afterlife, right? Yeah. All right, you guys, we're at Michlikan right now and that is actually the Aztecan afterlife where there's nine levels and a hairless dog actually has to guide you. I didn't know any of this stuff. Really cool that they have all these philosophies here. But we got to look at this pan Mexican food, guys. This is ceviche verde. I've got the tostadas. I've got barbacoa. I've got lamb tacos. Fresh made tortillas they just made with arrachera. Ah! First up, of course, we've got the appetizer. This is ceviche verde, green verde, more coastal Mexico. But like we said, obviously the restaurants in America, they serve everything from every region whereas maybe in Mexico, it'd just be one region or two. Oh, my goodness. On top, they've got some sweet potato just to smooth out the vinegar from the ceviche. You guys, I know the ceviche is a little bit deeper cut Mexican dish. You know, they're not going to have it at any American gringo spots. Try it, it's legit. This is the arrachera. This is from northern Mexico where all the beef comes from. Like we said, guys, beef is from the north. Lamb, goat, pork more in central and of course, seafood in the south. That's generally how the regions break down. Aren't you guys, I am making a taco out of the arrachera. Of course, rice and beans. They said they did not make this tortilla until I ordered this dish. Not just made today, fresh five minutes ago. Guys, I have never had an arrachera a la mexicana steak before drenched with the tomatoes and the pickles and the onions. I'll tell you this. These beans are really high quality. I have never, ever had pinto beans ground up like this with this quality and this depth of flavor in my entire life. You guys, it is super important to try these deep cut dishes like this arrachera a la mexicana. Do I think that this would replace my love of like dry steak? No, I don't think so. But listen, everybody eats tacos everybody loves burritos. You gotta get into the history and the regions. North, central, south. Mix plan. All right, here I got the barbacoa tacos. It's lamb meat, guys. I don't eat lamb tacos very often. And by the way, listen, if you've said you actually love Mexican food multiple times in your life and you don't try to venture out and go to spots like this, especially spots that are trying to educate you about, you know, the day of the dead, traditions, where they come from, the fact that it's Aztecan, you know, just to let you know, guys, Chinese food is not only beef and broccoli, too. Just like Mexican food is not only tacos. Although tacos are delicious. Let's go. Mmm. Wow. I know in central Mexico, before beef was easier to get, they were eating a lot of lamb and goat. And honestly, guys, you know, birria tacos started out with goat meat before it all turned to beef. It's just because, you know, goat's not as popular of a meat to eat in America. So, of course, most people serve the beef ones. But, yeah, it started as goat meat. So, just to let you know, you know, goat is a tasty meat. In my hand, I have what is said to be one of the best elote in the city. And elote is essentially like esquites. This is what we had earlier, except this is on a cob. It's not cut off. Mmm. Wow. I've had elote off the cart before at a fair. I've had it here. Man, this is pretty good. I can't remember the last time I was eating corn off the cob anyways. What I love about going around New York trying food is that when you go into some of these ethnic restaurants, they make the experience so authentic. You know, in previous generations, maybe a couple decades ago, even Chinese food had to be New York-style Chinese food. But now you can get a real authentic Chinese experience like they're having in China right now. So, you know, I got my michelada right here. I'm learning a lot about the Aztecan traditions. Dios tos los muertes. It's got a crazy vibe. It's playing reggaeton. It's exciting. Mmm. Man, we could not leave here without trying the tres leches cake. It's one of my favorite cakes in the entire world. It means three milks. There's three different types of milk. I know condensed milk is one of them. The other two, I forgot, but it's delicious. Ha-ha, let's try it. Ooh. It's pretty good. Oh, man, we trying the barbacoa. Stop sleeping on the golden lamb. All right, we doing a shot? Of course, Abe, man. That's how you know mitlan was authentic. We got to do a shot. We doing tequila? Mezcal. All right. Okay. Let's do it. Okay, you have a rompecorazon mezcal. It's from Oaxaca. They made it with agave. Oh, okay. Okay, it's a little smoke and smooth. Okay, let's do it. So instead of lime, we do oranges. What do we say? Mezcal goes with oranges. Okay. Salud. Salud, hey. Arriba. Abajo. Al centro. Y adentro. Oh, up, down, central, right? Yeah. Oh, okay, I got it. That's what Fred was talking about. That's the mezcal. I like doing it with the orange. I like the orange. We are going to order one of each, every taco here at El Cabron. Ten tacos, one of each meat here at El Cabron. I'm going to be starving. These people are from Puebla. It says it right here. Dude, all I see is some Aztec features over here. Some nice good imagery of back in the days Aztec. And you can see over here we got some Marachi, Dias de la Muertos type stuff. I appreciate a lot of themes going on here. All right, everybody. We're here at El Cabron on Essex Street. And this spot years ago when it opened was one of the most authentic taco spots in all of lower Manhattan here. It started as this little stall here. And I remember several years ago when I was in New York. It was just this stall. And now they expanded. They bought this whole space. And they made it feel really homely. How did you feel inside there, Fred? When I walked in, straight up, I felt like I was walking in my own temple. Right. I mean there is hints of Puebla. There's all these different authentic garbs and stuff like that. Mexican clothing. So it was really cool. We got here some lamb carnitas and pastor. Okay. I'm going to go. You want to try the lamb one? I'm down for the lamb. Let's go for the lamb. Let me squeeze. Lime everything, right? Lime everything. You got it. What do you think about the radish? Should we put that radish on top? Yeah. It's optional. You don't have to. But most people do. Well, I feel like they give you the radish. Let's do the radish. Yeah. I'll go for the radish. Interesting fact that in Mexico, there's a lot of lamb and goat we usually eat. But in here in America, we don't really have that much lamb and goat. So we just go with substitute meats, chorizos, things like that for it. All right. Well, hey, you can get lamb tacos in Lower East Side. Let's go. I got the carnitas. Even though we don't have that much lamb in America, but the lamb here is not bad. A little verde. Let's go. Round two. I got the chorizo. It's very bright red. And then you got the al pastor. Yeah. Al pastor. You want a little sauce? Yes, sir. A little sauce right there. Wet it up. Let's go. I rarely ever see chorizo this bright red. It's got flavor. OK, round three. We got some of the most classic flavors here. I have a chicken one, pollo, not tinga, just regular pollo. And then you got the carne asada one. Very common. A lot of people like this. It's good to eat taco with different flavors, different meats, because, you know, they're not that big of a portion. So you can take a bite, set it to the side, and keep eating more. Round four, we got the seafood. We got the pescado, a.k.a. the fish. And then we have the spicy shrimp, a.k.a. the camarones. You know, the cooks here and the owners here are from Puebla. So in Puebla, it is landlocked. So maybe traditionally they don't eat as much shrimp and fish. But, you know, hey, like we said, in America, they're just kind of mixing all the different types of territories. Yeah. So I think the spicy shrimp one might be one of the best ones. Hmm. Yeah. You know, actually, the sauce, I think the sriracha sauce, the chipotle sauce is popular. You said sriracha. Sriracha is the Asian chipotle sauce, essentially. Oh, that's definitely come to El Cabo and get the shrimp. All right. Last round. I'm ending off with the tinga de pollo. And then you got the vegetable one. How would you say this vegetable taco in Spanish? I'm going to say taco de vegetales. I'm going to say that. All right. Let's go. Hmm. Tapping it up here at El Cabo, I would say, like, definitely the flavor of tinga, the spicy, you know, flavoring that we call tinga and mole poblano are definitely two flavors that I had so much more of while doing this video. You know, those are usual things that are a little bit deeper cut. Throughout this video, we've been through a lot of restaurants and a lot of vegan options. And I would like to say that most of the options were pretty good. Did they surprise you? Yeah, they surprised me a whole lot. So you believe now Mexican food can be vegetarian and good. I'm converting. Aren't you guys? Our next new Mexican spot in the L.E.S. is Viva Birria. Fred, what do you know about these birrian tacos? Because everybody knows that this is like, this is almost like the new way in 2022 that everybody's going towards. Birrian tacos, honestly, is one of the best tacos you can have in New York City. Traditionally, you have goat meat, but, you know, obviously they would substitute it with regular beef. But as long as they have the nice juicy spread, spread apart in your mouth type of beef, I would say it's a pretty good taco. And originally, now that it's like everywhere in Mexico and everywhere, obviously in the U.S., but it originally comes from what? Jalisco? Jalisco, yeah. Jalisco is where they originated from. What you looking at, man? I mean, what do you got? I see you got the red shell. I heard they fry the shell in like a red chili oil. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So they would grill it in hot chili oil and it turns out to be a crispy, crispy tacos. And, you know, this spot is very 2022 because I got a vegan birrian right here with a vegan consomme. Back in the days, that was not a thing. That is, that is abstract. All right, Fred, I know that they had these in L.A. for like five years, obviously in Mexico for way longer. In New York, how long has Bidia been popular? Bidia has been popular for at least three years. So honestly, you can see how the shell is very crispy. And that's what they did is that they take a soft shell tortilla and they grill it with hot chili oil. That's why you can see it's red around the shell. I actually got a chicken mole Bidia. And of course, you've got the beef. But like we said, the most classic is the goat. Why don't you go for it, man? Like we said, guys, we are only exploring new Mexican concepts in the L.E.S. for the longest time. All the authentic Mexican food in New York was more so in Corona, Queens, outside of, you know, the city. But it's coming here. Cheers. Salud. Make sure you dip it in the sauce. Like we said, guys, this is the beef consomme. You can see how they added in the cheese. And that's very important in a Bidia taco. The meat definitely is high quality. You can tell by as it goes into your mouth, it melts and spreads apart each bite. And that's when you can tell that it's a real good Bidia taco. Yeah. And I believe when it has the cheese, it's queso Bidia. Fred, we know that your mom's Mexican, your dad's Korean, but from a very traditional Latino upbringing. Right. So what do you think about the vegan Bidia? Honestly, I would not eat it. It's sus? No, I would not eat it if it was presented to me. But I'm going to try it. In the vegan consomme too. This is the first time Fred is jeopardizing his machismo to try the vegan Bidia consomme. Fred, you a man. Not a vegan. I love Dios. This guy acting like it. No, no. I'm telling you, it's good as shit, man. Just say what's real. Say how you really feel about it. What do you think? Dude, this Bidia taco, vegan taco, is probably one of the best tacos I've had. Regardless not being meat. Really? This guy capping so hard. This guy capping like Cap G. You guys, do you know what it's made out of? No. It's made out of jackfruit. Jackfruit. You know jackfruit is like a Southeast Asian fruit? I don't know that. Yo, jackfruit is really delicious, guys. Have you guys ever had jackfruit chips? Incredible. If I'm being honest with you, David, this is disgustingly good. I would eat this on a regular basis. This man said it's disgustingly good. Do you think that's better than the beef here? Be real. No, no. But it's still good. All right, you guys. So we just got done trying some new age Bidia tacos here in the LES. Where are we off to next? We're about to go to some more deep cut Mexican food around New York City. What can you tell us about Couché that's unique and also new to the New York environment? Couché is a restaurant owned by Chef Julio Medina. He has several restaurants in the city. This one is his latest one. He has a couple in Midtown, 14th Street. This one is a little bit different because it's more like what you find in small towns like in Puebla and Oaxaca. So it's more like a home style cooking. Would you say it's a style of Mexican food that's difficult to find in Manhattan? It might be more common outside in Pomona or maybe not even in America. Definitely, definitely. You'll find spots like small spots in Queens and Jackson Heights and Groovesville. You'll find a spot where people are cooking this kind of style. So this is the same thing but with a little more flair. This is not gringo Mexican? It's not. Where is most of the food from? Like the general Mexican restaurants in New York City, where are they usually from? Is it from Mexico City, Jalisco, Tijuana? How would you describe it? This is actually a big list. I feel like most people start with tacos. Tacos are everywhere in Mexico. But some people focus more on tacos from Mexico City. And then they start going. A lot of restaurants they just mix. Different regions. They're not even focusing on one specific region. They just add and that's why a lot of people get confused with what Mexican food is. Because they will mix tacos with enchiladas and birria from Yucatan. They mix a lot of stuff. This one is more like an authentic Oaxacan and Puebla. Aren't you guys? We are looking at the craziest mocajete that I have ever seen in my entire life. We've got a chicharron chip. We've got some really crazy camarones, shrimp. We've got a big piece of cheese. We've got all types of stuff. So mocajete guys is actually derived from an Aztecan word for mortar and pestle. Oh my goodness. Oh my god. You guys. This is one of the best things I've eaten all month. No cap. Honestly it sounds crazy guys. I can taste some of the volcanic rock. Which is actually the mortar and pestle that it's inside of. Which is defining of the mocajete. Chorizo, green onion bulb. Dave is hyping up this mocajete. And I'll tell you this man. The presentation as well. I'm going to take some of this Mexican cheese, the quesilla. I'm going to put it on my purple corn. I might take a little. Oh this blistered pepper. Wow. I split in half. I'm only going to use part of that. Because that's crazy. And then I'm going to get some chicken. Let me get a little onions. A little rice and beans. Wow. Look at that. Purple corn tortilla. Let's go. Oh. Mmm. You know. In Chinese culture we have clay pots. And in Mexican culture they got mocajete pots. Mmm. I don't think every Mexican restaurant is going to serve this dish. But if you get the chance to try a good one. Definitely order the mocajete plate. One of the dishes they're most known for is their mole poblano. This is a chicken thigh in some delicious mole. Mmm. Oh that's chicken breast. Okay. Let's get it. And yeah. Basically this is not a dish that you're going to find at any sort of gringo spots. Obviously it's either going to be at an authentic mom and pop spot that's very cheap. Or a spot like Cuche who's trying to expose people to this dish. So I got my little rice and beans. Mole poblano. Mmm. Wow. Very sweet. Nutty. Got a lot of seasoning. You know. There's almost a little bit of sense that it almost tastes like a curry at this point. Like a dark. Kind of like almost Japanese curry. But it got a little bit more of that earthy spiciness. It's really good here guys. This to me is a great introduction to mole. Because you know. A lot of people not really on mole yet. Mmm. For those who haven't had mole. It's almost like a chocolatey curry. I really recommend you guys try it. It's a little bit sweet. Um. Man. You know it. And maybe the kids aren't really on it. But if they had this one. I think everybody would like mole. Right here I got what they call a machete. And I do think the story is. That it is based off of the machete knife. That a lot of the farmers are used. Um. So it's kind of like a quesadilla. But it's got a little bit extra things. So let's cut it up. Get a nice little. You're using a machete to cut the machete? Woo. Wow. Look at that. Purple corn. Just like that. I think you got a little. You know. Spicy chicken in there. Let's get it. My very first machete. Mmm. Tastes a lot. Kind of like. Things that you might find in a torta. Except more into a quesadilla style. Um. It's pretty good. And man. It kind of tastes like a sandwich. Here's a dish that I've never had before. This is tacos placeros. And placeros means plaza. And I think that's because a lot of like. Life in Mexico is. You know. Centered around like plazas. You know. Where people gather and stuff like that. So this chicken right here. Looks a little bit like. A chicken cutlet. Or chicken katsu. So who knows. They might have similar roots. So this might be like a. You know. More recent dish of the last hundred years. Alright guys. Oh. Tons of cheese and guacamole on top. Mmm. Oh. That's pretty good. I'm gonna hit it with a little lime. Put a little verde sauce on there. Might get a little bit of. Pickled onions. Wow. Adds a little pink to it. That's cool. Tacos placeros. Mmm. I think Cucha is a really really cool restaurant. Because even five years ago. You would not have expected. To ever see a restaurant. This kind of high end. And hipster and cool. That is serving Puebla. And Oaxacan food. So I'm really glad. That they're bringing it to market. I want to see them be successful. Because the flavors are very different. And it's just kind of showing a new side. Of Mexican food. You know. We're always talking about. All the different sides of Chinese food. And I'm just excited to see. The different sides of Mexican food. Because Mexican food. Is very very vast. There's a lot of different regions. And a lot of different areas. So. I'm excited to explore even more. But. Shout out to Cucha. Alright. We're here in the lower east side. Here at Factory Tamal. And this is one of the few spots. In the city. That you can buy actual tamales at. The owners are from Puebla. And a lot of the stuff on the menu. Is very authentic. And some of it is like. Kind of new fusion stuff. Alright. I got my food here at Factory Tamal. You know. Most of this food is based. Off of food that you would find. In Puebla city. The capital of Puebla. And all of it's all pretty authentic. Except for this one. This one is the Ludlow torta. And it has like pastrami. Obviously. You know. That's like the New York one. But let me try the tinga one first. Because this is the authentic one. Oh. Take a look. How juicy that is. The greens. The tinga. The spicy chicken. The tomato. The jalapenos. Let's go. Mmm. That's a good spicy chicken sandwich. I feel like. Most spicy chickens in America. Are based off of the Mexican tinga. Spicy chicken. That's just my feeling. Alright. Next tamale is the rajas con queso. I believe that is like peppers and cheese. Oh. This one looks delicious. Get a little cheese stretch in there. Oh. Mmm. Spicy. Cheesy. That's one of my favorites so far. Alright. Next up. I have the salsa verde chicken. Man. I just think it's really cool. To be able to get tamales up the street. From where I live. Guys. We have like a lot of Mexican spots. In New York City. That you've seen in this video. A lot of fusion spots. Some authentic spots. Some spots that remind you. Of Jackson Heights. Queens. Um. And some spots that. You know. Maybe remind you of LA. Mmm. Verde chicken. With the green. Mmm. Yum. It's hard to find such a homemade dish. Here in New York City. Sometimes. And. Man. You know. We actually had. Mexican neighbors. Back in the. Seattle area. That we grew up in. And when they first moved in. They would exchange tamales with us. As we exchanged like dumplings. And like. Other things. Other things with them. So. I thought that was like a really cool. Cultural exchange. It kind of reminds me of that. Because honestly. Nowadays. I don't get the chance to eat a lot of tamales. Buenos dias everybody. We'll be looking at some. Desayuno food. Which is. You know. Breakfast food in Mexico. Yeah. These are really simple dishes. From an LA spot. Called Puebla. The people who own this spot. Are from Puebla. Mexico. Uh. Which is near Oaxaca. We are looking at a. Chili rellenos. This is. Pollo and mole poblano. This is. Huevos a la mexicana. I believe right here. This is. Adobo de puerco. This is. Chiquiles. And this is. Huevos rancheros. Yo. Fred. Do I know how to speak Spanish. Or what? You know how to speak Spanish. Alright. I did say. Huevos a la mexicana. Fred. For the uninitiated. What is a chili relleno? So basically. What they did is. They fill it up with. Uh. Cheese sticks. And they fry it with egg. Okay. So yeah. This is almost like a. Omelette. But with a. Egg thing right here. Andrew. I know. Andrew. I know this is one of Andrew's favorite dishes. Chili relleno. Fred. You saw me using my fork. I can do this though. Right? You can. But what you can do is. Also is using tortillas. And grabbing. Scooping up some. Frijoles con arroz. Con mole. We just dig it up like this. And we just eat it with our hands. Okay. Oh. Oh my goodness. Guys. Hey. I'm not going to lie. The chili relleno. It almost tastes like. A little bit like. Dad's. Like Cantonese. Like egg. Um. David. Did you know that. Mole is made out of. Three chili saucers. I actually had no idea. What mole was. Literally I had no idea. What mole was. I know that it's something. That more like. Mexicans eat though. Like. Like the. The western people. Who enjoy Mexican food. They wouldn't even get into mole. Oh. It's good. The mole. Is good. Uh. I think this one got messed up. A little bit. In delivery. But this is. Huevos a la mexicana. What is this Fred? Uh. What you're looking at here. Is just some eggs. With ham. With jalapenos. Mix it with some frijoles. Which is black beans. Over here. Huevos a la mexicana. Mmm. Uh. This is. Adobo de puerco. This is the green sauce. I heard that you can also get it. With the red sauce. We've got. Chiquiles. And we've got. Huevos rancheros. Which just means. Rancher style eggs. Because I know. That a lot of people do farm work. Interestingly enough. Guys. Correct me if I'm wrong. Fred. I heard that. Chiquiles. Is a word that comes. From the Aztec language. David. You are not wrong about that. Oh. See. Fred. You gotta show me. I don't know. David. Just do it like how Fred does it. Ah. I wanna be cultural. Do it like how Fred does it. Rip your tortilla. Oh. In half. Okay. Yeah. Rip your tortilla in half. Grab the meat. Grab the rice. Grab the chili. Get the beans. And just eat that whole. Yeah. You guys. Adobo de puerco. Oh. My goodness. Man. The adobo de puerco. Pretty spicy. No. It is. That green sauce. That green chili. That's packing some punch. Fred. How are we gonna eat the chiquiles. If there's already a tortilla underneath it. All you gotta do is grab a knife. Cut that in half. Go for it. Go for it man. Yeah. Yo. I heard that the word chiquiles comes from the Nahuatl language. Which is actually was the main language of the Aztecs. Oh my gosh. Oh. Look at Fred. With the chiquiles going crazy. You gotta get some meat in there. Yeah. Let me get some of the meat in there. Chiquiles. It tastes different. It tastes different than the tortilla. Fred. Does this remind you of stuff that you ate growing up? Um. Actually. Honestly. As a kid. I remember back in like what? Middle school? Every morning. Not every morning. But occasionally. My mom would. Um. She's from Morelos, Coatla. And she would make beans, eggs. And with a side of bacon. And uh. Yeah. This brings me back. These are some very very home style homemade dishes right? Oh yeah. Yeah. These are very home style. Um. This really brings me back to when I was a kid. Eating it. Um. There's a lot of flavor into it. For sure. I'm gonna go ahead and say my favorite was the chili relleno. Or actually the huevos a la mexicana. The really simple one. And the really complicated one. What was your favorite? Um. I'm gonna say. I'm gonna say the. The mole. Oh. The mole. And you're not even that big of a mole guy right? Not really. But like. Even though it's not that spicy. But it's like. Catered to like um. A lot of um. Americans. But. I'm also like kinda half American. Half like Mexican. So. Uh. It's. It works for me. Alright guys. We got two sodero tacos. And. This originated in Mexico City. And the meat here is from like the middle portion of the cow's leg and belly. So like in the middle over there. Which is the sodero meat. And this is um. Very common in uh. Street vendors. Uh. You can find this in your tortas too. So. Let's just give it a try. The meat's smooth. Let me add some lime here. Um. What I like about this taco is that they added a radish here. And it's like. You don't really see that. Like. In most of like um. Hispanic restaurants. Or. Out here in New York. But. This makes it a little bit more authentic. Alright. Cesar. What we got going on at Casa Volcado man? So at Casa Volcado we have some authentic Mexican food. So we have three examples right here in front of you. Over here we have some taquitos. Some shredded beef. With some tamarind. Crema fresca. And a nice coleslaw on top. Right next to it we have the churro sundae. Homemade churros. Coated with cinnamon sugar. Vanilla ice cream. Mezcal whipped cream. A elote. Esquites. The Mexican style street corn. You have some chipotle salsa. Tajin. Cojita cheese. And lime. Right. And even you guys put the agua. The water. In a tequila bottle. Right? You have to. Due to the fact that we are so busy during the weekend. That on our first weekend. As a little fact. We sold 25 cases of Altos tequila. So we were like. Why are we going to throw it away? It's recycled. Right. So let's put the water back in. Real quick. One question. Can you tell me about the development of the consumption of authentic Mexican food in New York? Because New York is not a place known for Mexican food. We needed to bring something different. Everybody was so used to Tex-Mex. And getting nachos. And your quesadilla. That's not Mexico. Mexico is. Variety. More typical flavors. That people want to try. So. As soon as you get into those flavors. People see the difference. And they want to try. So we have. You know. Tried to incorporate everything. And teach everybody. As they come through the door. That nachos are not Mexican. You know. Yeah. We do have. Like. Taquitos. You know. The little chips. But they're not. With shredded beef. And everything else. It's just a side. So flavors have to be consistent. Do you think people are starting to learn? They are learning. We have a good following. Which we are grateful for. And. They come back for the flavors. Would you say you guys are happy to be part of this? Authentic Mexican movement? Yes. We are. Aren't you guys? We're at Casa Bocado. They do a lot of authentic things. But they do have a slight twist. This is Mezcal. Whipped cream. With the churros. Guys. And of course. A skull. That reminds me of Los Dias De Muertos. And I learned Andrew. That on Los Dias Dos Muertos. Andrew. They're trying to find their way. To Miklan. So. It all connects. Guys. I'm learning so much. Of course. You guys. I had to get the churros. From Dias De Los Muertos. You know. If you die. Guys. We were learning earlier. Man. You know. It's all the people from Miklan. Coming back. So. There's a lot of like. Aztecan. And folklore. It's very dope. It's one of the best churros I've ever had in my life. You guys. There's Mezcal. In this whipped cream. I'm telling you guys. That's authentic fusion. At it's best. Alright. Here. I got the beef taquitos. With tinga sauce. Tinga's kind of like. You know. Often times. It's more tingo de pollo. Which is like the spicy chicken sauce. But they're doing it with beef. Now. A lot of people think taquitos. Because. I grew up eating the frozen ones. I didn't know if it was an authentic Mexican dish. But it really is. And here. You can tell. It's almost like a fried tortilla. Stuffed with it. Right there. Get some sauce. Make sure I get some lettuce. It's going to be super. Super crunchy. Watch this. Mmm. I'm sure a lot of people out there. They grow up eating. You know. American food. They've had some version of a taquito. But let me tell you. Most of you probably haven't had. An authentic. Authentic. Real taquito. And it is good. The tinga sauce is very. You know. Spicy. And a little bit smoky. And it's super. Super crunchy. Of course. Here. We have the esquites. That's pretty much just elote. Except off the cob. We had it earlier. On the cob. And it's cool to just try different versions. Because. I'm trying to decide which one I prefer. But. I like them both. There's something about eating it off the cob. That is. It's hard to replace. But. This is just. Easier. Mmm. Okay. Definitely one of the better esquites I've had. And what I like about this. Is when it's off the cob. I can take it. And scoop it onto something else. Ohhh. Throughout this video. I have realized. For myself. And this is a me thing. That the esquites is a great complement to a lot of dishes. It's sweet. It's corny. It's a little creamy. Got the cheese on it. Mmm. In this video. We got to travel to a lot of different Mexican spots. And each one has a different vibe. This one's supposed to be a little bit more fun. There's ones that are more serious. But. I can tell you this man. I can see myself coming back later and partying at Picado. I mean. Look at this. Alright you guys. We're here at El Churro. It is owned by a Mexican. But apparently Fred. Did you know this? The churro is from Spain. Uh. No. I did not know that. But uh. Did you know that Spanish was from Spain? Oh yeah. Yeah. No. You didn't know? A lot of people don't know that. Uh. Can you help us? Introduce. What is this? Uh. This is white chocolate. This is caramel. And this is that. Yes. Oh. Okay. This is white chocolate. Mmm. So this is gringo chocolate? Yes. Blanco chocolate. Alright. Oh. White chocolate's pretty good. I want to get like a. Like a s'more. A s'more. Alright. My favorite. Was honestly the uh. The white chocolate dip. This. Was probably the best. For me at least. Caramel. Alright. So uh. We're with the owner of El Churro. What made you want to do this in such like a modern setting? Uh. We always want to do what we love. And that's what I love. And you love churros? I love churros. And I love uh. Things to be nice and clean and sleek. And uh. We made it. Would you say that this is the most modern churro spot in the world? It's probably the most uh. New York churros. In New York. Yeah. Okay. Hey. Well they're good. So check it out. Alright. So what do we got there? I got a quesadilla. The asada. That comes with. Let me open it. This is my food right? So. That's your lunch my man. It's my lunch. My hands are kind of safe. So it has asada. Cheese. Pichito de gallo. Normally it comes with guac. It's pretty good. I don't like it. I don't want it. You're trying to keep it simple. I want to keep it simple. So how would you describe the food that is served here? I would describe it as pretty good. Very authentic. I mean like it's very authentic. Yes. And then most people don't know what is the birria. Are you from Mexico? I'm from Mexico City. Oh you're from Mexico City. But my parents, they're not. They're different states. Like my dad is from Oaxaca. And my mom is from Morelos. So there's three different things. Oh Cuauhtla Morelos. Yes. Shout out to Fred and Cuauhtla. Cuauhtla's the. Cuauhtla Morelos. Awesome. Um. What's it like been like for you to educate people who probably only ate like tacos. Taco Bell is fast food. For me that is just like a snack. I don't consider that Mexican. Do people ask for hard shell tacos? Yes. But there's some places they do have it because of Texas. Like Tex-Mex. Yes. Do you **** with Tex-Mex Mexican food or you don't like it? I have tried it. It's okay. I'm not going to say anything. I'm like it's okay. What's your opinion on Taco Bell? Taco Bell. I'm not going to lie to you guys. I eat it. But nothing compared to original Mexican food. When they tell me I want cheap. This is not Mexican. Alright you guys. We're at Taco Village. And we had to get another version of Birria Ramen because this is a little bit more popular cart style. As you can see it's the consomme but underneath boom. We got the maruchan. That's what we call it in Cantonese. This is just instant noodles. Hey. Honestly. Shout out to this guy. It hits different when it's out of the maruchan cup. Look. Next up. You guys are looking at al pastor de milanesa. This is a very classic torta flavor. Very authentic here. Let's pop the top. Boom. This is like the first torta I ever had in New York City. So. Taco Village. What are you doing bro? I'm doing. You know. Andrew's behind the camera. So we can't do this. But I'm just trying to think about what he would do. No. Bro. Alright. We got three tacos here. You got carne asada and chorizo mix. And then you got pescado. And then you got cactus. And these are some. I like how it's almost like very traditional. But kind of done in a more non-traditional way. I guess. You know. It looks a little bit more like updated. But cactus is very traditional. No foul. Yo. Cactus. It's kind of juicy. Got a nice little texture to it. It's a little bit sour. But overall man. You guys got to try it. It is a way to get your veggies in. Here I got pescado. Fish taco. Take it to the Baja with that one. Champeno. Half chorizo. Half carne asada. Little green sauce. Mmm. That's a great mixture. Kind of reminds me of a pepperoni sausage pizza. Got two different types of meat. It's not too salty. Like chorizo might be if it was on its own. But it's got a little bit more salt than just beef. I think. I think the spot got such a vibe man. They are definitely appealing to the millennial in me. Because they're playing all of Pharrell's old cuts. So. Shout out to Taco Village. Check it out when you're on McDougal. It's a gem out here.