I’m currently reading Eat This Book, about the world of competitive eating. The amount of food some people can put away in a competition is absolutely staggering. The gap between an average eater like me and a top competitive eater is much larger than most other individual sports I can think of. Like, I’d be terrible at the long jump, but there’s no way the world’s greatest long jumper could jump ten times as far as me. But the world’s greatest eater, Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi, routinely eats fifty hot dogs. Maybe I could eat five hot dogs if you offered me a large cash prize. There’s apparently no trick to it any more than there’s a trick to long-jumping: it’s a combination of genes, technique, and practice. (Kobayashi, incidentally, is a skinny guy, not a sumo wrestler.)
Today I could have used a little of the Kobayashi spirit, because I went on a taco crawl. A taco crawl is where a group of friends caravans around a neighborhood, hitting all the taquerias and sampling a taco or two at each one. Today’s crawl focused on White Center and Burien.
I made it to three taquerias before throwing in the towel. Admittedly, I had a hard time sticking to one taco per stand, as some of the more disciplined members of the crawl were doing. (Nobody seemed to be disciplined enough to order the same taco at each stand, though.)
When I say “taqueria,” I’m actually talking about taco trucks–two out of the three places I went to were trucks. I can’t explain why, but I’d be hard-pressed to name anything I consider cooler than a taco truck. To me, anything cooked in a truck tastes better. One of the truck, Taqueria El Rincón, added a bonus: you get to sit and eat in the truck, which is outfitted with stools and a counter on each side. That was my favorite stop of the day, partly because I got to eat in the truck and partly because I had a mulita.
I had little success tracking down the origin of the mulita, by which I mean I didn’t learn much in ten minutes on Google and Wikipedia. (I even checked Spanish Wikipedia, so you know I’m serious.) Two of the taco crawlers were friends from San Francisco, and they complained that they never see mulitas there. They seem to show up mostly in Seattle, LA, and Hawaii.
A mulita is the sort of thing you’d invent on the late-night shift at Taco Bell if Taco Bell had really great ingredients. Like a taco, it beings with two corn tortillas and your choice of meat. Unlike a taco, the meat is sandwiched between the tortillas, along with avocado (sometimes guacamole), cheese, cilantro, onions, and salsa. The mulita is then crisped on both sides on the griddle.
Of course, this will run you more than the regular taco. The going rate for mulitas in Seattle is $2.
From today’s Yahoo picks:
http://tacohunt.blogspot.com/
And on the related topic of Mexican food, I tried to talk a friend into making the Bayless Chipotle Meatballs the other night but she wouldn’t bite, so we made his tortilla soup with chicken instead. Sooooo easy and sooooo tasty. Highly recommended.
Cochinita pibil taco? I’m considering a move to LA!
Chortling at the thought of Matthew, Laurie, and Iris living in LA…
Never heard of the mulita before and being a native Texan, I thought I knew a lot about Mexican food. But it sounds yummy, and I’ll keep my eyes open. There are some taco stands near my house but I’ve never had the courage to try them–perhaps it’s time!
Hey, I had lengua at every stop. Any time you want more tacos Matthew just let me know.
Rocky, I didn’t mean to impugn your discipline. Those lengua tacos sure are good–they were Iris’s favorite last time we went to Rinconsito.
My wife gets the Crunchwrap Supreme at Taco Bell. Sounds like what you’re talking about, the Americanized, Corporate Fast-Food version of what you’re talking about.
I wonder how many readers I’ll lose if I admit that I kind of like the Crunchwrap Supreme. (I think I’d like it better with grated cheese instead of nacho sauce.)
This is a funny coincidence – I am going to share this with my husband because he think I am snooty about not going to Taco Bell – We were driving back from Canada this weekend and he made my stop at a Taco Bell (my first time in 8 years). I had the crunchwrap supreme too and it was better than the fare I had expected.
I have tried a few stands and taco stores in Burien and they are heads and shoulders above Taco Bell. It is a funny experience going to those stores as my husband and I end up being the only non-Latinos in the restaurant – I blend in a little as I am Indian, but Eric sticks out like a sore thumb:)
I just had a mulita carnitas from Taqueria de Pasadita – TASTY. Their tacos pastor were okay (they’re in the parking lot of the Shell on Northgate and I5 – west of the mall). The best taco stand ever is Taco de Asadero, on Rainier. Here’s a fun website: http://www.lostacotrucks.com
here in portland, we put bikes in the mix and have monthly public pub crawls.
but in june, we have taco crawls, donut crawls and a few more.
i’m thinking about organizing a ride in january called the coffee cup relay.