This week: Pork Chile Verde served up by Casa Reynoso.
¿Como se dice?: Pork chile verde can be found on menus across the Valley, but a good chile verde is hard to find. It's delicious as a filling for burritos and tacos, topping tostadas, or all on its own with a mound of fluffy tortillas to sop up the goodness. Tart and tangy tomatillos blended with a variety of roasted green chiles, and tender chunks of stewed pork. Our mouths are watering just thinking about it.(sink your teeth into all the spicy details after the jump)
La Comida: We tried the pork chile verde two ways at Casa Reynoso, in the Joanne Special and the Gollo Burro. The Joanne Special is a crispy corn tortilla topped with a generous portion of their pork chile verde and smothered in cheese. The Gollo Burro is their signature burrito filled with pork chile verde, pinto beans, and onions. Make sure to ask for the burro smothered in green sauce if you want to feel even more of the pork chile verde love.El Sabor: Even though it's on just about any Mexican menu, good pork chile verde can be hard to find in the valley. It's a fine balance between tart tomatillo, smoky chiles, and tender pork. No tomatoes in this chile con carne! Often, we run into pork chile verde where the tomatillo is so prominent it sours the entire plate and makes our mouth pucker. Other times, the pork is shredded into strings to the point where it's nearly non-existent, and we spend all meal searching for a bit o' meat.
At Casa Reynoso, the pork chile verde is a perfect harmony of heat, flavor, and pork. Large chunks of fork-tender pork and an abundance of green chiles that have been stewed long and low until they practically melt in your mouth. Order enchiladas, burritos, tamales, and just about anything else off the menu and ask for it topped with the green sauce. Or eat it by the bowl with a side of tortillas to sop up the remnants. And if you absolutely have to order the chimichanga, at least get it smothered in the good stuff.
Bring a bit of México to your kitchen: Pork chile verde is fairly easy to make at home. There's a couple steps involved, but if you love chile verde like we do, it's only a matter of time until you need to suck it up and get to cookin. We recommend heading to Food City, El Super, or the Ranch Pro to pick up all your ingredients on the cheap: tomatillos, garlic, chiles, and the most important ingredient of all, pork butt. Try your hand at making pork chile verde and see if it stacks up to your favorite Mexican joint.
Know of any Mexican gems in the Valley? Reveal your family secrets in the comment section.