Mexico: 5 Underrated Mexican Food That Are Not Tacos

Mexico is known to have one of the most popular and diverse cuisines on Earth. Its most famous food are tacos. There are plenty of recipes and styles for making tacos across various regions in Mexico.

There are Al Pastor, Birria, Barbacoa, fish tacos, and the American version made famous by Taco Bell. However, we will not talk about tacos here. We will talk about the other Mexican food that people do not seem to talk about as much as tacos, burritos, and tamales.

Underrated Mexican Food You Need to Try

According to Slight North, Mexican cuisine is very diverse, as each region has its own takes on a particular food. Let's now look at five popular Mexican dishes that are still pretty famous but not talked about much.

Mole Poblano

Like tacos, mole is a type of Mexican food that has varied forms across the country. Mole Poblano, however, is a staple of Oaxacan cuisine and is perhaps the most iconic type of mole.

Making one is time-consuming, often taking almost an entire day to make. However, the end result is just simply divine. While many know it as a stew of chicken, chilis, and chocolate, it is much more than that.

It is a complex mingling of flavors, from the chilis' spiciness to the chocolate's bittersweet accent. It is a truly ancient dish, dating back to the pre-Spanish colonial era, and it is no wonder why it has lasted for so long.

Torta Ahogada

Tortas are Mexican sandwiches that often live in the shadow of the popularity of tacos. They are meaty, hearty, and filling, and in some areas in Mexico, they are actually more popular than tacos.

Like most sandwiches, there are also plenty of variations, and the Torta Ahogada is one of the standouts. Popular in Jalisco, its name literally means "drowned sandwich."

It is typically made of white bread filled with pork and smothered in salsa. It is reminiscent of the French Dip, a popular sandwich dipped in gravy, but this one has a more Mexican feel to it.

Pozole

Like the mole, the pozole is also an ancient dish that survived before the Spanish conquered the Aztecs. This soup was eaten as a celebratory dish during the reign of the Aztecs, and it is still served as a main dish today. According to Culture Trip, it had quite a grim past, as legend says that originally, human meat was used in the dish.

Luckily, that is not the case anymore. It is usually a soup with meat, corn, various vegetables, and spices. It is hearty and filling, perfect for those cold winter nights.

Dorilocos

While many Mexicans feel that Americans have bastardized the taco, they still could not ignore their mighty neighbor in the north.

American products have seeped into everyday Mexican life, including American chips. In particular, Doritos, which street food vendors around Mexico remake into a uniquely Mexican dish called Dorilocos.

An old boring bag of Doritos? Well, slice it open, smother it with salsa, cheese, peanuts, chicharron, and chiles, and we have ourselves one of the most interesting Mexican street foods ever concocted.

Each vendor has its own combo, resulting in a varied combination of flavors between each vendor.

Elotes

Another Mexican street food is corn. Corn was a sacred crop to the Aztecs back in the day. And as Western influences intermingled with them to form the modern Mexico we see today, we get Elotes. It is basically corn on the cob but smothered in cheese (usually queso fresco) and salsa.

Eating this fresh and hot Mexican food is a treat, and it has even come to the United States. In particular, this type of corn street food has become popular in the Los Angeles street food scene.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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