- Alright, check it out, guys.
It's Trevor James.
We are in Oaxaca, beautiful Oaxaca,
and we're going for a full-on street food tour today.
It's gonna be great.
There's gonna be a ton of delicious street food.
Let's check it out.
(upbeat music)
We're going deep for more amazing street food.
This is part two of four of our Oaxacan street food series
that's gonna make your mouth water.
And today, we found six incredible street foods
that you're gonna love.
So make sure to watch all the way until the end
to enjoy them all with us.
Let's eat.
So right up ahead, for the first meal of the day,
we're gonna go to a famous restaurant
for a classic Oaxacan breakfast.
I can't wait to try this out.
I've heard a lot of good things.
Oh, yeah, all this,
all the Oaxacan street snacks are in here.
Oh, yeah.
Look at that.
That's the comal.
That's the comal there where they're making
the classic stuffed triangular tortillas.
Look at that.
We're gonna go in and try some of those out.
Oh, this is the corn.
And I hear that this place,
the cornflour is all 100% organic.
And you can get a ton of different stuff on that comal oven.
We're gonna go sit down and try it out.
Look at this.
There's a few different types of tetela.
- Tetela.
- Tetela, and they just put a fried egg on there.
We are definitely gonna have to order up a tetela.
I think they actually also have some scrambled eggs,
different types of eggs,
so many different fillings over there.
This is gonna be an incredible Oaxacan breakfast.
Okay, let's go try it out.
We truly found the comal oven jackpot.
You can order up so many different varieties
of stuffed tortillas here, like the triangular tetelas
and the flat blue corn quesadillas, all grilled
right before your eyes and stuffed with your choice
of a huge selection of marinated and spiced meats and veg,
some famous ones being the tinga del pollo chicken
made in a tomato sauce with chipotle chilies and onions,
along with some eggs and sausage,
refried black beans, and mushrooms.
And when you walk up and see all the action
and all the flavors, there's no going back.
You've entered Oaxacan breakfast heaven.
Wow, look at what we got here, a huge Oaxacan breakfast.
This is the chilaquiles.
Wow.
These are fried corn tortilla covered in a chipotle sauce
with some cheese, mayo, and onions.
Unbelievable.
And then look at this here.
I believe it's called hierba santa,
which is a local herb on top of this tortilla.
And actually, inside, there should be a fried egg.
Let's see.
Oh, yeah.
And they make all of this on the comal.
Yeah, there is a fried egg in there as well.
We have another tortilla here.
This is blue cornflour.
You can really smell that.
There's a fried egg on top.
Right on top of that comal,
you can see them making the eggs back there.
That smoky comal is really unlike anything else.
And then over here,
we have a few different types of tetelas.
This, oh, is like a stuffed corn tortilla.
They load it with the base of fried pork lard,
so it gives it a nice aroma.
There's some refried beans, the frijoles,
and then there is some mayo and cheese.
And this one, I believe,
is also the same herb that we got, the hierba santa.
And then this over here is pozole, chicken soup.
Look at all this corn.
That's amazing.
And this also should have that hierba santa local herb.
And also a classic chocolate drink,
champurrado, chocolate and corn.
And I'm just loving the whole scene here.
We're definitely gonna load up with some salsa verde.
This is made with green tomatillos and chili and onion.
And then we're also gonna add, oh, yeah, look at that,
we're gonna definitely add some red salsa in there.
I'm just gonna wrap that up.
Oh, yeah, beautiful corn tortilla.
(moans) Oh, wow.
That is definitely, it almost has
like a minty, a mintiness to it.
With the salsa, those salsa combined
are actually very spicy.
The best part about this whole meal
is the way the flavors are so wholesome, filling, hearty,
and full of that rich organic corn flavor.
We're gonna go in for this tetela here.
Look at that.
Beautiful.
(moans) Oh, yeah.
It's all about the filling.
That is so flavorful.
The filling, those mushrooms,
that really nice mushroom aroma with onions as well.
And the mayo actually definitely gives it
an extra burst of juice.
After trying each dish one by one,
like the beautiful rich corn and chicken soup
with a slight minty kick,
the thick chocolate and corn drink,
and the soothingly spicy and smooth chilaquiles,
we made our way to a local market to see what other
amazing Oaxacan street foods we could find.
That was amazing.
A perfect start to the day, nice big Oaxacan breakfast.
We're gonna go to a huge market now
and try out way more street food.
It's gonna be a full packed day
of eating Oaxacan street food.
Let's check it out.
So we made it into the largest market of Oaxaca,
full of beautiful veg.
It really smells amazing here, full of meat and spices.
And we're gonna go in deep and see what we can find to eat.
Oh, what's this?
What's this up here?
So this is tejate.
I've heard all about this in Oaxaca.
It is chocolate with corn, ooh, and ice.
And that powdery stuff is cornflour, I believe.
Look at that, look at that.
That is really what I've been looking forward
to trying here in Oaxaca.
I've heard so much
about all of the chocolate in Oaxaca, the cocoa.
You can actually see people grinding the cocoa on the street
and little bowls like this full of chocolate and corn.
Let's try it out.
(moans) Oh, oh.
Oh, that's really nice. (moans)
It's actually a little chalky, and it's definitely sweet.
But there is an underlying earthy chalkiness to it
that is actually, it's very refreshing.
It's kinda like your, you've got this powdery corn,
and then you've got really sweet chocolate.
We're just getting warmed up.
After going deeper into the market, we found a few
amazing specialties like stuffed chili peppers,
home-ground cocoa chocolate milkshake,
Oaxacan string cheese, and another huge comal oven feast.
We've got a big day of eating,
and we're going deep in to see what else we can find.
Oh, wow, just mountains and mountains of chapulines.
It's beautiful.
We had these the other day in the other market,
so we're gonna keep exploring and see what else we can find,
but this is a true classic specialty in Oaxaca.
Chapulines, ah.
Okay, let's keep exploring.
Next up, we found a corner of the market
that had lots of little snacks and Oaxacan specialties
like Oaxacan string cheese.
When you walk up, you're immediately offered a free sample.
So we try it out, bought a bag,
and then continued deep into the Food Ranger exploration.
Oh, look at this.
Oh, the cheese.
We found some queso, Oaxaca de queso.
So this is the Oaxacan white cheese.
I think it's actually a bit like mozzarella.
And you can see they sell it all up here in,
it's almost like stringy.
And let's try it out. (moans)
It's actually seasoned very well.
It's quite stringy, a little rubbery, a little salty.
You can get that in your quesadillas,
all the street food here.
After buying a bag of that string cheese,
we found even more street snacks right beside her.
Oh, yeah, look what we found.
There's more here.
Oh, look at this.
We just found, it's like the full toppings bar.
Look at this.
Stuffed chilies.
So there's chicken and cheese,
two different types of stuffed chilies.
Visiting a local salad bar like this in Oaxaca
not only shows you the diversity and the color
of Oaxacan cuisine with dishes like nopales,
prickly pear cactus salad, and lots of different salsas
and refried beans, but it also shows you how friendly
the locals are and how far you can get
just by practicing a few words of Spanish
or any new language you're learning along the way.
And for me, that's the best way to learn,
by hitting the market, going deep, smiling,
making mistakes, and having fun while you do it,
all while eating delicious food.
Oh, look at that.
It's still warm.
Oh, very nice.
There's actually a thick layer of batter on that.
And let's see inside.
Ooh, ooh, look at that.
It's plump with chicken.
That batter is thick.
That egg batter, it's almost like
there's a pancake on the outside of the chicken.
It's a smooth tomato, onion flavor, very fragrant
with that tomato and onion, almost a little sweet.
And there is definitely, oh, oily, thick batter,
like a pancake on there.
Oh, yeah, just loving the color,
the smells, the life in the market.
And just look at that, look at that.
That's one stall, was just one of hundreds
of beautiful, beautiful flavors here.
Oh, fresh guacamole, salsas, it's all here,
and we're gonna keep going deeper
into the market and find more.
Awesome.
Looks like we also found,
oh, look at this, they're making fresh,
chocolate?
- Chocolate.
Oh, yeah, look at this.
They're making the powder
that you can put in and make a chocolate shake.
And right when you walk up,
you actually smell a strong cinnamon aroma.
Oh, Oaxaca de chocolate.
Look over here.
This is where they keep all the ingredients.
There's tons of sugar, cinnamon.
There's the cocoa, natural,
and then this one down here is the raw unground cocoa.
And you can get a chocolate shake with milk here, frozen.
I've been looking forward to this for so long
because this is all natural Mexican chocolate.
And they're making it in a big grinder just right there.
Watching the preparation of the chocolate powder
is almost intoxicating.
It fills you with this deep happiness
the instant you smell the strong cinnamon flavor
of all the cacao all being ground up in the grinder.
And it all starts with tons of raw cacao,
cane sugar, cinnamon, and almonds.
And it's all poured right into the grinder
and slowly mixed up until it becomes
a fine aromatic powder that's sold by the box
or made directly into chocolate shakes.
This is absolutely the best chocolate shake
that you'll ever have, a solid 10 out of 10.
Oh, yeah, so they're making it.
There's the leche, the milk.
Oh, it's really frothy.
And a little more milk.
Oh, yeah, there it is.
Nice.
(moans) Oh!
It's a really cinnamony, sweet, frozen,
refreshing chocolate shake.
That is prime Oaxacan chocolate.
Oh, incredible.
For our final meal, we made our way to a local neighborhood
and found a ton of street stalls all serving
different snacks made on the classic Mexican comal oven,
all made with fresh homemade masa flour tortillas,
first pressed down and then put right on to the grill.
You can find tons of beautiful snacks here
like stuffed quesadillas, delicious tostadas,
and plump molotes all stuffed with your selection
of delicious fillings, like squash blossom flower,
spiced tomato and chili salsas, mushrooms and bell peppers,
and of course, with tons of Oaxacan string cheese.
We fell in love with the food here,
but I definitely was not prepared
for these ultra stenchy beans,
even stronger than the jenko or petai beans in Indonesia.
So we made our way into a local neighborhood.
And it seems there's just tons of street stalls here,
and we're just gonna roll up and see what there is.
Oh, yeah.
Look at these.
Oh, and that comal.
Oh, look at all these.
I think these are the molotes,
stuffed little pockets with chorizo sausage.
Let's just order one of those each
and sit down with the locals and enjoy.
After watching the tostadas get covered
in a beautiful tomato and chili and potato sauce
along with a mushroom and bell pepper sauce
with refried beans, pork lard, and cheese,
we ordered an empanada stuffed with flor de calabaza,
squash blossom flower, 'cause you just can't help
but order one of these up
when you see the bright green and yellow colors.
Standing here really is half the fun,
just watching the cheese melt and practicing Spanish.
And after they're all prepared,
you get to eat a beautiful meal.
Oh, yes.
We got a few things here.
Look at this, a plump empanada.
Let's take a look.
It's like a rich,
it's like a stringy, extremely almost gooey looking cheese
with all that flor de calabaza.
And then we've got two different tostadas here.
They're both on a crispy tostada bottom.
This one I think is potato in a chili tomato sauce.
It's got lettuce and white queso cheese on it.
And then this one over here has a base of pork fat.
It has a base of that frijoles, refried beans.
It's got the mushrooms, bell peppers,
guacamole drizzled on there, and cheese.
And then this over here is the molote.
This should be stuffed with potatoes and chorizo sausage.
And then these here actually,
I think these are called guajes.
And I've heard that these are actually
where Oaxaca gets its name from.
First thing first, load up the salsa.
We're just gonna, oh, yeah, salsa heaven.
And right on top of that empanada.
Why not, why not.
And we're gonna see what's deep in there.
(moans) That's like a Mexican samosa.
You've got a potato filling, spiced potato filling
with delicious spicy salsa on it.
It's a thick potato filling.
It's like there's mashed potatoes in there.
I'm just loving the color of those squash blossom flowers.
Look at that, oh.
That is absolutely full of stringy cheese.
Wow!
Look at that.
It's so thick.
Real flavor in Mexico, amazingly friendly people.
Oh, and that stringy cheese, it's quite rubbery.
It tastes a bit like mozzarella,
but you can see that flor de calabaza.
It has a rich, dark vegetable flavor,
kinda like a spinach or like a Chinese bok choy almost.
And after tasting the delicious and aromatic mushroom
and bell pepper tostada, I was reedy to try the guaje beans
but definitely wasn't ready for the huge surge of odor.
Look at those.
Oaxaca is named after these beans.
We're just gonna take a few.
Gotta make that flavor in the mouth.
Gotta get that flavor in the mouth.
Let's try it out.
Oh, it actually has a bit of an odor, like a stench.
It almost, (moans) it almost tastes
like petai stink beans in Indonesia.
I think I love that.
It's very, it has a definite odor.
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Oaxaca is a true food heaven.
Thanks so much for watching.