You’ve Never Seen Mexican Food Like This Before

This classic Caesar is best served with a crunchy baguette.

When this beautiful culinary creation landed on our lazy Susan, I was immediately smitten. If you’re familiar with char siu pork, the bright red, sweet-and-savory, honey-lacquered Chinese barbecued pork that hangs in the windows of butcher shops around Chinatown, this is the Mexicali version of it.

The bright red color in this dish actually comes from food coloring, so you can opt out of it if you’d like. To me personally, that signature red ring around the meat is sort of nostalgic, reminding me that the meal is going to be delicious, as dependable as Chinese mustard is hot.

For my ode to char siu pork, I include Chinese five-spice powder and ground Sichuan peppercorns. You’ll also notice the use of unrefined piloncillo cane sugar here, which I prefer over regular brown sugar because it contains more minerals that give it a deeper flavor.

For many of us in the border regions, charcoal-grilled chicken is as beloved a food as tacos. The smell of the meat hitting the charcoal grill takes me back to my early-morning commutes across the border to our new school in San Diego: It’s the smell from the hundreds of food vendors starting their days.

The scene I just described is probably easy to imagine, but what you might not know is that Japanese ponzu sauce is a common staple at restaurants and in homes in Tijuana. Classic ponzu is made by simmering a mixture of soy sauce, mirin, vinegar, katsuobushi (smoked, dried, and shaved fish flakes), and kombu (kelp), then straining and adding citrus juice. It’s a personal favorite of mine, and an identifier for many Norteños or Tijuanenses.

Between 1920 and 1940, a large population of Japanese emigrants arrived in Ensenada, Baja California. From then, Japanese influence stayed relatively confined to the coast and down the Baja Peninsula, where the Japanese helped establish commercial fishing and farming. Japanese-Mexican cross-pollination still gave us some of the tastiest condiments and, importantly, battered fish. (Did you ever think about how the classic fried fish taco looks a bit like tempura? Well, that’s exactly what it is.)

But about this recipe. It’s a classic grilled chicken with a homemade ponzu, so you can have the experience of making your own. Of course, we wouldn’t be Mexican if we didn’t throw in some charred serrano peppers while we’re at it. You’ll probably have leftover ponzu sauce—I keep the extra sauce handy in a mason jar in the fridge and use it to dress my steamed rice. It will keep for a week in the refrigerator, though in my house, it never lasts that long.