Gypsy Jan - 6-25-2013 at 12:40 PM
From The San Diego Reader
By Chad Deal
"With all the attention that the eclectic fusion fare known as Baja Med has been getting lately, it’s easy to overlook one of the most enduring (if
not understated) culinary influences in Mexico: Chinese food.
Chinese immigrants came to Northern Mexican cities such as Mexicali and Tijuana in the early 1900s to find work building irrigation canals, farming,
and constructing railroads.
Even before that, salsa de soya and other elements of Chinese cuisine found their way onto Mexican dinner tables in port regions such as Sinaloa,
where trade routes from Asia and the Philippines introduced foreign flavors as long as 450 years ago.
Today, Mexicali claims the largest Chinese population per-capita in all of Mexico, while the streets of Tijuana are likewise interspersed with
eateries harkening back to their eastern roots.
On Thursday, June 20, chef Ernesto Jimenez MacFarland (Eats&Beats) is cooking up an homage to Tijuana’s Chinese cuisine with a pop-up dinner at
Margaritas Village (Avenida Revolucion 967 – Zona Centro).
"[My] inspiration is food found on the streets and in [the] Chinese restaurants of Tijuana,” says Jimenez.
“Inexpensive, hearty, delicious, unique, flavorful, [and] spicy combinations. The collaboration of Chinese and Tijuana street food is a good
opportunity to showcase bold flavors and ingredients that work well together: pork, tofu, daikon, sesame oil, chile de arbol salsa, peanuts, roasted
corn, Sriracha.”