Chori-Migas

We first experienced migas when we road-tripped through Austin last summer. I'd never heard of migas before, but I was an instant convert. Migas are very much like, but intriguingly different from the chilaquiles we enjoy here in San Diego.

Migas, as American food at least, seem to be pretty Austin-specific. Historically, though, the dish is Spanish/Portuguese in origin. The key elements seem to be leftover stale bread and pork product of some kind.

In Austin, the bread is replaced with corn tortillas, the the pork product is likely to be chorizo, and eggs make it a breakfast dish (hence the likeness to chilaquiles). Regardless of the origin and the transformation, chori-migas are awesome!

Ingredients:



First, fry up your chorizo. We use our homemade Oaxacan-style chorizo bolitas:



Here, I just want to add a frustrated photographer mini-rant. I have found it to be *very* hard to get a good picture of chorizo cooking. The darkness of the chorizo against the black background of frying pan is very unforgiving. Add in that this is all happening on our stove, which is not the best lit environment, and you have a very non-photographer-friendly environment.

The plus side is that, while it might not be very photogenic, it does taste really, really good!



Once your chorizo has bust open and nicely cooked down, tear up some corn tortillas into small to mid-sized bits (we like a hodgepodge of mixed sizes) and toss them in. Once they have taken on the amazing rust-orange color of the chorizo, pour in your scrambled egg mixture:



From there, you are very much in your just-making-scrambled-eggs-comfort-zone. It can be done better or worse, but it is hard to truly mess up. If you must ask, however, I do like my scrambled eggs on the soft-set-up side.

Then it is to the plate. We garnish with sliced jalapeños and some shredded cheese. We keep the cheese simple - mild jack or cheddar - since the flavor complexity is coming from elsewhere. Plus, Austin might just be the epicenter of unapologetic use of yellow cheese, so don't you worry.



Chori-migas eaten straight-up are pretty damn good, but our favorite breakfast delivery vehicle is the chori-miga-taco. We like to use flour tortillas, since we already have corn tortillas in the filling.

Pop your migas in, add some salsa if you like (I like a bit of pico-de-gallo, not yet added in the picture above) and enjoy your breakfast!

Chori-Migas

Serves 2.

We start by cooking the chorizo whole and removing the casing once the sausage is cooked through. This results in decent sized chunks of meat in the end product. If you like, you can remove the sausage from its casing prior to cooking, however you will end up with smaller, finer pieces of cooked chorizo.
1 tablespoon canola oil
3 oz Mexican Chorizo, preferably Oaxacan
3 corn tortillas, torn into rough 1-2 inch pieces
1/2 onion, sliced or chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
4 eggs, lightly scrambled
Kosher salt
1 jalapeño or serano chile, thinly sliced
A bit of queso fresco or monterey jack cheese for garnish

Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan until medium hot. Add the chorizo and cook, turning frequently until the sausage is bursting from its casings. Use scissors or a small knife to slit the casings and tongs or a fork to remove them from the pan, leaving the meat and oil behind.

Add the tortillas and stir well to coat them in the flavored oil. Cook a minute or two, then add the onion and cook for another couple of minutes until some of the tortillas begin to crisp and the onion has softened. Sprinkle everything with salt, then stir in the garlic and cook another 30 seconds.

Pour the eggs over the chorizo-tortilla mixture, and use a rubber spatula to stir gently until the eggs are set, but still moist. Fold in some of the chile slices, then serve on warmed plates. Garnish with a little cheese, more chile slices and some finely chopped cilantro if desired.

The Austin Motel, and Bats at the Congress Avenue Bridge

While in Austin, we stayed at the Austin Motel, a lovingly restored gem on South Congress Avenue. It has a great location, is reasonably priced, and really made our visit pleasant.

The pool is a little oasis just off of the busy street below. Steps away and you are out in the heart of SoCo.



Just North from the motel is the South Congress Bridge, most notable for the being home to the world's largest urban bat colony.



Every evening, around sunset, around a million bats emerge from the bridge to go out hunting for the night.



The picture above doesn't even begin to do the scene justice. The bats started coming out slowly, and then in greater numbers until there was a steady black steam pouring out from under the bridge. Truly a unique sight to see.

Beer In Austin - Beer Alley, Saint Arnold Elissa IPA and The Ginger Man

This trip is decidedly less beer-focused than our last road trip, and Texas really isn't known for its beer (Shiner Bock? No thanks...), but we did manage a bit of malt and hops on our visit to Austin. Above is "Beer Alley" at the massive central Whole Foods location. It is a big, refrigerated walk in with a very good selection.



We picked up one local beer - Saint Arnold Elissa IPA, which was pretty tasty.



We also stopped in at a great beer bar in the warehouse district called The Ginger Man. Very comfortable place with a bunch of craft-focused taps.



I tried the Liberation IPA from local brewery Live Oak, but I wasn't really into it. They had Saint Arnold Elissa IPA on cask, though, and it was fantastic - one of the best cask pours I've had in a while.



Sorry about the flash (it was dark) and the coaster, but just look at that nice suspension! The Ginger Man is an oasis in downtown Austin - definitely worth a visit.

Rosita's Al Pastor, Torchy's Tacos and Migas at Habañero Mexican Cafe

Questing a bit farther afield in Austin from our SoCo home base, we ventured east to Rosita's Al Pastor. Less than inviting from the outside, but somewhat more so on the inside, Rosita's is a sit-down, order from your table place. A brief language negotiation with our friendly waitress revealed that our broken Spanish was somewhat better than her broken English, so Spanish it was. We did notice, though, that they will bring the owner (who speaks English) to a table if there is a communication problem.

We ordered Tacos Al Pastor and Enchiladas Al Pastor. The tacos were very pretty, with a nice red tinge and the requisite dusting of onion and cilantro.



Unfortunately, the taste was a let-down. The texture was good, if a bit on the crispy side, but the meat had very little flavor.

The enchiladas were more successful - mainly because of the tasty red sauce (they normally come with green, but it wasn't available).



The rice and beans did little to win us over - again, not much flavor. The table salsa was very pleasant, however.

A very different expedition had us at Torchy's Tacos for a post-bat-watching dinner (more to come on that in future post).

Torchy's operates out of a trailer on South 1st, and caters to a decidedly more hipster crowd than Rosita's. They definitely get points for charm, with their brightly lit window surrounded by small tables and mellow music wafting through the warm evening air.



We started out with Chips and Green Chile Queso. What can I say about freshly made nachos by candlelight?



To accompany our cheesy goodness, we had a Green Chile Taco, and a Democrat (beef barbacoa). Both had pretty good flavor, but the meat lacked texture. Completely edible (and eaten), but nothing very special. The barbacoa taco is pictured below.



I wouldn't get take-out from here, but I really enjoyed the meal on premises. If I lived nearby, I might be a regular.

But what about breakfast? One morning we ventured a bit farther South to Habanero. We liked the place immediately. Inviting from the outside, and a bright friendly feel inside.



We had a couple of breakfast tacos - Egg and Potato and Egg and Chorizo. Both were ok (especially with the addition of their very good table salsa), but the focus of the meal was the Migas. Migas were a new dish to us - they seem to be very similar to a chilaquiles, but more uniform in texture (i.e. fewer whole pieces of tortilla). We had the Chori-Migas:



Very good. Scrambled eggs cooked with chorizo, pieces of tortilla, onions, peppers, and cheese. The refried beans were also top notch. And it came with fries! The best part, though, was rolling your own Miga Tacos. Tortillas come on the side, and you scoop a bit of everything into a tortilla, add some salsa, and dig in. Bliss.

Beers, 'Ritas and Fajitas in SoCo

We arrived in Austin late afternoon, and decided to explore the area around our motel on South Congress. I would describe the atmosphere in the "SoCo" area as Austin family outing meets hipster scene.

Although not technically in SoCo (it is a few streets over on South 1st), Polvo's was an easy choice for happy hour / early dinner. I handled the beers, Sherry took the 'ritas and we shared the fajitas. We had been told to get the Fajitas al Guajillo, so that's what we did.



Tender beef in a rich chile sauce with onions, sun dried red chiles, poblanos, peanuts and raisins. The chile flavor was great, and the nuts added a really interesting twist - it had my brain thinking Sichuan (ie: kung pao). Here it is after we had dug in a bit:



The salsas from the self-serve bar were very good. Sherry really liked the yellow one - it had just a hint of sweetness and a decent, but not overpowering bite. I was more partial to the one at the back that you can hardly see. It was fire-roasted, with lots of little black charred bits - a nice contrast to the other two.



Also in the "Beer and 'Ritas" vein, and even closer to our motel, was Güeros. We didn't try the food in the main restaurant, but we stopped in for a few drinks at their adjoining outdoor spot.



With a relaxed atmosphere, a band playing, and the welcome shade of a couple of large oak trees, it made for a nice setting to while away an hour or so.

Polvo's Mexican Restaurant
2004 S 1st St.
Austin, TX
(512) 441-5446

Güero's Taco Bar
1412 S. Congress Ave.
Austin, TX
(512) 447-7688