Fusion Fare: Mexican, Latin and Asian Flavors Meld to Create Enticing New Dishes

By Kathleen Furore

            Have you ever heard of a Baco?

            This hybrid of a taco and the Asian bun called a bao is just one example that shows how fusion fare is reshaping the culinary landscape, creating completely new flavor combinations and dishes along the way.

            The Baco is a hit on the menu at Saucy Porka, a fast casual Asian-Latin fusion

restaurant from former food truck chefs Amy Le and Rafael Lopez. The concept, which launched in Chicago’s Loop in 2013,  showcases flavors and spices from Puerto Rico, South East Asia, China, Japan and Korea in comfort foods reminiscent of the owners’ childhoods. ChicagoEater.com named Saucy Porka one of the top 14 best and boldest fusion restaurants in Chicago in 2017.

            “Co-creating the menu with fellow food truck chef Rafael Lopez, my more Asian style cooking evolved into a Latin fusion,” Le recalls. “Rafael, who is Puerto Rican, and I discovered there were so many similarities in the spices and herbs we used in our styles of cooking. It was the perfect marriage.”

            The marriage also has produced more than bacos. Dishes include The Saucy Porka (a pork carnitas banh mi sandwich served on French baguette with kimchi and mayo); Nacho Kim (nachos topped with pork, chicken or miso short rib, or meatless with scallions, kimchi and jalapeño garlic aioli); Pork Ramen Soup (Vietnamese pho broth with Chinese egg noodles, pork carnitas, fresh cilantro, basil, bean sprouts and jalapenos) and the Paella Rice bowl (saffron rice cooked in coconut milk with edamame beans, Chinese sweet sausage, mild sausage and pork carnitas). The latter two, says Le, are customer favorites.

Bring on the Sushi Burrito

            Le and Lopez join a growing roster of restaurateurs striving to break past traditional

culinary labels.

            Today, myriad operators and chefs are taking creativity to new heights by blending ingredients and cooking techniques from around the globe to craft dishes that put a unique, international spin on tradition.

            Sushi burritos (which, incidentally, have become so popular that even Starbucks has added them to the menu) are just one example. The concept had its start in San Francisco, where Sushirrito—billed as the original sushi burrito restaurant concept—was born.

     Founder Peter Yen and Ty Mahler (a former executive chef at Roy's Hawaiian Fusion of San Francisco) launched Sushirrito and started serving dishes that combined predominantly Japanese and Peruvian flavors in 2011. Today, there are six Sushirrito location in the San Francisco Bay area, where made-to-order, hand held sushi burritos are served in a fast casual format. Among those with a decidedly Latin twist: The Latin Ninja (salmon belly poke, crispy platanos, takuan, green leaf lettuce, ginger guacamole, masago, bubu leche de tigre) and The Caballero (sake-asada beef, napa cabbage, red radish, julienne carrots, jicama, red peppers, blue corn chips, ginger guacamole, and cilantro kimichurri sauce).

Bright Future or Fading Fad?

            With all the interest in fusion cuisine over the past few years, some might wonder if its a fad that eventually will fade. Le, for one, doubts its imminent demise. In fact, she and her husband, John Keebler, opened a second restaurant in December 2016: The Spotted Monkey, another Latin-Asian hybrid, also in Chicago. One creatively named offering: Phozole Soup, beef based pho broth cooked with star anise, cinnamon and cloves and infused with a mix of Mexican mild chilies, served with rice noodles and garnished with bean sprouts, cilantro, and basil, pork or chicken.

            “It is the next chapter in my culinary adventure,” Le says. “However, the short-term goal remains the same: provide authentic Asian Latin inspired foods in a quick, comfortable, and friendly eatery. The long term goal is to share this idea with more people.”

            Educating customers is sometimes necessary when introducing them to combinations of flavors they might never have tried. As Le recalls, “We had to educate our customers on the spices, and ingredients in our dishes. While diners are more educated today because of the content they see on the food network and various travel and cooking shows, many are new to unique spices and sauces in Latin and Asian cooking. Once they got over the exotic names, their palates had them coming back to try more.”

            And she believes they’ll keep coming; fusion’s future, she predicts, is bright.

            “Mexican and Asian food is a misnomer, or, at least inadequate to describe the many distinct regional cuisines that encompass the term,” says Le.  “Fusion has so much more room to grow because there are so many different variations and marriages between the different regions that have yet been experimented with. For me fusion is not just a blend of varying cultural cuisines, its also finding the unique similarities to recreate traditional dishes.”

Kathleen Furore is the editor of el Restaurante. She can be reached at kfurore@restmex.com

SIDEBAR: Fusion Offerings: A Snapshot

            Restaurants menuing dishes with multiple ethnic flavors abound. A quick online “tour” found these examples:

Carnivale, Chicago. Chef Rodolfo Cadres incorporates elements from South America, Spain and the Caribbean in a selection of ceviches, ropa vieja, arroz con mariscos.

Chica, Las Vegas. Dishes on the menu, created by chef Lorena Garcia, have influences from Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. There are Asado Negro Arepas (housemade anise and piloncillo arepas, topped with braised short rib then topped with pickled onions and cilantro) and Meyer Lemon Rotisserie Chicken (served with Peruvian purple potato salad, fresh hearts of palm and herb chimichurri).

Mexique, Chicago. Carlos Gaytan melds Mexican flavors with French flair in popular dishes such as the chile relleno stuffed with ratatouille; seared duck breast and duck leg confit in chipotle tamarind glaze; and carne asada with roasted fingerling potato salad, cherry tomatoes and goat cheese fondue.

Rose City Pizza, Rosemead, California. Sure it’s a pizza place. But four of the first five menu entries have a Mexican profile: The Elote (mozzarella, Parmesan cheese, buttered corn kernels, topped with spicy mayo, chile powder and cilantro); Vegan Elote (mozzarella, cashew Parmesan, roasted corn kernels, topped with spicy vegenaise, chile powder and cilantro); Al Pastor (mozzarella, marinated pork, pineapple, diced onion, sliced radish, and jalapeño aioli); and Queso Fundido (creamy cheese sauce, mozzarella, chorizo, chile powder, and cilantro)

Vermilion, Chicago and New York City. The menu is described as “a contemporary global melding of Indian and Latin American cuisines.” Those culinary influences prevail on dishes like Brazilian seafood stew with Indian seasoning, and tandoori skirt steak.

SIDEBAR: What Was Your Inspiration?

That’s what el Restaurante asked Amy Le, chef and co-owner of Saucy Porka and Spotted Monkey, whom QSR Magazine recognized as one of 20 women changing the game of the fast casual industry.

el Restaurante: What made you decide to open a restaurant that features a blend of ethnic flavors and ingredients?

Le: My culinary endeavors first started with my food truck Duck N Roll in 2012. The impetus and short-term goal behind the food truck and what helped to nudge me out of my corporate job at the time, was that I wanted to eat what I couldn’t find during my lunch break. I wanted my mother’s pho. I wanted duck banh mi sandwiches. I wanted banana Nutella beignets. I wanted to walk outside my office and have those options right there and I wanted to be able to order and eat within my 30 minute break. After running the truck for a year, I wanted to spread my wings and launch a store front.