Mexican Buffalo? Indeed! (El Jalapenos, Cleveland)

Many of you have probably noticed that your nearby Mexican restaurant has chicken wings on the menu. The question is – are they Buffalo?

The Wing Authority paid a visit to a spot in Cleveland and even though lots of menu items looked tasty (and in fact were, according to my companions), the question of whether the wings were Buffalo or not had to be answered, so I ordered a delicious dozen. The server warned me they were hot and to be honest, I wasn’t too sure what to expect from the creamy dipping sauce that came along. No blue cheese? What the hell.

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El Jalapenos was not crowded or noisy, a perfect casual family dining experience. You can’t beat the price for 12 wings at $6.99. They were good. They were fried crispy and the tasty red sauce was far from overwhelming – despite the warning I received. The breading was a bit thick for my liking but the sauce was totally Buffalo.

Oh alright. We’ll give them a pass for not offering blue cheese since their wings are not a featured item and Mexican food as a whole doesn’t exactly make much of blue cheese.

Give these guys a shot. The Wing Authority is eager to explore more ethnic restaurants – Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Caribbean, etc. We’ll continue to let you know whether the wings are totally Buffalo, and we will continue to observe and preserve the Buffalo wing tradition!

 

 

Experimenting with exotic cooking

Hey, friends! Check out this combination of sauces from today’s batch of baked wings:

Valentina and El yucateco plus Texas Pete Sriracha

Valentina Extra Hot sauce is simply delicious and has a thicker texture with a dark red color and a bright, vibrant flavor. El Yucateco Chile Habanero sauce is one you may find on your table at a local Mexican restaurant. This sauce has serious kick! Its Christmas shade of red suggests exactly the way your eyes will light up after a few tablespoons of this stuff.

I personally LOVE using these peppery, flavorful Mexican hot sauces on Buffalo wings. The taste is distinctly different but still totally Buffalo, all the same. It’s just one of a million different ways to experiment with sauces, yet remain authentically and totally Buffalo. Now, I don’t know what blend of cayenne and other peppers constitute these delicious items, but they make bright red wings that satisfy the craving for red-hot, zesty Buffalo wings with a unique color and texture. This combination can result in a thick but runny sauce, and no amount of butter is going to keep it from running all over your fingers. So get ready to get messy.

You also see Frank’s Original Red Hot in there. It’s such a classic, reliable choice of hot sauce and with all the other flavor experimentation going on here, I obviously couldn’t help myself.

But what’s that…? Sriracha by Texas Pete? Texas Pete is a well-known distributor of tasty hot sauces, and Sriracha has quickly achieved legendary status and a cult following. Texas Pete’s CHA! is a tangy, sweeter version of thick Asian chili sauces.

This is a great sauce combo that is experimental, extra-spicy, and TOTALLY BUFFALO. Check it out!