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For Super Bowl Sunday, a huge
By Betty Shimabukuro
plate of chips and and cheese can
be dressed up in countless new ways
Star-BulletinWHEN it comes to nachos, no rules apply.
As long as you have chips on the bottom, anything goes. Top them with beef -- shredded or ground -- or chicken, pork, fish or lobster, even. Add veggies (fresh or pickled), beans, salsa (any flavor), chiles, cheese (any kind, even the processed, microwaved kind). Top with guacamole, sour cream, neither or both. Create fusion mixtures with kim chee sauce, or the flavors of kalua pig and pineapple.
The republic of nachos is a free country.
As a Super Bowl snack, this one is pretty foolproof. Set out a big, gooey platter -- you don't even need utensils. And they go well with beer and testosterone.
As for the provenance of this dish -- it is only loosely Mexican, the way that chop suey or fortune cookies are Chinese. That is to say, it is Mexican in style, but invented north of the border, then adopted back in the supposed homeland.
"When my father was a little boy we never heard of nachos," says Alfonso Navarro, executive chef for the five Compadres restaurants and a native of Jalisco, Mexico.
But nachos have found a place on many modern Mexican menus, Navarro says. He likes to top his with shiitake mushrooms, sauteed with green onion, bell peppers, poblano chiles
and garlic. And, of course, different types of cheeses, and sometimes black beans.
Ken Martinez of It's Chili in Hawaii says the closest traditional Mexican dish would be Chilaquiles, tortilla chips added to a simmering chile sauce, then topped with cheese, sour cream and onion. It may be served with refried beans and scrambled eggs.
To which we say, that's very nice, but give us our cheesy, greasy, diet-busting, crunchy-on the-outside-soggy-in-the-middle, fabulous nachos.
When planning your Super Bowl blowout, or any nacho-centered affair, you can go simple or extremely complex.
Melt Velveeta over tortilla chips in the microwave. Or, make your own chips, flavor your own meat, mix up your own salsa and guacamole. The possible complications are endless.
At Cisco's Cantina in Kailua, -- and recently, Mililani -- they've been serving up a dish called Nacho Grande for years with beef or chicken, but two years ago co-owner Greg Blotsky decided to give the dish a touch of Hawaii.
"We wanted to start incorporating some local foods into Mexican to go a step beyond Mexican," Blotsky says.
His dish is a rather inspired pairing of kalua pig and pineapple salsa with chips and standard toppings. "Everyone loves kalua pig and it just blends in there."
You can do this the easy way, using commercially prepared kalua pig, available in grocery meat departments, or follow the Cisco's formula for oven-kalua-ed pig: Cut pork butt into cubes and slash diagonally. Rub with Hawaiian salt and Liquid Smoke. Place in baking pan and add water halfway up the meat. Cover and bake at 350 degrees until meat is falling apart. Shred pork into the pan juices. Allow meat to "rest," then cool.
Cisco's Blotsky says seasonings are to taste, but estimates a generous handful of salt and a 1/2 bottle of Liquid Smoke for 5 pounds of pork.
You could also buy pineapple salsa, or just open a can of crushed pineapple and drain well.
Topping amounts are suggestions; add more or less to your taste.
Cisco's Nacho Grande
6 cups tortilla chipsTo make pineapple salsa: Combine all ingredients in a baking pan except cilantro. Broil until pineapple edges turn slightly brown, 15-20 minutes. Stir well; cool. Mix in cilantro. Refrigerate an hour before serving.
6 ounces kalua pig
1 small tomato, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped olives
1/2 cup each shredded cheddar and jack cheeses
2 tablespoons each guacamole and sour cream
Roasted Pineapple Salsa:
1 cup canned cubed pineapple, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoon finely chopped red bell pepper
2 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantroOn a 12-inch oven-proof serving dish, layer the ingredients in the order listed, except the sour cream and guacamole. Top with salsa. Place in the oven at 350 degrees until cheese melts, about 5 minutes. Top with sour cream and guacamole. Serve immediately. Serves 6.
Approximate nutritional information, per serving (not including sour cream and guacamole): 315 calories, 14 g total fat, 5 g saturated fat, 45 mg cholesterol, 340 mg sodium.*
Kim chee sauce gives a Korean flavor to these nachos; homemade wonton chips turn them toward the Chinese. No rules, here, remember.
Tortilla chips or premade wonton chips may be substituted for the wonton pi. The meat may be flavored in any manner; Martinez at It's Chili in Hawaii recommends sauteing in oregano, cumin, thyme, salt and pepper.
Martinez also recommends Aunty Soon's brand of jalapenos and kim chee sauce, available at his shop. The jalapenos are a new product, seasoned with soy sauce, vinegar, rock salt, brown sugar and garlic. New Mexico green chiles are sold frozen at It's Chili in Hawaii, and produce the best results. Substitute roasted Anaheim peppers, or as a last resort, canned supermarket green chiles.
Kim Chee Nachos
It's Chili in Hawaii12-ounce package won ton piCut won ton pi in half diagonally. Fry in oil over medium-high heat, working in batches, until crisp, about 1 minute. Drain on paper towels.
1-1/2 cups vegetable oil, for frying
1 14-1/2 ounce can pinto beans
1 cup cooked, seasoned ground beef, chicken or turkey
1 tomato, diced
1 tablespoon chopped black olives
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 whole pickled jalapenos, diced
7 ounces New Mexico green chiles, thawed and drained
5-ounce bottle kim chee sauceTo make sauce: Combine jalapenos, chiles and kimchee sauce. Heat until warmed.
To assemble, layer ingredients as follows: Chips, beans, meat, olives, tomato. Pour sauce over all, then sprinkle cheese on top. Place in 350-degree oven until cheese melts. Serves 4.
Approximate nutritional information, per serving (with lean beef): 770 calories, 43 g total fat, 12 g saturated fat, 70 mg cholesterol,1,060 mg sodium.*
These vegetarian nachos use marinated carrots and onions in place of meat. The jalapeno-spiced blend of vegetables is a staple of Mexican taquerias, generally scooped up by customers to accompany almost any dish.
Macho Nachos
Compadres Bar & Grill12 ounces tortilla chipsPlace chips on an oven-safe plate. Top with beans and cheese. Melt cheese under broiler. Top with vegetables and salsa. Garnish with guacamole and sour cream. Serves 8.
4 ounces refried beans
1 cup grated mild cheddar cheese
1/4 cup Jalapeno Marinated Vegetables (recipe follows)
1/2 cup Salsa Fresca (recipe follows)Approximate nutritional information, per serving (not including sour cream and guacamole): 340 calories, 18 g total fat, 6 g saturated fat, 15 mg cholesterol, 490 mg sodium.*
Jalapeno Marinated Vegetables
2 white onions, slicedCombine ingredients and marinate for a day.
2 carrots, sliced
1/2 cup jalapeno chiles, with juice
1 ounce olive oil
1 ounce vinegar
Salt to taste
Pinch oregano
Salsa Fresca
2 tomatoes, dicedMix all ingredients evenly.
1/2 red onion, diced
3 serrano peppers, seeded and diced
2 teaspoons cilantro
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1 ounce olive oil
1 ounce vinegar
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