Austin


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Beet Fries, Pork Belly and Tongue Buns

Pork belly is having a serious moment in Austin. I know it’s been a trend for awhile now (what, the past 3? 5? years…?) and I know I recently gushed over Tacodeli’s pork belly tacos. But seriously! I had never seen SO. MUCH. Pork belly love until I moved down here. This is evident in the popularity of East Side King, Top Chef winner Paul Qui’s Asian fusion food truck with three locations in East Austin. Ask anyone what they like about ESK and the answer is always the same: “oh my god, the pork belly!”And yes, it’s good. Really good.

I’ll happily state that East Side King is one of the best, if not THE best, food trailers in Austin. Their original trailer at The Liberty is my favorite. To be slightly controversial, though, I will say this: I think the ESK pork belly hype unfairly overshadows some of the other delights on their menus. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely amazing, but I feel as though most people discount the fried chicken and even some other less obviously delicious options like the tongue buns and beet fries.

Want to see what really, really, REALLY good food from a truck looks like? Of course you do. (I’m really trying hard to restrain myself from making any sort of obvious “food porn lol buns” remarks here.) Photos a the j.

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in Fowl / Pig / Restaurants / Sandwich 1 comments
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The Next Pig Thing: Pork Belly Tacos

So. I’ve been in Austin for just about three months now, and I’m sure y’all are just DYING to ask me this one burning question: Emily, what is the best taco you’ve eaten so far?!

Well, I’ve dutifully done my research. Of course we have the classics: al pastor, barbacoa, chicken tinga. We can’t discount the ATX-ubiquitous breakfast tacos, with their myriad combinations of eggs, beans, cheese, chorizo and potato. Seafood tacos have made an appearance in my meals: grilled fish, spicy scallops, even shrimp katsu. Okay, I’m making myself hungry just by recounting all of these. Let’s cut to the chase. What is THE BEST?!

May I present… the DeliBelly from Tacodeli.

I’m not the only one who carries a torch for these amazingly flavorful pork belly tacos. Yahoo! recently named Tacodeli‘s DeliBelly as one of the ten best tacos in the country. That’s a pretty tall claim in Austin, where a taco stand lurks on every corner, but hey, they were on to something.

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in Food Travel / Pig / Restaurants / Trends 3 comments
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Artsy Photo of the Day

And you thought chicken was boring?

This is a torta from Fresa’s Chicken al Carbon in Austin. Pulled chicken, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, avocado, queso fresco, and chipotle mayo. One of the best sandwiches I’ve had in a long, long time. Just imagine that going into your mouth (what, gross, I didn’t mean it like that).

in Fowl / Photos / Sandwich 0 comments
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Pimento Cheese, Sriracha, Bacon. Enough Said.

The folks at Noble Pig in Austin, Texas—home to one of Endless Simmer’s Best New Sandwiches of 2012—wrote in to let us know they’ve upped the ante for the 2013 race by creating a cheese sandwich that makes even our wildest grilled cheeses look downright tired.

Yep, it’s a pimento cheese sandwich, with, you guessed it…bacon. And they were kind enough to share the recipe for the sriracha-spiked pimento cheese that makes this thing golden.

Noble Pig’s Pimento Cheese

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in Bacon / Cheese / Endless Bacon / Featured / Pig / Recipe / Restaurants / Sandwich 1 comments
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A Very Southern Potato Salad

Down here in Texas it’s already feeling like summertime. Days have been in the 80s-90s, which means long afternoons of day drinking and barbecuing. The other weekend I decided to make a potato salad for a backyard barbecue party, but I wanted to do something a little more exciting than your average white potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, and celery. (You will never find celery in my picnic foods, actually! It’s the bane of my existence.) I was inspired when I found some beautiful Texan collard greens at the store.

One thing (out of the katrillion things) I love about Austin, that you might not expect if you’ve never been here, is how strongly this community promotes buying and eating locally. I decided to take these greens and incorporate them into a potato salad celebrating all my favorite aspects of southern sides… namely, sweet potatoes, collards, and pork fat.

Sweet Potato Salad with Collard Greens, Caramelized Onions, and Bacon

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in Bacon / Endless Bacon / Pig / Recipe 0 comments
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Culture Shock: The Salad That Wasn’t

This is a “salad,” according to Texas.

Yep. Spicy chicken on a thick bed of refried beans and deep-fried tortillas, smothered in cheese and pecans (yes, pecans).

To be fair:

(a) When I mentioned I was trying to eat healthy and would therefore be ordering a salad, I was warned that “the fajita salad isn’t really a salad-salad.”
(b) It does have some sliced vegetables on the side, plus a small scattering of shredded iceberg lettuce.
(c) Probably the most delicious and filling “salad” I’ve ever eaten. I’m into it. Props, Tex-Mex. Thank you for continually improving my life… and challenging my preconceived notions of what I can classify as a healthy dining option.

in Restaurants 2 comments
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