page_title: Mexican street food
section_title: Additional foods
hierarchical_section_title: Mexican street food / Types / Additional foods
caption_attribution_description: English: Street vendor selling "esquites" (fresh corn kernels sauteed with chili peppers and other spices) on the street in the historic center of Mexico City
context_page_description: Mexican street food, called antojitos, is prepared by street vendors and at small traditional markets in Mexico. Street foods include tacos, tamales, gorditas, quesadillas, empalmes, tostadas, chalupa, elote, tlayudas, cemita, pambazo, empanada, nachos, chilaquiles, fajita and tortas, as well as fresh fruit, vegetables, beverages and soups such as menudo, pozole and pancita. Most are available in the morning and the evening, as mid-afternoon is the time for the main formal meal of the day.
  Mexico has one of the most extensive street food cultures in Latin America, and Forbes named Mexico City as one of the foremost cities on the world in which to eat on the street.
context_section_description: There are other street foods made with tortillas. Tostadas are flat hard tortillas either fried or dried on which are placed a variety of toppings such as shredded chicken, pork, beef, seafood, cheese and salsa. Quesadillas are derived from the Spanish word for cheese “queso” and refer to a tortilla folded in half and filled with cheese and possibly other ingredients such as spicy meat, mushrooms, chili pepper strips and more. The type of cheese used generally varies by region and in some areas, cheese is not even used unless requested. Empalmes are three stacked corn tortillas with beans, some kind of meat or stew which are typical in the state of Nuevo León. Known as "sincronizadas", the Spanish word for synchronized, are two corn tortillas with a meat and cheese filling then toasted on each side until the cheese melts. "Gringas", as the slang word for people with lighter skin tones, are similar to "quesadillas" or "sincronizadas" but made with flour tortilla, hence the name. Tlayudas are large dried tortillas topped with beans and other ingredients similar to a pizza or large tostada popular in the state of Oaxaca.
  There are street foods that use the same corn dough used to make tortillas, but in different preparations. Gorditas can be found in almost all parts of the country. They are very thick corn dough patties fried in oil or cooked on a comal (a traditional griddle). After cooking they are split and filled with a variety of ingredients. There is a flour dough version of this in Coahuila. Bocoles are small round gorditas popular in Hidalgo, Tamaulipas, Veracruz and San Luis Potosí. After cooking they are split and filled with ingredients such as cheese, picadillo, salsa, beans or cooked eggs. Empedradas are a triangular piece of blue corn dough mixed with chickpeas then cooked on comal popular in Tlaxcala. Garnachas are thick tortillas similar to gorditas split and filled with shredded pork and diced onion. On top is placed salsa, cheese, and a vinegar and chili pepper sauce. Memelas, also called picadas, are long thick tortillas made of corn dough mixed with fried pork rind and salsa. They are cooked on a comal then topped with tomato sauce and chopped lettuce or cabbage. Tlacoyos are most popular in Mexico City. They are elongated and usually made with blue corn dough which is filled with a paste made of beans before being cooked on a comal.
  Chalupas are small tortilla like cups of fried corn dough filled with cheese, beans or a variety of stew topped with salsa and chopped lettuce. They are most popular in Puebla. Similarly chilapas are tortilla cups fried crispy in the form of a cup then filled with shredded meat, salsa, cream, avocado, chili peppers and chopped lettuce and onion. They are a specialty of Chilapa, Guerrero. Huaraches are similar large and flat and topped with chopped or shredded meat, and any of the following: beans, cheese, cream and salsa. Sopes are also flat and thick but in disk form pinched on the edges then topped with beans, salsa and more.
  Elote refers to fresh corn which is served on the cob or cut kernels. If on the cob is it either grilled or boiled then coated with mayonnaise and dusted with any of the following: chili pepper, salt, cotija cheese, lime juice and hot sauce. The cut kernels are usually served in a dish called esquites, where similar seasonings are mixed in and it is eaten with a spoon. Fresh fruits and vegetables can also be had as street food. Fruit cups are popular and vary depending on season. They usually contain one or more of the following, watermelon, papaya, mango, orange, jicama and cucumber. These are cut into slender spears or cubes with lime juice, salt and chili pepper powder added. Jicama is a root vegetable which is popularly eaten raw. It can be eaten in strips or chunks as part of a salad or fruit cup. A jicaleta is a large slice of the vegetable place on a stick to look like a large lollipop. It can be eaten plain like this or it can then be covered with a choice of sweet or savory flavored powders, hot sauce, lime juice and more.
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caption: Esquites being sold from a wandering vendor using a shopping cart
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