I love street food, but what am I eating?
I'm going to assume a majority of you will have no idea what I'm talking about in this post, but for those of you that may- PLEASE help me out.
Ok, here goes:
I live in the Los Angeles area in a predominantly Latino neighborhood. Every since I was a kid we've had a "corn man" who comes around in the evening. It's always been this way and many of my friends have a "corn man" in their neighborhood too. So, the corn man comes around with a grocery cart honking a horn and when flagged down he will either sell you a slushy, a massive corn on the cob slathered with butter, mayo, Parmesan and chili or- and this is where I need help- these pin wheel looking things. The pin wheels are crunch and have obviously been fried. I've been eating them from the corn man since I was a kid and I still have NO IDEA what they are. The pin-wheel-looking-things are very light, but super crunchy and they kind of remind me of a chicharrón, but more uniform in shape. These pin wheels come in bag and they too get a slathering of chili, but lime juice as well.
Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Does anyone know what those pin wheel things I've been eating for years actually are?
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10 Comments:
I don't know what it is, but I think I want some. What does it taste like? Is it corny, like it's made from some kind of masa?
dbcurrie at 2:47PM on 06/27/08
Duros (food)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Duros (also known as pasta para duros, duritos, durros, pasta para durito, Mexican wagon wheels or pin wheels) are a popular Mexican crunchy snack made of puffed wheat.
Where to buy: Duros are usually sold by street vendors in Mexican American neighborhoods, parks and after Mass at some Spanish speaking Catholic churches. Duros can also be purchased in their uncooked pasta-like form at many Mexican grocery stores.
cheeto at 5:01PM on 06/27/08
That corn with butter, mayo, parmesan and chili sounds fantastic to me. Why can't I have a corn man too?
caley at 5:18PM on 06/27/08
the pinwheels are a dry pasta that has been fried. you can buy them (unfried) any grocery store. they are usually bright orange and the color is lighter after frying. the pasta is usually in the mexican food asile of the market. Get your oil HOT and then just drop in by handfuls- they poof up right away.
love2cook at 5:54PM on 06/27/08
by the way- this confims mine feeling that Cali is the coolest place to live and i really really want a "corn man".
love2cook at 5:55PM on 06/27/08
Oh, wow, I've seen those uncooked wagon wheels so many times, and never knew what they were for. I'm gonna have to get me some of them and see what they're like!
dbcurrie at 7:58PM on 06/27/08
you can get those pinwheels to deep fry at indian stores as well
stumbler02 at 9:45PM on 06/27/08
I must be missing something here, but can't you just ask the corn man what they are while telling him how great they taste?
bubbamom at 9:21AM on 06/28/08
We don't have a "corn man," but we do have a tortillaria a couple of blocks from home that makes the most awesome corn, white wheat, and whole wheat tortillas. Then there are the Mexican Bakeries. All are good, but some are better than others. The produce here is the best.
beth1 at 10:27PM on 06/28/08
Commenters are right those are duros, sometimes also called chicharrones de harina. However, I doubt that they put mayo and parmesean. It is much more likely to be crema (sour cream) and cotija cheese. This is very easy to reproduce at home if you have a Mexican grocer nearby. The duros are sold non puffed, so look for hard little orange pinwheels (or other shapes). And you can fry them up at home, and they puff up nice and fresh.
blankplate at 9:34AM on 06/30/08