Mexican here, really appreciate the effort. You recognize the flavor notes and look for something most similar. The kiwi was genius, now I want to try it. The fact you apologize in advance gave you extra points. I'm still traumatized by Rachael Ray's pozole.
Remember: Corn flour in Germany isn't corn flour in Australia, or most Asian countries. They call corn starch corn flour. That's not what Andong is using here. Just for Info.
@@MisterM2402 it's very finely ground cornmeal, ground from dried maize. I can easily find masa harina or yellow P.A.N. flour in Finland, you should find them in the UK too (in larger stores maybe?). I found out about masa harina (and other masa's) by googling south american names for maize/corn flour, they're also good for arepas and other similar flat breads and so forth. Polenta is much coarser, although there are recipes online for tacos that mix polenta and wheat flour.
@@MisterM2402 Unfortunately what Shrike Timebomb said is correct. If you have a very strong Mixer, or a Thermomix you might start with polenta and grind it finer, if you can't find the proper one. A coffee grinder you haven't used for ages might do the trick. Clean it with some rice first to get the coffee residue out. Then grind your polenta finer. If you just use polenta as is you'll eat sand. It's too bad the point of the video was to use something readily available. If everything fails, just make flour tortillas. They might not provide that particular flavour, but I know a lot of people, who actually prefer them to corn tortillas.
@@TimeShrike I think we can get both coarse and fine cornmeal here sold in the Indian food section, though I wasn't sure if this was the same thing as masa harina or if that was a different type of corn.
Love it! Most recipes on the internet are usa-centered and they already have most of the ingredients needed in Mexican cuisine available even in the smallest supermarkets. This recipe actually looks like something that can be done with products available at average Lidl (maybe except for corn flour).
@@olenickel6013 I live in the USA so no problem for me. I do buy a lot from Indian supermarkets and those here carry corn flour so you might look at these for another source.
@@verylongname8161 Cornstarch (maizena) and cornmeal (polenta) are common, but flour can be harder to find. I can get it in my local supermarkets in the Netherlands, though.
As a mexican that plays a lot with ingredients to substitute when one can’t be found even or I’m not able to get atm, I can tell you that as long as you get the flavor you’re looking for it’s a win and love your creativity with the kiwi! And also usually when making carnitas, they taste a looooooooooot better if you confite them in lard (I believe that’s what manteca or rendered pork fat is hehe) mixed with Coca Cola (if you want to make just carnitas, skip the Coca Cola if a marinade is going to be added later), un abrazoooooo y keep up the good work!!!
As a Mexican, my only concern here was that you didn't sear the pineapples in a pan to give them that authentic al pastor taste and crunch! Still mouthwatering look though!
just a heads up for my German fellas since I have the same problem with Taco ingredients as Andong does: Some big supermarkets actually carry canned tomatillos which make a really good salsa verde if you wanna make it yourself, but you can also sometimes find salsa verde bottles from a brand called "La Costena" which basically tastes just like the stuff you're gonna make yourself so I only ever make salsa verde myself when I need big batches. Also I have found that Asian supermarkets actually often carry mexican ingredients for some reason. So far I have found masa harina, authentic tortillas, achiote paste and dried mexican chilis so it might be worth a look if your local asian market does the same
In Berlin specifically, there are a couple "Iberian Supermarkets" which despite the name stock a modest selection from the entire Latin world. Super Iberico was one of them, currently they are looking for a new location after having to leave their long time spot near Checkpoint Charlie last May (which horrified me when I found out, like most people, by going shopping and finding the supermarket nonexistent). They were always, and I trust will be again in the future, a fantastic place to get a wide selection of chiles and canned goods from central America. On the other hand, proper masa harina is available at most asian supermarkets, so tortillas are pretty easy to get right!
Cool concept! Up here in Norway the taco craze is such that I can easily source even fresh tomatillos and all the different smoked chili peppers (and pre-made salsas from California and Mexico). But you have to visit the right shops which can be annoying when you just suddenly crave some empanadas or whatever
I follow so many american food creators and often I fäind myself substituting some ingredients I can‘t easily get in German supermarkets. This creative recipe is such an inspiration!
I am a Mexican who has been eating pastor for decades and I need to taste this. It looks very interesting. The only thing I was like NOOO it's the amount of sweet in the salsa.
Genius. As a frenchman living in Germany i can say ive been through the same things. Not many OG mexican restaurants in western Europe, and ingredients hard to come by... Andong you are the MAN. Will definitely use some of those hacks !
I'd suggest you to take a trip down to your southern neighbour 😅😅 Here in Spain we have a big mexican inmigrant community so in most big cities you'll find one or two mexican markets where you can find fresh mexican ingredients at nice prices. PS: I overlooked the part where you said you live in Germany, my bad 😢 Anyway if you happen to come by, keep an eye for mexican ingredients and get back to Germany with a full suitcase or two 😂
I like videos like this, using whatever you can find/afford and creativity to make dishes that are hard/not authentic to make without the traditional ingredients for it. Good job.
This is by far my most favourite series on your channel! I always struggle when trying to recreate dishes with local ingredients, so these are a lifesaver. Any chance you're gonna try your hand at Birria Tacos? 😂
My father bought some "tomato seeds for pickling" and they turned out to be tomatillos. Honestly, they do taste a bit like an unripe but sweet tomato, I would substitute it with groundcherry/physalis, they belong to the same Physalis genus.
I tried making salsa verde w physalis (ciplukan here in Indonesia) instead of tomatillo and it was...not good. Really sour. But maybe I just didn't get the proportions right.
This style of cooking reminderd me of Shokugeki no Souma anime. You have the skill to make recipes with hard to obtain ingredients available and affordable and I love this!
As a Mexican American living in germany, I am very impressed with how this was handled. Granted that it is very hard to find authentic Mexican ingredients. Bravo. Made me proud to be latino.😁😁
Knowing what sorted food went through when jamie butchered spanish/mexican dishes, I wish you good luck andong! Also on a side note, as a fellow berliner, pls do more of these "substitute videos" especially for asian/korean stuff (although you might get that here more easily) and african flavours. Its agreat idea nd I think it plays to your core audience.
@@radikal8485 there's asian supermarkets in Germany, at least in large cities. should be no trouble sourcing common ingredients in Berlin of all places
@@radikal8485 for the most part, yeah! There's a great basic selection of south asian spices from TRS available at most asian supermarkets, and plenty of more elusive spices at middle eastern speciality grocery stores like a neighbourhood persian shop. But don't expect to find any good stuff at a normal german supermarket. Vinh Loi is a chain in Berlin which usually has a good all round asian selection, plus some british things. Turkish supermarkets are also a gold mine for fantastic vegetables, but their selection isn't much different from a German one, just a bit wider, and certainly fresher than most supermarkets other than Lidl.
@@cameroneridan4558 Yeah I mostly used TRS as you mentioned. But I was mostly looking for Everest. Some shops kept MDH which is good. But thanks for the suggestions.
Seriously, I wish there was more available content like this. Of course, I want to use authentic ingredients! of course I do! i don't always have access, and authenticity is much less important that eating soemthing delicious. Andong is the hero we need!
Looks delicious. A quick tip for making a Salsa Verde without Tomatillo is to use green (unrippened) tomatoes. It"s not exactly the same but has a very similar flavor profile.
Seconding this. When I tried fresh tomatillos for the first time (having to grow them myself to do so), green tomato was definitely the first thing that came to mind. There's definitely some subtle but important differences, but green tomato gets a lot of the way there, especially when you're not super familiar with tomatillos
While a bit of unripe tomato probably won't kill you, it's *not safe to consume unprocessed* due to potentially high solanine content. The type of tomato that stays green when ripe is miles away from tomatillo if you ask me. FYI: Tomatoes and Tomatillos are only very distant relatives that don't share much except for a similar name.
I always substitute the green tomatillo with the green variety (not the Indian one) of gooseberries from our garden. Works so great, also in chunky salsa. Btw I am from Germany and use these nearly ripe green gooseberries (Stachelbeeren). Amazing results IMO
I love the hack with the kiwi for salsa verde!!! I actually bought some tomatillo seeds and am trying to grow my own tomatillos this year (hello from neighbouring Mexican-food-desert called Poland) but there is no chance they will be ready for cinco de mayo! 😅😅😅 I will try your recipe instead ❤
So good to see Eypie. The kiwi sub is genius! I have access to all the traditional ingredients but I haven't always. I love the ingenuity. And those tortillas look absolutely perfect.
As a European this is just what I needed, having watched Ethan and Kenji make delicious mexican food. I hope you make more mexican food with our european ingredients.
Where part of Europe are you from? Here in Spain it's kinda easy to get mexican ingredients since most big cities have a big enough Mexican inmigrant community as to have at least one mexican supermarket around. Tomatillos might be the trickiest thing to find, but the kiwi idea is clever af, props to the chef. Also there's a few taquerias in Madrid that are the real deal (pro tip: don't look for the 15-20€ fancy dishes thing, look for the ones selling tacos by the unit)
@@patrickj8933 glad I could help! Also another small tip: obvsly the parts of Madrid with the biggest inmigrant population (including Mexican and Latin American) are obvsly the more humble neighbourhoods and the metro area cities rather than the touristic centre of Madrid, so in this places you might find the real deal, the places where the actual mexican people go to eat and they're often just a couple streets away from the touristic areas but the prices drop drastically. So I'd suggest you to go explore and find amazing international restaurants and markets
Frozen pineapple is a great alternative to the canned one. Tastes much better, has better consistency and you can only take what you need from the package and keep the rest frozen.
I feel for you, Andong! In North America, ingredients for Mexican recipes are much easier to find. However, you approach is interesting and certainly worth trying. Until next time!
I've lived in the Western United States my entire life and these kinds of ingredients have always been available, so I'd never considered that they might be difficult or impossible to source outside of Mexico. I think you've done a fantastic job! In the end, any local cuisine is usually based on what is available and good (and often cheap)!
Gonna leave another comment recommending green tomato as a substitute for tomatillos. It was the first thing that came to mind when I tasted fresh tomatillo for the first time (after having to grow them myself from seed). Its not perfect but it gets a lot of the way there, especially if you're not super familiar with tomatillo.
well.. i guess i have to start cooking on youtube as well to afford myself a frankfurter brett. well done andong! i enjoy your style of presentation. i highly appreciate your deep dips into food history. i adored the ex(ploi)rations into your own culinary past (doktorwurst, karelia galore.. loved it!). and your new thumbnails are banging.. keep up the good work!
Great video as always. Have seen the German Version of Kitchen Passport in my local bookstore. Did not know that was a thing(i only thought there was an english version)
I live around the corner from (arguably) one of the best al pastor restaurants in the States and I've had plenty of it in Mexico as well. I think you did a brilliant job adapting for commonly-available ingredients and I'd eat that any day! I'd call your finished pork mixture carne adovada (with the chile sauce & all).
As a Texan, I applaud this. It captures the flavor profiles of our neighbors way better than some of the cheap knockoffs in America that have no excuse because we have access to authentic ingredients.
Since I live in Berlin it’s super easy to get all the necessary ingredients because of all the latino supermarkets, but in my hometown in Germany no way 😂 this recipe is a good source for everybody in Germany no matter where you live 👌
If you're roasting the peppers for an hour, could you also cook the carnitas in the oven at the same time? I'm just thinking about saving energy costs from running both the stove and the oven together. How would you adjust the time/temperature/technique?
Pretty ingenious recipe! Although for the red sauce you could've probably substituted the dried Mexican chilies with probably some Chinese Heaven-facing ones or even Indian dried chilies.
They look really good! Here in the US, we can get many of the ingredients in our supermarkets, so we can get a little closer to authentic. Still, some good substitutions here!
I swear every time I have an idea for a food video that I'd make if I had the timr/inclination, you end upvmaking something similar lol! I have a similar but different problem. Living in rural Texas, I have access to all the Mexican ingredients I could want. But Italian or pretty much anything from Asia? Nada. So I like to try and come up with recipes that substitute for readily available ingredients in my local area
Fortunatly my Edeka around he corner has a huge sortiment of la costena brand (including tomatillos) and the asian supermarket sells corn tortillas, masa and herdez sauces, so my mexican food need is somewhat satisfied even here in Germany.
Im from greece and the situation is sadly even worse here, especially if you live in a smaller city.. so i always end up substituting a lot of ingredients. Thank you for the video though, i always wanted to try making tacos so ill follow your recipe when i get the chance to make them :D
Ok, when i'm in Berlin in June i'll try to drop by and bring you some mexican Oregano, a big ol can of Tomatillios and Masa Flour. In Bonn there is a mexican grocery Store, and some Asia Shops here in Cologne got the nessecary stuff. The Carnitas with Water is just delicious!
I think that if you add some sweetness and tanginess from some citrus fruit to that marinade you'll probably be a lot more closer to the original marinade.
Great video! It's always so annoying when you can't find the ingredients. I've been on the hunt for tomatillos here in Austria for 2 years but couldn't find any.. Will give this a try!
As a Mexican that lives in Scotland, I’ve tried making Mexican food and even though I have most of the ingredients, it still tastes wayyyy off when I try and make Mexican food here.
Really interesting substitutions, and very inventive. I've substituted green tomatoes and Granny Smith apples for tomatillos before. Combined, they give you just about the right flavor and texture profile. I don't know if you can get them in Germany, but you might try subbing out some Asian chilis for the Mexican ones so you can still have some of that heat. I've been looking for a way to make tortillas without having Masa Harina, so this was very interesting.
i approached this video with skepticism but after seeing what you done... i can give the Mexican token of approval... even if its not the traditional abuela recipe it enraptures the Mexican culture, flavors and spirit... if we know something to be true about Mexican culture is that we are resourceful AF... we turn a empty bottle to a shower head and many more crazy things that just work even if they are not intent to be used that way. i salute you chef and i officially give you the title of Paisano.
@@mynameisandong I'm Mexican... A while ago i was married to a Russian girl.... She was missing her family so we decided to move to Russia to live, i remember one time her family asked me to make a traditional pozole verde... I made miracles with the ingredients that I could procure in the Russian stores, changing tomillo, and perejil instead of cilantro and many other changes i had to do. Being resourceful is a gift. Keep it in mind. As long as you can recreate a flavor, an experience, a slice of a memory and share it with others. You my friend are doing gods work. Helping the world be a little bit closer amongst each other.
This is brilliant! Thank you! Here in Canada, “Mexican” ingredients can be hard to come by as well! Or they are very expensive. I love Mexican foods so this is a wonderful use of readily available ingredients to “hack” that MX flavour. But on a side note, why the heck is kiwi so readily available on this latitude?! It’s prolific here like bananas… but kiwis is so underrated, like it makes an amazing meat tenderizer, but I never thought to use it in place of tomatillo! #usewhatyougot
I appreciate this so much. I'm just sad for you not being able to get ahold of pineapples. Fortunately, I'm in Brazil and that won't be hard to source like tomatillos, masa harina, Mexican oregano and other specialty ingredients. Great recipe ❤️
He can get pineapples, he just said in the video that when using such a small amount he prefers to use canned. Personally I'd get a pineapple and eat the rest later, or make tepache!
As a Mexican, gotta say it is a brilliant adaption and a really cool dish on its own. As someone who eats his pastor tacos with a bit or lime only and who loves a bit of char in the pork, its not my kind of taco but it is amazing. Also, Germano…No gringo.
First, let me say I appreciate the videos you've made (including this one) that show making foods from cuisines that may traditionally use ingredients that are hard to find in parts of the world, though for Mexican I'm fortunate enough to live within convenient distance of 3 different Mexican markets. And don't bother trimming the tortillas, all the best tortillas tend to be a bit irregular. Assuming corn flour in Germany is just flour ground from corn (rather than corn starch, which goes by corn flour in many places), it may be close enough to Mexican masa harina that you could use it to make corn tortillas even without the wheat flour. And while the kiwi salsa verde is probably tasty, I have a hard time believing it would hit the same flavor notes as a Mexican salsa verde. If green tomatoes are available where you live, they make an excellent tomatillo substitute. If not, I'm struggling to think of any other good substitute, so I get the choice of kiwi.
Mexican here, really appreciate the effort. You recognize the flavor notes and look for something most similar. The kiwi was genius, now I want to try it.
The fact you apologize in advance gave you extra points. I'm still traumatized by Rachael Ray's pozole.
Remember: Corn flour in Germany isn't corn flour in Australia, or most Asian countries. They call corn starch corn flour. That's not what Andong is using here. Just for Info.
We also call cornstarch "cornflour" in the UK. Any idea what type of flour he is using? Is it the same flour you'd use to make polenta?
@@MisterM2402 it looks like the corn equivalent of wheat flour
@@MisterM2402 it's very finely ground cornmeal, ground from dried maize. I can easily find masa harina or yellow P.A.N. flour in Finland, you should find them in the UK too (in larger stores maybe?). I found out about masa harina (and other masa's) by googling south american names for maize/corn flour, they're also good for arepas and other similar flat breads and so forth.
Polenta is much coarser, although there are recipes online for tacos that mix polenta and wheat flour.
@@MisterM2402 Unfortunately what Shrike Timebomb said is correct. If you have a very strong Mixer, or a Thermomix you might start with polenta and grind it finer, if you can't find the proper one.
A coffee grinder you haven't used for ages might do the trick. Clean it with some rice first to get the coffee residue out. Then grind your polenta finer.
If you just use polenta as is you'll eat sand.
It's too bad the point of the video was to use something readily available. If everything fails, just make flour tortillas. They might not provide that particular flavour, but I know a lot of people, who actually prefer them to corn tortillas.
@@TimeShrike I think we can get both coarse and fine cornmeal here sold in the Indian food section, though I wasn't sure if this was the same thing as masa harina or if that was a different type of corn.
Love it! Most recipes on the internet are usa-centered and they already have most of the ingredients needed in Mexican cuisine available even in the smallest supermarkets. This recipe actually looks like something that can be done with products available at average Lidl (maybe except for corn flour).
You can get corn flour at most turkish markets, which are fairly common in Germany.
@@olenickel6013 I live in the USA so no problem for me. I do buy a lot from Indian supermarkets and those here carry corn flour so you might look at these for another source.
wait.....europeans dont have corn flour?????
@@verylongname8161 Cornstarch (maizena) and cornmeal (polenta) are common, but flour can be harder to find. I can get it in my local supermarkets in the Netherlands, though.
As a Texan, let me point out that flour tortillas are a legitimate option for tacos. Use what you have and enjoy.
As a mexican that plays a lot with ingredients to substitute when one can’t be found even or I’m not able to get atm, I can tell you that as long as you get the flavor you’re looking for it’s a win and love your creativity with the kiwi! And also usually when making carnitas, they taste a looooooooooot better if you confite them in lard (I believe that’s what manteca or rendered pork fat is hehe) mixed with Coca Cola (if you want to make just carnitas, skip the Coca Cola if a marinade is going to be added later), un abrazoooooo y keep up the good work!!!
as a gringo, who lived off of tacos a pastor in DF, the kiwi idea was genius.
As a an actual gringo living in Mexico, I expected this video to about about TexMex Crunchy yellow hard shell tacos
@@mx-pyro they’re a good different kind of taco, but ngl really glad the video was about actual traditional tacos hehe
As a Mexican, my only concern here was that you didn't sear the pineapples in a pan to give them that authentic al pastor taste and crunch! Still mouthwatering look though!
just a heads up for my German fellas since I have the same problem with Taco ingredients as Andong does: Some big supermarkets actually carry canned tomatillos which make a really good salsa verde if you wanna make it yourself, but you can also sometimes find salsa verde bottles from a brand called "La Costena" which basically tastes just like the stuff you're gonna make yourself so I only ever make salsa verde myself when I need big batches. Also I have found that Asian supermarkets actually often carry mexican ingredients for some reason. So far I have found masa harina, authentic tortillas, achiote paste and dried mexican chilis so it might be worth a look if your local asian market does the same
Jup, Go Asia is my go to for Mexican ingredients when I can’t be bothered to go out of my way to the Latin American market across town
Ha, we get La Costeña here in Texas. Can confirm the salsa's legit. Good stuff.
In Berlin specifically, there are a couple "Iberian Supermarkets" which despite the name stock a modest selection from the entire Latin world. Super Iberico was one of them, currently they are looking for a new location after having to leave their long time spot near Checkpoint Charlie last May (which horrified me when I found out, like most people, by going shopping and finding the supermarket nonexistent).
They were always, and I trust will be again in the future, a fantastic place to get a wide selection of chiles and canned goods from central America.
On the other hand, proper masa harina is available at most asian supermarkets, so tortillas are pretty easy to get right!
Cool concept! Up here in Norway the taco craze is such that I can easily source even fresh tomatillos and all the different smoked chili peppers (and pre-made salsas from California and Mexico). But you have to visit the right shops which can be annoying when you just suddenly crave some empanadas or whatever
I follow so many american food creators and often I fäind myself substituting some ingredients I can‘t easily get in German supermarkets. This creative recipe is such an inspiration!
I am a Mexican who has been eating pastor for decades and I need to taste this. It looks very interesting. The only thing I was like NOOO it's the amount of sweet in the salsa.
Genius. As a frenchman living in Germany i can say ive been through the same things. Not many OG mexican restaurants in western Europe, and ingredients hard to come by... Andong you are the MAN. Will definitely use some of those hacks !
I'd suggest you to take a trip down to your southern neighbour 😅😅 Here in Spain we have a big mexican inmigrant community so in most big cities you'll find one or two mexican markets where you can find fresh mexican ingredients at nice prices.
PS: I overlooked the part where you said you live in Germany, my bad 😢 Anyway if you happen to come by, keep an eye for mexican ingredients and get back to Germany with a full suitcase or two 😂
@@javihernandez2755 Thank you for the tip mate I will definitely pay attention next time i'm over there :)
I like videos like this, using whatever you can find/afford and creativity to make dishes that are hard/not authentic to make without the traditional ingredients for it. Good job.
Instead of chillies, you can use hot Hungarian red paprikas if you can get the whole dry version, and then just roast them in a pan for the flavour.
This is by far my most favourite series on your channel! I always struggle when trying to recreate dishes with local ingredients, so these are a lifesaver.
Any chance you're gonna try your hand at Birria Tacos? 😂
My father bought some "tomato seeds for pickling" and they turned out to be tomatillos. Honestly, they do taste a bit like an unripe but sweet tomato, I would substitute it with groundcherry/physalis, they belong to the same Physalis genus.
Physalis' are awesome, just ridiculously pricey in Finland, but great idea.
BTW, we call them "pineapple cherries" (ananaskirsikka) :D
@@TimeShrike I thought everything is expensive in Finland
I tried making salsa verde w physalis (ciplukan here in Indonesia) instead of tomatillo and it was...not good. Really sour. But maybe I just didn't get the proportions right.
@@auralarchipelago I don't think it's that, they are just as tart, the physalis has more of a sweet, fruity and ripe flavor.
As a citizen of Croatia and Mexican good lover, I thank you! More of there European-mex food hacks pls!
This style of cooking reminderd me of Shokugeki no Souma anime. You have the skill to make recipes with hard to obtain ingredients available and affordable and I love this!
Sir, I admire your demonstration of adaptability in the kitchen. Well done!! Please keep up the excellent work!
That salsa verde cheat was really cool. I'm looking forward to trying it myself.
As a Mexican American living in germany, I am very impressed with how this was handled. Granted that it is very hard to find authentic Mexican ingredients. Bravo. Made me proud to be latino.😁😁
Ta´bueno verga
Knowing what sorted food went through when jamie butchered spanish/mexican dishes, I wish you good luck andong!
Also on a side note, as a fellow berliner, pls do more of these "substitute videos" especially for asian/korean stuff (although you might get that here more easily) and african flavours. Its agreat idea nd I think it plays to your core audience.
Do you guys have good South Asian flavours? I was unimpressed (but I guess passable) stuff available in Italy and Austria.
@@radikal8485 there's asian supermarkets in Germany, at least in large cities. should be no trouble sourcing common ingredients in Berlin of all places
@@radikal8485 for the most part, yeah! There's a great basic selection of south asian spices from TRS available at most asian supermarkets, and plenty of more elusive spices at middle eastern speciality grocery stores like a neighbourhood persian shop. But don't expect to find any good stuff at a normal german supermarket. Vinh Loi is a chain in Berlin which usually has a good all round asian selection, plus some british things.
Turkish supermarkets are also a gold mine for fantastic vegetables, but their selection isn't much different from a German one, just a bit wider, and certainly fresher than most supermarkets other than Lidl.
@@cameroneridan4558 Yeah I mostly used TRS as you mentioned. But I was mostly looking for Everest. Some shops kept MDH which is good. But thanks for the suggestions.
Seriously, I wish there was more available content like this. Of course, I want to use authentic ingredients! of course I do! i don't always have access, and authenticity is much less important that eating soemthing delicious. Andong is the hero we need!
Looks delicious. A quick tip for making a Salsa Verde without Tomatillo is to use green (unrippened) tomatoes. It"s not exactly the same but has a very similar flavor profile.
The pickled ones from oriental supermarkets are tasty anywhere!
Seconding this. When I tried fresh tomatillos for the first time (having to grow them myself to do so), green tomato was definitely the first thing that came to mind. There's definitely some subtle but important differences, but green tomato gets a lot of the way there, especially when you're not super familiar with tomatillos
While a bit of unripe tomato probably won't kill you, it's *not safe to consume unprocessed* due to potentially high solanine content. The type of tomato that stays green when ripe is miles away from tomatillo if you ask me. FYI: Tomatoes and Tomatillos are only very distant relatives that don't share much except for a similar name.
I always substitute the green tomatillo with the green variety (not the Indian one) of gooseberries from our garden. Works so great, also in chunky salsa. Btw I am from Germany and use these nearly ripe green gooseberries (Stachelbeeren). Amazing results IMO
I have waited so long for such a recipe!! Thank you so much Andong! 🙏
As another dessert dweller I 😊 appreciate this video.
I love the hack with the kiwi for salsa verde!!! I actually bought some tomatillo seeds and am trying to grow my own tomatillos this year (hello from neighbouring Mexican-food-desert called Poland) but there is no chance they will be ready for cinco de mayo! 😅😅😅 I will try your recipe instead ❤
So good to see Eypie.
The kiwi sub is genius! I have access to all the traditional ingredients but I haven't always. I love the ingenuity. And those tortillas look absolutely perfect.
Ooooh i've been waiting for this one, the kiwi salsa verde in particular
As a European this is just what I needed, having watched Ethan and Kenji make delicious mexican food. I hope you make more mexican food with our european ingredients.
Where part of Europe are you from? Here in Spain it's kinda easy to get mexican ingredients since most big cities have a big enough Mexican inmigrant community as to have at least one mexican supermarket around. Tomatillos might be the trickiest thing to find, but the kiwi idea is clever af, props to the chef. Also there's a few taquerias in Madrid that are the real deal (pro tip: don't look for the 15-20€ fancy dishes thing, look for the ones selling tacos by the unit)
@@javihernandez2755 Sweden, so not a lot of mexican ingredients here sadly. Cool, you gave me another reason to visit Madrid!
@@patrickj8933 glad I could help! Also another small tip: obvsly the parts of Madrid with the biggest inmigrant population (including Mexican and Latin American) are obvsly the more humble neighbourhoods and the metro area cities rather than the touristic centre of Madrid, so in this places you might find the real deal, the places where the actual mexican people go to eat and they're often just a couple streets away from the touristic areas but the prices drop drastically. So I'd suggest you to go explore and find amazing international restaurants and markets
Frozen pineapple is a great alternative to the canned one. Tastes much better, has better consistency and you can only take what you need from the package and keep the rest frozen.
toasting the corn flower on a gas stove might be an actual explosion hazard
I'm really impressed with how good the tortillas look
I feel for you, Andong! In North America, ingredients for Mexican recipes are much easier to find. However, you approach is interesting and certainly worth trying. Until next time!
I've lived in the Western United States my entire life and these kinds of ingredients have always been available, so I'd never considered that they might be difficult or impossible to source outside of Mexico. I think you've done a fantastic job! In the end, any local cuisine is usually based on what is available and good (and often cheap)!
Gonna leave another comment recommending green tomato as a substitute for tomatillos. It was the first thing that came to mind when I tasted fresh tomatillo for the first time (after having to grow them myself from seed). Its not perfect but it gets a lot of the way there, especially if you're not super familiar with tomatillo.
Wow genau das hab ich gebraucht. Weiß nicht ob ich die Kiwi in die Salsa geben will, aber das Rezept ist mega hilfreich
well.. i guess i have to start cooking on youtube as well to afford myself a frankfurter brett. well done andong! i enjoy your style of presentation. i highly appreciate your deep dips into food history. i adored the ex(ploi)rations into your own culinary past (doktorwurst, karelia galore.. loved it!). and your new thumbnails are banging.. keep up the good work!
You are the Penn Jillette of cooking, pure magic.
Great video as always. Have seen the German Version of Kitchen Passport in my local bookstore. Did not know that was a thing(i only thought there was an english version)
I live around the corner from (arguably) one of the best al pastor restaurants in the States and I've had plenty of it in Mexico as well. I think you did a brilliant job adapting for commonly-available ingredients and I'd eat that any day! I'd call your finished pork mixture carne adovada (with the chile sauce & all).
I just went on a little Taco Tour in Vienna that was surprisingly good 😋 So this video is a great follow up to inspire my own Taco Creations
Very creative Andong! 👍
As a Texan, I applaud this. It captures the flavor profiles of our neighbors way better than some of the cheap knockoffs in America that have no excuse because we have access to authentic ingredients.
Since I live in Berlin it’s super easy to get all the necessary ingredients because of all the latino supermarkets, but in my hometown in Germany no way 😂 this recipe is a good source for everybody in Germany no matter where you live 👌
Greeting from Alaska. You rock!!!!
The creativity is really good
Wow, hast du abgenommen! Sieht gut aus!
Thank you for this! I live in San Diego, but am a gringo and never bother to make these myself. This will help!
One of the best Mexican foods I've had in Europe was in Berlin
This recipe is crazy, I am impressed.
Superb recipe for me as a German to finally try out
If you're roasting the peppers for an hour, could you also cook the carnitas in the oven at the same time? I'm just thinking about saving energy costs from running both the stove and the oven together. How would you adjust the time/temperature/technique?
Andong, I'm using that kiwi in my next salsa verde even though I'll add the tomiltillos like usual. That's a legit good idea.
Pretty ingenious recipe! Although for the red sauce you could've probably substituted the dried Mexican chilies with probably some Chinese Heaven-facing ones or even Indian dried chilies.
USA markets have these ingredients easily. I have tomatillo in a shop next door, and I live on the north end of the east coast.
They look really good! Here in the US, we can get many of the ingredients in our supermarkets, so we can get a little closer to authentic. Still, some good substitutions here!
I swear every time I have an idea for a food video that I'd make if I had the timr/inclination, you end upvmaking something similar lol!
I have a similar but different problem. Living in rural Texas, I have access to all the Mexican ingredients I could want. But Italian or pretty much anything from Asia? Nada. So I like to try and come up with recipes that substitute for readily available ingredients in my local area
Fortunatly my Edeka around he corner has a huge sortiment of la costena brand (including tomatillos) and the asian supermarket sells corn tortillas, masa and herdez sauces, so my mexican food need is somewhat satisfied even here in Germany.
In Paris we have an excellent mexican store "La Esquinita" who I believe ships to other parts of Europe
Oh yeah, that's what i was looking for!
🥝 that’s thinking outside the skillet😂 great video Andong!! Thanks
A question I have asked myself MANY a times. Thanks for this video, love from Wedding
Im from greece and the situation is sadly even worse here, especially if you live in a smaller city.. so i always end up substituting a lot of ingredients. Thank you for the video though, i always wanted to try making tacos so ill follow your recipe when i get the chance to make them :D
In Berlin Theres a nice Mexican store where you even buy tomatillos
Ok, when i'm in Berlin in June i'll try to drop by and bring you some mexican Oregano, a big ol can of Tomatillios and Masa Flour. In Bonn there is a mexican grocery Store, and some Asia Shops here in Cologne got the nessecary stuff. The Carnitas with Water is just delicious!
I think that if you add some sweetness and tanginess from some citrus fruit to that marinade you'll probably be a lot more closer to the original marinade.
Didn't realise this was an Andong video at first
I can imagine that for Homepartys and Cocktailmaker the Konsole °5, from your sponsor, is a accessory.
Andong, and fellow berliners, look for chili&Paprika(store in berlin), got tomatillos, epazote and so on there. I am not paid by them :)
at 04:36 he says "we need to taco 'bout tortillas"
yes, pun intended I guess :)
Great video! It's always so annoying when you can't find the ingredients. I've been on the hunt for tomatillos here in Austria for 2 years but couldn't find any.. Will give this a try!
if you have access to sour plums, that might do it as well for salsa verde
As a Mexican that lives in Scotland, I’ve tried making Mexican food and even though I have most of the ingredients, it still tastes wayyyy off when I try and make Mexican food here.
Really interesting substitutions, and very inventive.
I've substituted green tomatoes and Granny Smith apples for tomatillos before.
Combined, they give you just about the right flavor and texture profile.
I don't know if you can get them in Germany, but you might try subbing out some Asian chilis for the Mexican ones so you can still have some of that heat.
I've been looking for a way to make tortillas without having Masa Harina, so this was very interesting.
damn, that frankfurter bread board is nice thing, like when im doing pizzas, this is awesome, thanks
Hey Andong! Most if not all Mexican dried chilis can be made at home, in bulk, and they last basically forever.
Love, Texas
I substitute tomatillos with cape gooseberries.
Works pretty well tho
Красота! Даже смотреть вкусно!
i approached this video with skepticism but after seeing what you done... i can give the Mexican token of approval... even if its not the traditional abuela recipe it enraptures the Mexican culture, flavors and spirit... if we know something to be true about Mexican culture is that we are resourceful AF... we turn a empty bottle to a shower head and many more crazy things that just work even if they are not intent to be used that way.
i salute you chef and i officially give you the title of Paisano.
Will print & frame! Thank you Sir! :)
@@mynameisandong I'm Mexican... A while ago i was married to a Russian girl.... She was missing her family so we decided to move to Russia to live, i remember one time her family asked me to make a traditional pozole verde... I made miracles with the ingredients that I could procure in the Russian stores, changing tomillo, and perejil instead of cilantro and many other changes i had to do. Being resourceful is a gift. Keep it in mind. As long as you can recreate a flavor, an experience, a slice of a memory and share it with others. You my friend are doing gods work. Helping the world be a little bit closer amongst each other.
Love these thumbnails
go back to longer videos plssss Andong
This is brilliant! Thank you! Here in Canada, “Mexican” ingredients can be hard to come by as well! Or they are very expensive. I love Mexican foods so this is a wonderful use of readily available ingredients to “hack” that MX flavour. But on a side note, why the heck is kiwi so readily available on this latitude?! It’s prolific here like bananas… but kiwis is so underrated, like it makes an amazing meat tenderizer, but I never thought to use it in place of tomatillo! #usewhatyougot
5:56 bro was acting like a mom cooking
I appreciate this so much. I'm just sad for you not being able to get ahold of pineapples. Fortunately, I'm in Brazil and that won't be hard to source like tomatillos, masa harina, Mexican oregano and other specialty ingredients. Great recipe ❤️
He can get pineapples, he just said in the video that when using such a small amount he prefers to use canned. Personally I'd get a pineapple and eat the rest later, or make tepache!
You actually loot like thinner Morshu in that opening sequence somehow
I heard tortilla chips can be just ground up to make masa harina in a pinch
As a Mexican, gotta say it is a brilliant adaption and a really cool dish on its own. As someone who eats his pastor tacos with a bit or lime only and who loves a bit of char in the pork, its not my kind of taco but it is amazing.
Also, Germano…No gringo.
It might be a pain, but you can smoke and dry jalapeño peppers to make chipotles.
King video.
Hamburg has really good real mexican food, you just need to know where to go 😉
Dang, those Tacos look great.
I need to check out my local Mexican restaurant now. ^_^
"bit of smoked paprika" he says before adding enough to make a whole hog taste like it was roasted on an open fire :P
Can cofirm that Germany is a mexican food desert, but I made things very closely to quesadillas and LEMME TELL YOU THAT STUFF WAS GOOD GOOD
First, let me say I appreciate the videos you've made (including this one) that show making foods from cuisines that may traditionally use ingredients that are hard to find in parts of the world, though for Mexican I'm fortunate enough to live within convenient distance of 3 different Mexican markets. And don't bother trimming the tortillas, all the best tortillas tend to be a bit irregular.
Assuming corn flour in Germany is just flour ground from corn (rather than corn starch, which goes by corn flour in many places), it may be close enough to Mexican masa harina that you could use it to make corn tortillas even without the wheat flour. And while the kiwi salsa verde is probably tasty, I have a hard time believing it would hit the same flavor notes as a Mexican salsa verde. If green tomatoes are available where you live, they make an excellent tomatillo substitute. If not, I'm struggling to think of any other good substitute, so I get the choice of kiwi.
Nice!
Adong ich verstehe das total, ich komme aus Kassel, es gibt mittlerweile kein Mexikanisches Essen mehr in einer 200.000 Einwohner stadt.
I will never make this recipe (I live in texas and all of these ingredients are pennies on the dollar) but all of this is fascinating
Hey Andong, hast du abgenommen? Siehst gut aus Bruder! :D
"I have a problem, I live in German"
Mood
Is the Mexican corn flour really that different? I made tacos from corn flour before and it worked out pretty well.
Yup, they use flour made from nixtamalized maize, and it changes its properties and flavour.
exactly - nixtamalized corn flour is completely different!