[música recurrente] -[Pati V.O.]

There is a region in Coahuila that has historically produced massive amounts of coal.

One would expect the people in a coal mining place to be coarse, rough, and uninviting, but Anuar Yutani embodies and amplifies Mexican hospitality.

Our first encounter is at Tacos Manito, a roadside breakfast taco stand.

Once again, Coahuila is holding a surprise for me.

-Hola, Pati, ¿cómo estás?

-Hola, Anuar.

Bienvenida a la región carbonífera y a Sabinas en -especial.

-¿Cómo estás?

Bienvenida.

Muy bien, gracias a Dios.

-¡Qué gusto verte!

-Sí.

Adelante.

Pasamos a echarnos unos tacos.

Igualmente.

Sí, sí, sí, sí.

[música animada] Pati's Mexican Table is brought to you by... [música animada] Wells Fargo supports over 3 million small business customers.

[música animada] La costeña, por sabor.

Avocados from Mexico.

[música tranquila] Eggland's Best, available in your grocer's egg aisle.

Visit egglandsbest.com.

[birds chirping] -Hola, ¿qué tal?

-Manito.

Uriel Macías.

Conocido -como Manito.

-Ah, mucho gusto.

-[Pati] ¿Cuáles son así los que más venden?

Sus "top three".

-[Uriel] Cortadillo█ -[Pati] Ajá -[Uriel] █chicharrones salsa verde█ -Ajá -█rajas con crema, queso panela con salsa, chili carne.

-Oh, Anuar.

-[Anuar] Y tortillas recién hechas.

Yo creo quea Lia le traes uno de molida, la del puro platito, -[Anuar] Porfa.

Gracias.

Este█ -[Pati] [risa] Te acompaña.

Sí, normalmente.

-[Pati] Oye, a ver, dime una cosa, Uriel.

-[Uriel] Dígame.

-[Pati] Este es el de morita.

-[Uriel] Ese es el de morita.

-Y es res, cerdo, ¿dices?

-Es, es puerco.

Este es puerco.

Gracias, Uriel.

-[Uriel] Con permiso, ahorita le traigo su café.

Mhm.

Mmm, mmm, mmm.

Anuar, -¿Tu papá era ganadero?

-Toda la vida.

Nació aquí en el 37, mis abuelos de Líbano los dos, y mi papá decidió incursionar en la ganadería.

Hace un contrato comercial de palabra, como en aquellos tiempos, con una cadena que le iban a comprar mucho ganado.

Fructúa el precio, la cadena ya no quiere el ganado y por necesidad tiene que abrir -una carnicería.

-Ah.

-[Anuar] Hoy en día, aparte de ganaderos, tenemos carnicerías -por esa situación.

-¿Carnicerías en todo el estado -o en la región?

-Solamente aquí en la región.

-[Pati V.O.]

Anuar wants to take me to his family's butcher shop.

As we drive, I'm in awe of how involved he and his family are with their community.

They organize all kinds of events, like the "cabalgata" or horse ride, the Carne Asada Festival, which is the biggest culinary event in the region, and the proceeds from these events are donated to charity.

If that wasn't enough, Anuar is also a master griller and knows meat like few people I know.

Once at the butcher shop, he shares some pro tips on how to choose meat.

Ah, pero te voy a explicar - tantito los cortes.

- Ok, ok, ok.

Pues así es.

Bienvenida, Pati.

-Estás en tu casa.

-¡Ah, qué tiendón!

Ok, Lia.

-[Anuar] Sí.

-[Pati] Todo lo que necesitas para una carne asada.

-[Anuar] Ahorita nos vamos a llevar varias cosas de aquí para hacerlos en el río.

Vamos a pasar, ahorita te voy explicando.

Te presento, más o menos son los cortes más típicos que usamos aquí en la región.

Nosotros hacemos mucho esto que es el "ribeye" con hueso.

Muchas veces, en lugar de comprar un "tomahawk" con el hueso pelón, que le llamamos coloquialmente, es mejor el "tomahawk" con el hueso cargado para aprovechar la costilla, ¿verdad?

Pero yo quisiera que me acompañaras a - cortar carne█ - Ah, sí █y viéramos más o menos así como debemos de hacerle, ¿verdad?

Ahí con cuidado.

-[Anuar] Mira, lo que vamos a hacer es vamos a cortar un "rib eye".

Cuando tú quieres medir un grueso█ -[Pati] Ah.

-[Anuar] █se, se mide con esta paletita, ¿verdad?

Yo lo voy a hacer así sin medirlo.

-[Pati] A buen ojo.

-[Anuar] A buen ojo, a ojo de buen cubero.

Así.

Mira el marmoleo que tiene.

Y esta grasita muchas veces vale la pena hacer mucho una manteca.

-[Pati] Y lo usas para tamales, para█ -[Anuar] Y para brochar la misma carne cuando lo estás asando.

Es mejor que cualquier otro aceite - o lubricante.

- Sí.

-[Anuar] Mira, este es "porterhouse", Nueva York o New York, y con, y con el hueso es la cabrería, que es uno de mis cortes favoritos porque es -super suave█ -[Pati] Sí -[Anuar] █siendo el filete con el hueso y que la carne pegada al hueso es la mejor.

La mejor.

Y el hueso le ayuda a que no se recosa tanto el filete porque es un músculo.

Así es que yo le recomiendo a la gente que mejor compre esta pieza, lógicamente se la desgrasan tantito, ¿verdad?

-[Pati] Ah, eso es el huesito.

-[Anuar] Sí.

Ok.

-[Pati] Así es como yo lo veo en el súper a donde voy.

-[Anuar] Sí, nada más que aquí te lo van a vender mucho más caro.

En, en los, en los tres cortes te quitan la grasa, ¿verdad?

-[Pati] Si lo compras así█ -[Anuar] Así vas a pagar - $330 y $600 pesos.

-[Pati] ¡Wow!

-[Anuar] Así es que mejor█ -[Pati] ¿Tres veces?

-[Anuar] Sí.

Así█ -[Pati] Nomás por la cortada.

-[Anuar] Sí, porque te estás lleva, te estoy vendiendo el puro filete y se supone que yo voy a batallar en vender esto, -pero no batallo.

-No, y es un, un detallito.

-[Pati] Nos llevamos nuestras carnes y nos vamos.

Así es.

[música recurrente] I love baby back ribs and I grew up eating baby back ribs with a crazy barbecue sauce that my mom used to make.

So I was partial to that one until I went to Coahuila and met Anuar, who shared with us his tamarind baby back ribs.

He was kind enough to share the recipe with me so that I can share it with you guys.

So we're gonna start with the rub.

So the first thing I'm gonna add is celery powder, a couple tablespoons.

Well, everything that's in here.

Two tablespoons of coarsely ground black pepper, two tablespoons of kosher or sea salt, one tablespoon onion powder, and one tablespoon garlic powder.

I'm just gonna mix this up.

This rub, you can make a big batch of the rub and just keep it stored and ready to use.

I have about four pounds of pork ribs.

You need to remove the silver skin, which is in the back.

And this is the silver skin, skin that ties the ribs together.

So just try to cut the skin close to the bone.

If you remove the silver skin, it's just gonna make the meat fall off the bone.

Now I'm just gonna rub this whole thing.

Massage.

I wanna make sure the rub is really all over the meat, both sides.

I'm an advocate for using your bare hands for everything 'cause you gotta feel what you're doing.

If you have the time, put them in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to overnight, because then the seasoning will create a little bit of a crust.

And then you take 'em out, cover them in aluminum foil.

You don't want any steam to come out, so it's like a packet.

And I'm gonna put them in the oven, you could put them on the grill as well, with the bone side down.

Now I'm gonna put them in the oven, gonna wash my hands, and I'm gonna continue with the tamarind syrup.

So these go in here for one and a half to two hours until the meat reaches 165 degrees.

And I have some in here that are about to be ready.

Meanwhile, we're making Latin-style tamarind syrup, which has tamarind, lime juice, and sugar.

These are the tamarind pods.

[crunching] Crunchy.

You remove the shell.

The taste of tamarind is so unique, so delicious.

It's like a combination of tang, apricot, date, and it's nice and meaty.

Tamarind really reminds me of my childhood, and it is what I used to eat when I went to the movies growing up.

Tamarind candy is so incredibly popular, and it's a mix of tamarind with salt, with chili.

And it was really fun 'cause it had the pits, so you, you used to just try to get as much candy out.

And it mostly makes me think about Acapulco, 'cause we used to go to Acapulco in December a lot.

In fact, Acapulco is where my parents met.

This is what it looks like when you remove the shell.

Then you have to remove also the strings.

There's seeds that we will get rid of.

In the water that is already hot.

Anywhere from two hours to 24 hours.

Of course, the water would have cooled, and I'm not gonna make you wait so long.

I have some that, um, I put in the kitchen since last night.

And so this is what it would look like.

So soft, meaty.

So what I'm gonna do is remove the seeds, trying not to waste any of the precious pulp.

And then you put some music on, and then you continue with the rest of the tamarind pods.

[gentle music] And I'm gonna press all the pulp through the strainer.

I'm also gonna use some of that soaking liquid, trying to get all the pulp out.

Okay, so look at this.

Into a saucepan.

So here we have the tamarind pulp strained with some of its soaking liquid.

To turn it into the most delicious syrup, I'm going to zest a lime, because the zest is gonna give it more citrus power.

It's gonna give it a little bit of a bitter edge.

Like, why not?

We love really intense, complex flavors.

Okay.

And the juice.

One and a half cups of sugar.

Then I'm gonna stir.

We're gonna let this come to a boil.

Once it does█ Oh, like now, like now, like now.

You don't want it to come over.

You don't want it to fall over.

That is up at a boil, like the water is just trying to escape from the heat.

And then reduce it to low, medium-low, and come to a gentle simmer.

Let it cook down until it has syrupy consistency.

So you want to stop when the syrup coats the back of the spoon.

-[Pati V.O.]

Before we head out to Rio Sabinas, Anuar wants to gather some troops.

First, Mauricio Jaime, Anuar's compadre and owner of the beloved La Estaca restaurant.

-[Anuar] Mauricio, vente.

-[Pati] Vámonos.

We're on a mission to throw a crazy carne asada.

People in Sabinas, like all northern Mexico, take their meat so seriously, it's almost ceremonious.

Mauricio shared this story, proving that rough norteños are not afraid to show their many sides.

-[Mauricio] Fíjate que mi papá y nosotros siempre hemos sido de rancho y siempre andábamos a caballo.

A los 13 años, se alocó un caballo que no lo pude parar, no lo pude parar, y en una cerca se remachó y fui a dar en una nopalera.

[risas] Y desde los 13 años, no me había arrimado a un caballo.

-[Pati] ¿Y ahorita te subiste para montar conmigo?

-Sí.

-¿Y te dio miedo?

Al principio sí, pero me desbloqueé el miedo ya.

-[Pati V.O.]

And once we reached the river, we saw the stunning árboles sabinos, or Montezuma cypress trees.

There were Fara Fara musicians and the makings of an incredible carne asada feast.

[música] Anuar and Mauricio introduced me to their friends and families.

-[Anuar] Mira, aquí está Sara marinando los elotitos.

-[Pati] Hola, Sara, ¿cómo estás?

-[Anuar] Es una, esa... -Bienvenida aquí a la carnita.

-[Anuar] Sara, mi hija.

-[Pati V.O.]

Gloria, Jaime, Mauricio's wife, Julieta, Mayra, Georgina, and Sara.

Anuar and his friends gifted me a belt with my name and a special multipurpose knife that I'm -crazy about.

-¡Ay, no, qué belleza!

Tiene mi nombre.

Ya traigo mi cuchillo, véase.

Este me lo regaló Anuar.

-¿Puedo cortar un elotito?

-Claro, sí.

[sonido del cuchillo cortando elote] -[Pati] Super práctico, ¿pa qué no lo usas?

Voy a llegar a mi casa en Washington y lo voy a usar para abrir el correo.

-[Pati V.O.]

And throughout, Anuar keeps sharing so many carne asada - lessons to bring home.

- Hacemos una brocha Pati.

-[Pati] Sí, okey.

-[Anuar] Ahí va.

Son romero... -[Pati] Ajá.

-[Anuar] ...mejorana, salvia y tomillo.

Lo revolvemos tantito y así hacemos una brocha.

-[Pati] Mmm.

-[Anuar] Lo mejor es estarla lubricando cuando estamos asando.

El mismo calor del aceite con el ajo y las finas hierbas da un aroma increíble para poder sazonar.

-[Pati V.O.]

Anuar keeps throwing pearls of wisdom about the meat, which makes me think.

We sometimes think making a carne asada is a basic thing, yet this carne asada is as sophisticated as they come.

Y se la avientas como mucha, mucha, mucha.

Como tú sientes así, dispérsala desde aquí.

Mira, te voy a, así, así -No pasa nada.

-¿Así?

¿Y por qué?

Pues na' más es como tradición de nosotros y no le tengas miedo a la sal.

La carne va a agarrar lo que necesite.

-[Mauricio] Y lo demás lo suelta.

Sí, ahí va.

Mira, es así y entonces la tiras así.

[sonido de parrilla] [risas] Oye, este, pues pasamos horita a servirnos, ¿¿sí?

-[Pati] Va, sí, sí, sí, sí, sí.

-[Sara] Vénganse.

-[Pati] ¡Qué rico!

-[Anuar] Ahí voy a servirte.

-[Mauricio] donde entraste en la madera ahí.

-[Anuar] Con el de dulce pa que jale.

-[Anuar] Primero vamos a ponerle -La cama de tuétano.

-[Pati] Mhm.

-[Anuar] Si están poniendo atención, necesito que aprendan de este pa la dieta, ¿eh?

-[Gloria] Estoy diciendo que ponga atención.

-[Pati] No.

-[Anuar] Y luego untamos.

Esto es muy típico de aquí.

Aquí le sacamos la carnita.

Ya está totalmente cocida, pero -este color█ -[Pati] Mhm -[Anuar] █es lo que le llamamos nosotros término medio -para un concurso.

¿Sí?

-[Pati] Okey.

-[Anuar] Que Mauricio y yo hemos tenido la oportunidad de, pues ser término medio y de concursar también como término medio.

Se siente la suavidad de la carne.

-[Pati] Sí, se deshace.

-Se deshace sola y la vamos a echar - con la manopla.

-[Pati] Sí, sí, sí.

Al taquito.

Pero siempre tiene que ir un toque de este█ -[Pati] Ajá.

-[Anuar] █como si fuera un limón -[Pati] Pero sazonado.

-[Anuar] Sazonado.

Y ya la salas al gusto y muchas veces todavía le agregamos eh, salsa molcajeteada.

-[Pati] ¿Así?

-[Anuar] Luego, pero sí está llevando tuetanito, no le█ -[Pati] Sí, No.

-[Anuar] tengas miedo porque si [Anuar] no jala la receta.

Le estoy echando muchísimo.

Medio kilo de tuétano.

-[Anuar] Exacto.

-[Pati V.O.]

As we continue preparing this feast in Sabinas let's go back to the kitchen to check on the tamarind ribs.

The ribs are in the oven.

The tamarind syrup is thickening, but we want it to thicken a little bit more.

I'm gonna start a sauce to make some potatoes.

These potatoes are called papas kikapú.

My friend Anuar also taught me how to make these.

And these potatoes are cooked until crisp, and then they're completely bathed in a sauce called the kikapú sauce.

And the kikapú sauce comes from the Kikapú tribe that lives in the Múzquiz area of Coahuila.

I'm gonna start preheating this pan.

It has two different kinds of chiles, the guajillo and the other is the chile de árbol.

So the guajillo chile, to clean it, just remove the stem.

And then just open the chile with your hands.

No need to wear gloves.

And I'm gonna add six of these.

One, two, three, four, five, six.

You want for the chiles to change, to start moving in the pan.

See?

The skin starts puffing up.

The fumes start coming out.

And then we're gonna combine them with a couple of chiles de árbol, putting them in here.

And once the chiles toast█ So these are gonna rehydrate over, like, the simmering hot water for, like, I don't know, five to six minutes.

And let's look at our tamarind syrup.

You can see the process of how it's thickening.

We want it thicker.

In this pan that I've been preheating, I'm going to add a couple tablespoons of oil.

Cebolla.

[sizzling] And as I'm cooking the onion, and now I want it to just soften, [spoon clanking against pan] let's look.

Our chiles rehydrating.

I'm gonna add the garlic.

I'm gonna mix the onion with the garlic.

I'm gonna make some room in the middle and add the tomatoes.

I'm using ripe Roma tomatoes with the seeds and everything.

I want the tomatoes to be fully cooked and mushy.

I'm gonna start adding in here the ingredients.

We're gonna add the rehydrated chiles, a tablespoon of white vinegar, dried oregano, salt, black pepper, cumin seeds.

We're gonna grind them in here.

Anuar also gave me this, see?

From the Super Carnes from Coahuila.

Anuar, thank you.

We have you in here in the kitchen.

Está buenísimo este molcajetito, ¿eh?

You grind until you can smell it.

Comino.

El sofrito.

Oh, and I can hear the tamarind syrup.

You want the syrup to coat the spoon, and you want it to drip more slowly than this.

Like, this is too fast.

We want it a little thicker.

[spoon clanking against pan] But we're gonna add some water, or even some water from the chile cooking liquid.

And now, we're gonna puree until smooth.

[blender whirring] I mean, just by looking at it█ Mm, mm, so good.

It really fulfills the promise.

The tamarind syrup is so ready, it's, like, shaking in here.

See how now it's coating the spoon?

And you can also see, like, some caramelization around the pot, which is why I like to add the tamarind syrup to the ribs after they're fully cooked and after they developed a crust, because the tamarind syrup is very sweet.

And if you added it since the beginning of the cooking process, it would just burn on the in, on the surface.

Okay, this is ready.

Mira, yeah.

It's like jammy almost.

I'm gonna turn this off.

I'm gonna take out the ribs.

What I'm gonna do now is open█ ¡Uy, huele deli!

Ooh, it's hot.

Oh, this is so pretty.

We first add the tamarind syrup.

You want sauce over and under, so let's flip.

Ooh.

The tamarind syrup is so sticky, so sweet, so tangy.

And now look at the glaze, so that you have a reason to lick your fingers.

Then butter.

I don't know what Anuar will think of this, but I'm adding butter to your ribs.

I'm gonna put this in the oven at 275, then I'm gonna make the potatoes.

[tray sliding into oven] I have the kikapu sauce that we just pureed from the blender, and I'm going to give it an extra seasoning.

I have this pan set over medium heat.

I'm gonna add a tablespoon or so of vegetable oil.

And this is, you know, this is how we guisamos la salsa, or how we season the sauce.

Now this sauce is gonna season and thicken for about four to five minutes.

You know when the sauce has been seasoned when the fat has been incorporated by the sauce.

So gonna cover these.

Let that cook for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, I have my water that has come to a boil.

I'm adding salt.

You can use any potato you wanna use.

I'm gonna boil them in salted water so they begin the cooking process.

Oh, okay, okay, okay, okay.

This is perfect, 'cause I'm gonna show you how the sauce is seasoned.

Like, the color of the little puddles of fat is darker than the color of the sauce.

This sauce is ready, la kikapu.

Okay?

And here, I'm gonna cook the garnish for the ribs, which is some█ I mean, you could grill the pineapple or sear the pineapple.

I'm gonna use this cast iron pan.

I'm gonna add some butter, a little bit of oil so the butter doesn't burn.

Now I'm gonna add my pineapple.

High heat, and I'm not moving it much 'cause I want the sugar from the pineapple to come out and caramelize.

Parsley.

I like using the leaves and the upper stems, which also have a lot of flavor.

We have really good cotija cheese.

Like, look at how good this cotija cheese is.

This is from the Cotija region that includes part of Michoacán and part of Jalisco.

And this is serious cheese.

It's aged, it's salty, it's crumbly.

Mm.

I'm gonna flip the pineapple, and then I'm gonna start heating my pan here to cook the potatoes.

I'm going to combine butter with olive oil.

The pineapple is really ready.

I'm just gonna turn it off and move it here.

Potatoes.

Try to drain the water.

Salt, pepper, dry oregano, and garlic.

I'm gonna add the sauce.

So we're just gonna let the potatoes continue cooking in the sauce.

I'm gonna take out the ribs 'cause they're ready.

Gonna cut through here.

This looks insane.

Ribs, sauce.

So very unexpected for what you would find in a carne asada, but this is what we found everywhere we went in Coahuila, just unexpected deliciousness everywhere.

Parsley, cheese.

I love potatoes so much!

[plate clinking on table] it's raining so much right now.

That's so funny!

[thunder rumbling, and rain pouring] I don't know what to try first.

Mm.

Mm.

It's what you want from ribs.

It's, like, sticky, sweet, a little spicy.

I mean, and of course you can eat them together.

Mm.

The kikapu sauce is, it's like a feisty adobo.

Anuar, thank you for sharing your flavors with us, and I hope that many people will give these a try 'cause they are so worth it.

And I hope that I can be there for your next carne asada festival.

Meanwhile, I'll just cook this.

-[Pati V.O.]

Now back to the carne asada feast in Sabinas.

-[Pati] Yo creo que mucha gente piensa, "Ay, el norte, carne asada, solamente avientan la carne en la parrilla", pero es tan más sofisticado, ¿no?

De lo que la gente piensa.

A ver, Coahuila, ¿qué lo distingue?

-[Anuar] Te digo, yo creo que todo el norte, nos apasionamos por hacerlo en convivencia.

Este, nos une█ -[Pati] Mm-hmm -[Anuar] █ este tipo de eventos de la carne asada y lo hacemos cada fin de semana.

Familia y amigos, es punto de reunión.

-[Pati] ¡Salud, salud, salud!

-[Anuar] ¡Órale, chicos!

-[Pati] Oigan, qué deliciosa█ -[Anuar] Ya están todos servidos menos yo.

[risas] -[Pati] █deliciosa conversación.

Anuar, - Yo te echo un poquito.

-[Anuar] No, no, no.

-[Anuar] Adelante, adelante.

[música tradicional] -[Pati V.O.]

We ate, we talked, we drank wine, we listened to beautiful music, and the last thing they wanted to do, which they said we could not skip, is walking to the river.

Completely wowed is how I can describe my time in Sabinas, the land of the árboles sabinos, of hardworking and proud people that, as Anuar says, can make something special even out of a stone found in a river.

For recipes and information from this episode and more, visit patijinich.com and connect.

Find me on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, X, Pinterest and YouTube @patijinich.

Pati's Mexican Table is brought to you by... [upbeat music] Wells Fargo supports over 3 million small business customers.

[upbeat music] La costeña, por sabor.

Avocados from Mexico.

[gentle music] Eggland's Best, available in your grocer's egg aisle.

Visit egglandsbest.com.

[birds chirping] Proud to support Pati's Mexican Table on public television.

[instrumental music]