Salt and Pepper Mexican Restaurante (Bowness)

Authentic international cuisine of any kind is hard to find in Calgary. That’s why I get really excited when I stumble upon authentic places. They are usually smaller and don’t have the glitz and glam of the trendy fusion places which is fine because I’m there for the food anyways.  Not to say there is anything wrong with the trendy hotspots because I do enjoy those places as well.   

My favourite place for Mexican food? Salt and Pepper in Bowness. I’ve been to this location twice and once at the Macleod location but there’s just something about the Bowness location that made my dining experience more enjoyable. Was it soft mood lighting? Was it the smell of fresh spices? Or was it the wall of tequila? I’m not sure but it definitely leaves me wanting more.

Their menu consists of the regular flat bread staples: tacos, enchiladas, fajitas, quesadilla, as well as a selection of seafood prepared and served with delicious Mexican spices and sauces.  It was date night and me and my S.O. started the evening off with fresh guacamole. The guacamole was delicious with the chips and the parmesan cheese sprinkled on top adds just a little bit of saltyness. We weren't able to finish the whole basket of chips and by the time our meals came we were already quite full.  Maybe we just aren’t big eaters.

Guacamole del Rey

Then came the main dishes. I ordered the chicken enchiladas with tomato and basil sauce -- the chicken is a bit spicy for me so I like the sauce to cool off my tongue -- you can also choose a bean sauce or mole sauce.  This dish also comes with rice and beans on the side. The first time we ate here I remember the servings being larger but this meal was still a relatively generous serving.  The stuffed peppers are also quite good.  I usually choose not to order them because it’s too much food for me but my other half loves them so I definitely recommend trying them.

Chicken Enchilada
(see the left over guac at the top of the photo? hehe...)

The food and atmosphere is not for everyone but if you love Mexican cuisine I definitely recommend this place. It's very family friendly so don't be shy to bring the whole family down, I believe there is also a modified children's menu if you ask the server. I have yet to try out their patio so that’s a must this summer!!

Recipe #1 - Pork Pork Pork Night!

For the Urban Foodie's first recipe, I give you Samgyeopsal (삼겹살)! We like to call it PorkPorkPork since Samgyeopsal (Korean) translates directly to 삼 -Three 겹 - Layered 살 - Flesh. Why Three Layered Flesh you ask? Because the main ingredient in this meal consists of this: 

That, my friends, is one layer of fatty meat, one layer of meaty fat and one layer of pure fatty goodness. Are you grossed out? If you are, first of all, this blog might not be for you! Second though, stick with me because the finished product looks something like this: 

Do I have you back? Excellent. So here's the deal, this is a Korean dish that requires a minimum of two eaters but is a great example of the more the merrier. This past Easter Monday, the Urban Foodie, the Pineapple Princess, myself and ten of our friends got together for one such meal. 

Things you'll need: 

- Pork belly (two people per pack)

- Green onions (two people per bunch)

- Perilla Leaves (two people per pack) (Find at any Korean supermarket) 

- Red chili powder (a few teaspoons)

- Garlic (as much as you want)

- Sesame Oil (a few teaspoons)

- Soybean Paste (quite a bit) (Find at any Korean supermarket)

- Kimchi (as much as you want)

- Rice (half a cup to one cup per person)

- Red leaf lettuce (two people per head)

- Alcohol (Is it Friday or Saturday? A lot. Any other day? Are you employed? Yes? Maybe a little less, friend.)

- Newspaper (Do you like mopping greasy floors? No? A lot then.)

- One each of these for every five people or so:

Why one of those strange cooking tops? You see that hole in the middle? It drains to that hole in the side giving you these: 

 

You see that cup there? That's triple-distilled pork fat bro. You get about one of those cups per two packs of meat. 

So I mean, at this point, the recipe may look a little daunting. You seem to require a lot of ingredients and no shortage of equipment to get this done. Don't be afraid though! It's really quite simple. Basically, this is how it goes down: 

1. Shred onions and Perilla leaves and mix in a bowl with chili powder (it makes things spicy right? so if you can't handle the spicy, don't add so much!) and some sesame oil to make it all stick together.

2. That's really all there is to it. Everything else you just straight up throw on the grill and leave it until it's either crispy and beautiful or browned and aromatic. Ie. sliced garlic, kimchi, porkporkpork (cut these to 1.5-2 inch sections with scissors), and any other veggies you want. 

3. Then you take your leaf of lettuce (I generally halve it so I can stuff it in my mouth better), add some rice to it, throw some of that green onion/perilla leaf salad on it, throw your cooked stuff on it, add a dollop of soybean paste and some sesame oil (if it's your thing), wrap that thing up and scarf it down. Easy as pie. And you all know that I love pie. 

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you can't accomplish step 3 anymore. 

A few P.S. items: 

- If you're going to use the table top stove, you should put newspaper underneath it and on the floor because the grease flies everywhere. That green tablecloth? That went in the garbage after the meal. 

- If you don't have all of this stuff, no big deal. Just cook the meat in a pot (pot>skillet because it'll keep more grease in) and empty the grease after each round!

Lastly, if you don't want your house doused in vaporized grease and smelling of porkporkpork for days, do it at a friend's house. That's what friends are for ;). 

TL;DR

PorkPorkPork goooood. Easy to make. Make it. Eat it with friends. Be happy. 

OH! P.P.S.

Everybody knows what a Jager-bomb is by this point right? Drop a shot of Jager into a glass of beer or Red Bull, throw back and enjoy that weird sense of up and down at the same time? Well, along with this meal most of my friends enjoyed a beer or three. Many Koreans would also enjoy it with a few glasses of Soju (소주). Do you see where I'm going with this? Drop a shot of Soju (purchase at your local LCBO) into a glass of beer and throw back (Fridays and Saturdays only!). For extra fun, balance shot on top of glass between two chop sticks, have one person scream SOJU! and everyone else scream BOMB! as they pound the table with their fists. Repeat until shot bombs into your beer and then throw back (Still only for Fridays and Saturdays!). Now you're ready. Get your porkporkpork on.