Steak Chicana Recipe...

A recipe that's endemic to Sacramento, California.

STEAK-A-LA-CHICANA

Photo taken from: La Mexicana Restaurant

Chicana seems to be a dish that’s specific to Northern California. Possibly even more specific to Sacramento, and its surrounding cities and the San Joaquin Valley. But, no one seems to be able to track down who created this dish. It can be seen on the menus of restaurants established in the 1960s serving Mexican-American fare, the same time the term Chicano came into popular use by the Chicano movement. Chicanos were anti-assimilists with Mexican heritage who had been born and raised in the United States. It was really hard to track down the origins of this dish. When I spoke to Bill Esparza, Stockton-born author of LA Mexicano, he said he had a “hypothesis.” Inspired by bistec a la mexicana, which became steak picado in LA. Mexicans in Central Valley might have dined in East LA restaurants and found it a common dish at chicano restaurants. Chicana is a regional name for steak picado. Chicana is meat in a tomato, bell pepper, & onion sauce. I’m from Stockton, we have it too, and actually chicana or “a la chicana” is in many old Mexican American restaurants along with colorado, chile verde, machaca made with shredded beef instead of dried, and steak rancheros. Chicana is usually beef, but can be any meat. The dish is the sauce, not the protein. It definitely has roots in northern dishes: deshebrada, carne con chile, asado de puerco, etc, but I believe that has to be correct, 60s and 70s.”

Gustavo Arellano had never heard of Chicana, what he calls a “Cal-Mex” dish, until he ventured on his road trip from Bakersfield to Sacramento documenting Mexican food along Highway 99 for Eater piece, “The Central Valley Is the Heart and Soul of California.” Gustavo told me, “The Cal-Mex dish of the Central Valley is Steak Ranchero, which are kind of like juicier fajitas. A light tomato broth, more like a caldo, with beef chopped up, with bell peppers and onions. When it comes to Chicana, it’s a little bit drier. The beef is more like carne asada. It’s a very specific rendering of Steak Ranchero from Stockton to Sacramento.”

Before speaking to Bill and Gustavo, I was researching the dish as I knew it; Hot Chicana. Alonzo’s Mexican & American Restaurant in my childhood neighborhood South Sacramento was established by Jesus and Wanda Alonzo in 1969. It’s a local favorite catering to families that have been patronizing the business for generations. One of its specialitries is Hot Pork Chicana. 

After speaking to Bill and Gustavo, I started to research the dish as steak chicana. This search finally led me to plenty of listings in the newspapers announcing grand openings of restaurants specializing in Steak Chicana. Including a 1969 Sacramento Bee black and white advertisement for a restaurant called Kats ’N’ Sam’s Smorgasbord Restaurant publicizing  steak chicana as one of their buffet specialties. This is especially interesting because their other offerings are: tortillas, enchiladas, Burgundy beef with fresh mushrooms, B-B-Q Chicken Polynesian and black eyed peas. A whole ass soldering of gastronomic acculturation.

A 1977 Fresno Bee announcement of Martinez Mexican Restaurant in Fresno that listed  “steak-a-la-chicana” as one of their opening specials. But, my search never took me outside of Sacramento and the California Central Valley. When I looked up some recipes online, there were plenty of variations on Chicana. While I am only familiar with the version that contains jalapenos or chili powder for heat, this particular recipe I came across used an excess amount of ground black pepper instead of chiles. Some recipes called for canned diced tomatoes, some called for fresh and some called for tomato sauce. The end results also varied: from brothy to viscous. 

When my mom kicked me out, I sort of bounced around for a while, staying with the Khamsalys most days. During this time I moved in with Nana in her two bedroom townhouse. I stopped at Vicky’s every morning on my way to the 68 bus stop, a mere 200 feet apart, and order a Hot Pork Chicana burrito. Vicky’s Burritos was an eatery next door to Sam’s Market on 23rd Avenue in Oak Park, Sacramento. A few blocks from my Nana’s house. It was a Mexican-American eatery and you could only order/pickup your food through a walkup window. 

I’d go next door into Sam’s Market and grab a beverage and a green apple Jolly Rancher Stix and head back to Vicky’s. A faceless arm would extend through the window with a foil-wrapped burrito attached to a faceless hand.  The tender chunks of pork shoulder gave the bitey texture carnivores seem to love, with soft and supple braised potatoes in a fiery hellscape decoction of red chiles, finely diced bell peppers, all wrapped in a flour tortilla dotted with blackened charred blisters. And this was my everyday breakfast before school.

And it worked for a very short period of time. Unfortunately, Nana was still in the old-fashioned mode where, although I was still going to school and working (and giving her rent money), she was still trying to control the amount of hours I spent on the phone. And still trying to push me into a heterosexual relationship that would lead to matrimony. When she and I had an Uncle-instigated disagreement over said Uncle, who was in his 40s and still sleeping on her couch, shit hit the fan and I left that day. But, not before Nana accused me of being gay. I guess she knew I was queer before I did.

2 pounds boneless beef chuck steak, cut into 1/2 inch pieces, coated in flour

1 large green (or red) bell pepper, roughly diced

1 medium white onion, roughly diced'

2 jalapenos, finely chopped*

1 Thai chile, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 large tomato, roughly chopped

1/2 cup water

1 medium Yukon Gold potato, medium diced, optional

In a pot, over medium heat, add in your olive oil. Throw in your bell peppers and saute until they've softened, 3-5 minutes. Throw in your onion and saute for 2 minutes. Saute garlic, Thai chile and jalapenos for 1-2 minutes.

Remove your bell pepper, onions and garlic mixture from the pot and set aside. 

Bring heat up to high. In the same pot, add in a tablespoon of oil and saute your flour-coated beef. Sear the meat until crusty and brown. Add your bell peppers and onion back into the pot. Pour in the tomato sauce and 1/2 cup water. Season with salt, cumin, paprika, chile powder and pepper. Cover and bring to a simmer. Over low heat, simmer for 45 minutes - 1 hour, or until the meat is tender. Add in your potatoes and simmer for another 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender and the broth has reduced and thickened. 

Serve with rice or tortillas.

*NOTE: If you’re not down with capsicum, you should try another version I saw that called for 2 tablespoons ground black pepper.

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Diasporican is for sale almost everywhere books are sold. If you don’t want to purchase from a conglomerate (because they actually discount the book and that low key makes it harder for me to reach the point where royalties kick in) then buy from your local bookstore. Does your local bookstore have it in stock?! No idea! You’d have to ask them. If they say “no,” then ask them if they’d carry it! Where is your nearest local bookstore? I don’t know! I don’t live where you live. But, some people put in some extra steps and found out for themselves, from California all the way to Australia! And I love them so much for it.

We still have some bottles of sazon and adobo left. Remember, if you don’t buy these types of produces from people like me, then they will cease to exist. And then in another ten years, you’ll be bitching and moaning online why there aren’t any products from people like me and it’s because you didn’t support during that VERY NARROW WINDOW of time when we were here. Doing this.

And we’re the only sazon in the game that uses wild achiote directly from Puerto Rico. A small farmer, single origin, source. I could literally tell you the name of the fucking man right now. How many places producing sazon can say that?

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