Mexican

Feel free to sub store-bought tortilla chips for the tostadas.

We tested this tamales recipe with both instant and fresh masa. Fresh masa yielded the best corn flavor and best texture, but we’ve included instructions for using instant since the flour is easier to find. You can find fresh masa and dried corn husks at tortilla stores/factories, in the international section at larger grocery stores, or online. Whichever masa you choose, be sure to save some of the tomatillo purée from the chicken filling.

The lime juice and oil will keep the avocado from turning brown, but it’s a good idea to make this pico de gallo recipe right before you serve it.

It’s Tostada Night! Just hearing those words makes us hungry. With a sheet-pan salsa and quick-cooking tostadas, this recipe will be ready before you know it.

What's the move when it's 100 degrees out and the last thing you want is full-dairy ice cream? This chile mango sundae, of course.

This paprika- and chile-spiked potato salad is equally delicious served warm or room temperature.

We modified Contramar’s whole-fish method with individual fillets, which are easier to handle—but the flavor is the same!

Oh, the inherent stress in choosing the perfect avocado. The “ready to eat” ones can go from ripe to rotten quickly, so buy uniformly firm Hass avocados instead. Let them sit at room temperature until they have a slight give, usually a day or two (plan ahead!). This goes great with quesadillas, grilled snapper, and pork.

Charring the tomatoes and vegetables plays up their sweetness and adds smoky, bitter notes. This goes great with quesadillas, grilled snapper, and pork.

Not to break your heart or anything, but good luck finding Toma, a cow’s-milk cheese. We didn’t just go rogue: Chef Cámara okayed the cheddar substitute.

The key to this adobo is truly burning the chiles and spices. Not browned, not toasted—burned. Try this at home; just open the windows and turn on the fan first.

On the shores of Lake Michigan, you’ll find the most authentic regional Mexican cooking in America. We asked three Chicago mom‑and-pops to share their coveted recipes.

Go east into the San Gabriel Valley to find the country’s most mind-blowing, tongue-numbing, crazily diverse food scene.

Celebrate the beauty of slow-cooked, crispy-edged, meltingly rich carnitas.

Though Birrieria Zaragoza uses goat, this deeply spiced braise is equally good with lamb.

Normally served cold as a sweet cinnamon-and-rice drink, horchata translates seamlessly to this creamy dessert.

Quickly seared flank steak retains its pleasantly chewy integrity in this simple but nuanced brothy soup.

Restaurant Veneno de Nayarit uses Huichol brand hot sauce, but Cholula, Tapatío, or Valentina also add lots of flavor without a ton of heat.

A cooling and crunchy green version of the typical tomato-based salsa.

It’s worth seeking out pork belly for the amazing texture it lends, but if you can’t get it, substitute with another pound of shoulder.

This sandwich alone is worth the trip to this five-table restaurant in the western suburbs of Chicago.

From duck fat to plain ol' butter, don't settle for boring rice and beans.

Your enchiladas are only as good as the tortillas you use to make 'em.

Then go forth and make the best damn quesadillas of your life.