A huge Dutch oven with a red lid sits on the counter in Isabel Sosa's kitchen in San Felipe on the Baja coast.
It's full of clam soup, the way she makes it for her family.
Getting the clams is no problem. Kids pick them up on the shores of the Sea of Cortez, and Isabel's husband is a boat mechanic who can get the best seafood in exchange for his work.
To make the soup, Isabel sautees rice with butter and garlic, then adds celery, onion, cilantro and green chiles and, finally, water and clams.
The broth is fresh and pure, tasting of shore and sea. The clams are small and sweet.
Soon all I can hear is the clatter of clam shells as the guests seated around the counter work on their bowls.
A large, foil-covered roasting pan sitting nearby holds the next course. The guests can hardly believe what they see when Isabel takes off the foil. Inside are gorgeous fresh crabs.
They have to eat these with fingers and teeth, because there are no mallets or crab crackers. The crabs are tender, though. And the juice is sweet and fragrant.
Isabel (above) has steamed them with butter and garlic, then added catsup, water, celery and, surprise, Chinese oyster sauce
Finding Chinese ingredients in a home kitchen here is not unusual. Mexicali, two hours away, is loaded with Chinese restaurants, and markets in San Felipe stock Chinese sauces, some made in Mexico, others imported.
Meanwhile, Isabel is stirring a pot of soft, almost liquid beans. She's going to spoon these onto homemade flour tortillas for us to fold and eat. But I want my tortilla plain.
Good as the beans are, there could be nothing better than to dip that tortilla into the heavenly juices from the crab pot.
Looks great. Thank you
Posted by: Greg | July 09, 2012 at 07:45 PM