Salsa, Guacamole, Enchiladas -- OH MY!

Since coming to Japan my taste buds have been introduced to some wonderful new types of foods, such as Indian, German, Persian and Vietnamese. However the one type food you cannot easily find is Mexican. And when you do, it isn't exactly what we are used to back in the States. If you were to ask most of the American families here what type of foods they miss the most, I would bet Mexican would be pretty close to the top of the list.

I was so excited when I found out CHIC was offering a Mexican cooking class this programming session. And although the menu was mainly items I already make at home, I didn't care.  IT WAS MEXICAN FOOD! Plus I love taking cooking classes and figured it would different than how I cook at home.

It took us two hours to work through the menu: Fresh salsa, guacamole, homemade chips, tortilla soup, chicken enchiladas, Spanish rice and refried beans. I think by the time it was all finished I must have been foaming at the mouth in anticipation of tasting it all.

Tortillas cut and ready to fry

Our teacher showing how to properly cut jalapenos and avocado

Ready to mix! YUM!

Cooking the chicken tortilla soup - yes that is a whole chicken

Blanching the tomatoes for salsa

Shredding the  chicken for enchiladas

Mixing the enchilada filling

Getting ready to make refried beans

My appetizer plate - homemade chips, guacamole and salsa

Tortilla soup all ready to eat

Main course

I had to be rolled out of the room after we were all finished. It tasted like authentic Mexican food (It was the homemade chips that sealed the deal). And almost every recipe was different in some way than how I cook at home, so it was not just tasty, but beneficial. I cannot wait until the next program. Rumor is we will be doing chicken mole and stuffed poblano peppers. Can we say YUM!