Mixiote facts for kids
A mixiote (pronounced "mee-shee-OH-teh") is a super tasty traditional meat dish from central Mexico. It's often cooked slowly, like a barbecue, in a special pit in the ground. But you can also make it in a regular oven! This dish is especially popular in the area around Mexico City, known as the Basin of Mexico.
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What is Mixiote?
Mixiote is a unique dish because of how it's prepared. It uses different kinds of meat, cut into small pieces, often with the bone still in. The meat is then seasoned with a mix of spices and chilies.
Meats Used in Mixiote
While mixiote can be made with many meats, it traditionally uses mutton (meat from adult sheep) or rabbit. However, it's also common to find mixiote made with chicken, lamb (meat from young sheep), or pork.
The Special Flavor of Mixiote
The meat in mixiote gets its amazing flavor from a special blend of spices. These include pasilla and guajillo chili peppers, which give it a mild heat and deep flavor. Other spices like cumin, thyme, marjoram, bay leaves, cloves, and garlic are also added.
The Maguey Leaf Wrapper
What makes mixiote truly special is how it's cooked. The seasoned meat is wrapped in small packages using a unique material: the tough, see-through outer skin of the leaves from the maguey plant. This plant is also called the century plant. This special wrapper gives the mixiote its one-of-a-kind flavor and helps the meat cook perfectly. Sometimes, diced nopales (pieces of prickly pear cactus pads) are also added with the meat before wrapping.
How Mixiote is Cooked
After the meat is seasoned and wrapped, the small packages are cooked slowly. Traditionally, they are placed in a pit dug in the ground, which acts like an oven. Hot coals or stones are used to cook the mixiote slowly and evenly. This slow cooking makes the meat very tender and full of flavor. If a pit isn't available, mixiote can also be cooked in a regular oven.
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Mixiote meat, as being served in a restaurant
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Fish mixiote
See also
In Spanish: Mixiote para niños
